The Laundry Game

The one household chore that I hate more than anything is laundry. Seriously, I feel like it is the bane of my existence since I have to do laundry for four people. I try hard to do a load every single day but that doesn’t always happen due to work, grad school, and raising the kids.

When I am unable to do a lot of laundry during the week, I end up having to do a massive amount on the weekends, typically anywhere from 3-4 loads on Saturday and Sunday. The backlog means I end up with a ton of laundry to fold, which I hate even more than sorting and washing. In fact, I typically fold it only to find that I have not put it up the next weekend and end up with no bins to put the freshly done laundry in. Ugh!

In reading an article from the Consumer Electronics Show in January, I learned that a self-folding machine exists! The FoldiMate claims to be so simple that even kids can do it. The FoldiMate is expected to be available in late 2019 and comes with a cost of $980. While I am not sure I can justify the price tag at this time, I can only dream of getting it one day.

I am curious, for those of you that have similar laundry issues, would you invest in a FoldiMate? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

How to Stop Toddler Biting

Biting is on my mind this week both from our son biting at home and from him receiving some bites at school. In fact, when I picked him up from daycare on Tuesday, he had two separate accident reports from being bitten twice by two other toddlers.

When my daughter was a toddler, she had a serious biting habit, which nearly got her kicked out of daycare. Of course, with two working parents, we couldn’t have that so we buckled down and worked hard on stopping her biting behavior. Luckily, we were able to get it under control thanks to help from some other mom friends of mine and their tips.

The two siblings playing nicely, which is rare.

With our son, it has been different. He only bites us, my daughter, and sometimes his teacher but generally doesn’t bite other kids. While I am thankful that he isn’t biting other kids, this scenario presents a different challenge than our daughters did. In trying to remember what I did several years ago to help stop be biting, I did some research and found a great post by The Military Wife and Mom blog. She has posted a step-by-step guide to help eliminate toddler biting. I plan to put her tips into motion next week. Wish me luck! If you have any toddler biting tips, drop those in the comments section to help me out!

Top 5 Newborn Must-Have Products

Mom’s on Call Book

I have already blogged about my love for Mom’s on Call, and how I can now function as human again thanks in part to this sleep training method. When any expecting mother asks me for advice, the Mom’s on Call 0-6 Month Book is at the top of my list!

Sound Machine

Staying on the Mom’s on Call train, the method recommends a sound machine for the baby’s room. I didn’t do this with my first child and it was a big mistake. I am not picky about the sound machine, as long as it works and is loud. Two that I have used include the Dohm and HoMedics machines. Drowning out unwanted noise will help soothe the baby, which leads to better sleep.

Swaddle

I didn’t quite get the memo from the nurses on swaddling with either of my two kids. I swore my first one hated it although I think it was user error on my part. With my second baby, I got serious on swaddling in order to help him sleep better. My favorite swaddle for the newborn stage was the Love to Dream Swaddle. As he got older, I transitioned to the Magic Merlin Sleepsuit. The Magic Merlin Sleepsuit really was magic for our baby.

4Moms mamaRoo

I couldn’t have made it through the newborn stage with my first child without the 4Moms mamaRoo. Not only does it connect to your phone through Bluetooth, but it also bounces up and down, side-to-side, and has in total 5 unique motions. Since my first baby wouldn’t sleep in her crib, the mamaRoo became a nighttime miracle worker for us.

BabyBum Diaper Cream Brush

While this product isn’t a tech breakthrough like the mamaRoo, I found that the BabyBum brush was my favorite shower gift for my second child. For those of us that have layered on the diaper cream only to deal with the mess on our hands after, this brush is a lifesaver. Clean hands for mom and dad, equals a win!

Pick Three

When I first heard author Randi Zuckerberg speak on her concept of picking three and being lopsided rather than balanced, it finally clicked with me that you can’t possibly be the best at being a mom, wife, employee, student, and more each and every day. Watching her interview on the Today Show this past May really changed my perspective on balance, which I had been trying to achieve for so long.

In her book Pick Three, she describes how each day you must pick three – sleep, family, fitness, work, or friends. Your priorities change each day, so your top three choices can change. I relate so well to this method because each day my top three priorities change based on the situation. As I have painfully learned over the years, I just can’t do it all. For example, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I sacrifice sleep to work out at 5 am so that I can still be to work by 7:30 am. Seven Saturdays in the fall, I put work before family because I do a special tailgate for alumni donors every home game. On Wednesdays, I work through lunch so that I can see my little girl practice gymnastics before dinner.

Asher and Paislee joined me for the Little Vol Walk during Homecoming.

Each day, picking my top three means I can focus on being good at just a few rather than spreading myself too thin. What I have taken away from this method has truly helped me let go of some of the mom guilt and be a better parent. I encourage you today to pick your daily top three and see how it changes your parenting life.

The 5-8 pm hustle

Toys everywhere when I get home from work everyday!

