5 Things - Motherhood Edition

Do you ever have a million random thoughts that pop into your head throughout the day? If you’re anything like me then the answer to that is yes. Especially being a mom to two young children, these thoughts tend to come and go, some I remember but most of them I forgot amongst the chaos of our day. I started writing down my thoughts to share with you all in a little blog series called “5 Things” (or more or less, depending on my thoughts for the week). This week I’m talking about 5 totally random things all related to motherhood. Here’s a little sneak peek into my scattered thoughts about being a mama and raising two babies.

ONE

I really suck at planning activities for the kids throughout the day. We thrive on free play. Some days I feel like I am on it when I take the time to plan out an activity. It really does make the day go a whole lot smoother, especially for Isla. I work from home doing marketing 30+ hours a week so my days are honestly so jam packed full it’s hard to figure out new activities for the kids to do. I tend to just rotate toys and do a lot of play dough and coloring. It is definitely my goal this year to try to plan and write down simple activities at the beginning of the week so I can be more organized and actually make them happen as the week goes by. I’m going to start using this activity planner to keep me more organized!

TWO

I try not to be a judgmental mom, but one thing I simply can not get past is car seat safety. Keeping your child rear facing until the age of two (at a minimum) is the law, not just a random suggestion someone decided to make one day. It is a law for a reason. Our babies little bodies are not made to safely ride the other way. Parent’s knowingly put their children in danger because it’s “easier” or their child doesn’t like rear facing.  Rear facing is the safest way to have your child ride until they max out the height or weight for their seat. Isla is 3.5 years old and still comfortably rides rear facing. We plan to keep her rear facing as long as we safely can, the same goes for Elliot. We always make sure their straps are untwisted and their chest clips are at the right height. We aren’t afraid to tell our family members when they don’t buckle the kids in correctly because our number one priority is to keep them safe. A great resource for carseat safety is Safe in The Seat.

THREE

The last few days I’ve been trying to wake up earlier and give us more time in the mornings, especially on days where we have activities to get to. Elliot woke up at 6am the other day and I got up with him and felt so prepared for the day! Usually we all sleep until about 7:30 or so and have to rush to get out the door. I really want to start getting up at 6:00 every morning but the kids sleep in our bed most nights so I don’t want my alarm to wake them up too. I’m trying to figure out a way around that but haven’t thought of anything yet. If you have any tips I’d love to hear them.

FOUR

I started getting snacks for the kids from Thrive Market and absolutely love it! They have so many healthy options and good sales so in the end I’m saving money. They even sell fresh and frozen items as well. I got the kids some avocado crisp crackers that they ended up loving and will definitely be adding those to our reoccurring order. I also got a jar of ghee that I’ve been using instead of butter and really like how it’s working out. I’ve linked my code for 40% your first order here (not an affiliate link, I just really like their products).

FIVE

For Christmas and the kid’s birthdays we asked for memberships to local places instead of gifts from a few people. So far we have a membership to the aquarium, Magnolia Plantation (which has a cute petting zoo), all of the county parks, and the children’s museum. It ends up saving us so much money and it’s a gift that lasts all year! I feel like we have a good rotation of fun activities to do since we have these memberships. We are always so overrun with toys that usually go unplayed with so it’s nice to be able to ask for these memberships instead. We plan to go to the children’s museum later today since it’s going to be so chilly out. I’m hoping everyone else in Charleston doesn’t have the same idea! After that we’re going to grab a quick lunch at the sandwich shop next door and maybe do a little shopping. Abercrombie just opened up downtown and I've been wanting to stop by.

Next week I’m going to do a “5 Things - most asked questions edition”. If you have any questions (about anything and everything) you’d like answered feel free to email or DM me or comment below.