Does any other working parent out there relate to me on how one can pack so many things into the hours of 5-8 pm? Without a doubt, 5-8 pm is the most chaotic time during my weekday. When I get home from work each day around 5 pm, toys are thrown all over the living room, and my kids are typically running around like animals. Once we get them settled down, my husband and I typically divide and conquer dinner since we typically cook three different meals, including one for us, one for my daughter, and one for my dairy-allergic son.

PJs and trying to tame her crazy long hair!

Following dinner, playing continues for the little guy, and reading or writing practices ensue for my Kindergarten girl. If it is bath night, we try to do baths for them at the same time to speed up the process followed by lotion, jammies, and combing my daughter’s hair, which compares to Rapunzel, because, you know, that’s her favorite princess. By the time we get my son in bed by 7 pm, I am exhausted by it all but still have to pack lunches for both, lay out school clothes, and spend more quality time with my daughter. What gets me through this crazy time? As much as I hate to admit it, I enjoy sitting for a few minutes and scrolling through Instagram to watch the stories. In fact, my toddler now enjoys watching Instagram stories with me. That’s probably a mom fail, but it brings me a moment of peace in an otherwise wild atmosphere.

Staying home versus working outside of the home

The debate rages on about which is best for mothers, staying home to raise children or working outside of the home. For me, while I love my children more than anything, working outside the home was the best choice. Really, staying at home was never an option for me because my spouse is a teacher, and we just could not live on his salary alone. Many of my friends are stay-at-home moms, and I do not envy the hard work that they do every day. Raising kids certainly is not an easy task, but neither is the endless chores that come with watching children in your home: dishes, laundry, toys, cleaning, and more.

I recently read an article in the New York Post about how stay-at-home moms should earn $162K a year according to a Salary.com survey. While I do not disagree about the value that these mothers bring to their families, I can’t help but think about working parents. Shouldn’t they also be valued the same as stay-at-home parents? In my case, I work full time and am also getting my master’s degree. I literally never stop, whether it be doing activities with my kids, working on projects for school, working in my office, or doing the daily life tasks such as cooking, cleaning, and laundry. I often feel defeated at the end of my 16-18-hour day. Equality for all parents, those staying home and those working, is what I am saying. What do you think? Let’s continue the conversation in the comments.

Babies Need a Schedule?

When I had my first daughter five years ago, I knew nothing about putting a baby on a schedule. I thought, why in the world would I need to do that? Growing up with a sister who was nearly 12 years younger than I and doing a fair amount of babysitting, I knew I just needed to feed our newborn at least every three hours. Fast forward from my daughter’s birth to 11 months later, and she still was not sleeping through the night. I was an unpleasant walking zombie. Finally, my pediatrician said 1) you need to put her on a schedule and 2) let her cry it out in her crib. Knowing nothing about a schedule, I turned to her daycare teachers to help me create a solid daily schedule. In addition, after about 5 nights of letting her cry it out, she was finally sleeping in her crib all night long. A year after her birth, I felt like a well-rested mom, which was long overdue.

Flash forward a few years, and my sister-in-law began following a sleep method called Moms on Call. This magical schedule and sleep training method had her daughter sleeping through the night at 3 months old. Right about that time, I found out we were expecting our second child. I did my research on the method, read the book, joined the Moms on Call Facebook support group, and purchased the app with the daily schedule. Once our son arrived, I was ready to implement. There was no way I could spend another 12 months not sleeping. After starting the method at two weeks, I knew it would be hard work. I was thankful to be a part of the Moms on Call Facebook group. When something was not going right, I would request help from the mom’s group, and within seconds I would have the answers I needed. Mom’s on Call truly changed my parenting life for the better because when my son was only 4 months old, I struck gold when he slept through the night.

I love being a member of the Moms on Call Facebook Group!

My son sleeps from 6:30 pm to 6:30 am every day. Yes, you read that right. I still cannot believe it either. So, for all of you exhausted moms out there, hop on the Moms on Call train. You will not be sorry!

Asher showing how a well-rested baby is the best baby!

My Favorite Mommy Blogs

One cannot start a new blog without first paying homage to those who have paved the way. These blogs are not only entertaining but also educational and relatable to my current life status. For anyone looking for parenting advice, I recommend you take some time for yourself (gasp, is that even possible with kids?) to review my go-to suggested blogs.

Scary Mommy

While Scary Mommy started out as a blog, it has now grown into a brand of its own. Scary Mommy is a place exploring situations that all moms can relate to. With stories on pregnancy, kids, living, news, beauty, and more, there is something for every mom.

The Working Mommy’s Manual

This blog might be my all-time favorite because I relate to it so well. Author Nicole is a workaholic mom who tries to find balance while confessing she can’t choose one over the other.

Today Show’s Mom Blog

The Today Show Mom blog is a wonderful community that I love to follow. The plethora of content is refreshing and inspiring.

The Mommyhood Chronicles

“Laughter is the best medicine” is the theme of this mommy blog from part-time dentist and mom Melissa. I love her funny stories and how I can relate to much of her content.

Mom Trends

Less stuff and more time is the motto of the Mom Trends blog. Beauty, travel, and style are just a few of the topics this blog covers to help moms find inspiration.