Working Mom

Saying Farewell to January 2019

We’re now 1/12 of the way through 2019. Can you believe it?! Personally, I hate to see good things end. At first thought, I didn’t think all that much had happened in January. If you’re lalso feeling like this month wasn’t anything special, do yourself a favor. Scroll through the photos in your phone and I bet you’ll be amazed at how much you accomplished this month! As proof, I’ll share with you my month in reverse order because it’s more fun that way 😉 It wasn’t until I got about 2 weeks back that I realized I was really on my game this month! Except for that basketball thing (keep reading, you’ll see).

This week started off with a run – Woohoo! I’m trying to lose 2 pounds a week and so far I’m on track! I couldn’t believe it, and you’ll see why soon.

One of the girls got hives. How is it I’ve been a mom for almost 16 years and this is my first experience with hives? Counting my blessings, I guess.

I got sick and gave up on my healthy eating plan. Red Lobster biscuits for breakfast? Yes, please!

I got sick the day AFTER baking 5 batches of chocolate chip cookies for my moms group. Then proceeded to eat most of the cookies since I couldn’t take them to the potluck.

I cleaned my kitchen!

One of the girls got the stomach flu.

We made a blanket fort for the kids to sleep in over the weekend. This is their favorite thing to do on non-school nights!

All the kids got pinkeye. Boo.

There was a super blood wolf moon and we kinda sorta saw it through the clouds.

We cooked at home every.single.night! Think that’s easy? You do it! This is our Google calendar family meal plan. The blank nights were when we had leftovers for dinner or something random from the cupboard.

I found out what kind of dinosaur I am. This is important information, my friends.

We read Christmas stories. In mid-January.

The girls started playing basketball.

This is how they looked on team picture day because it was raining and one of them lost the sneakers I sent to school with her to wear at the game. They let her play like that. Mom fail or mom win? I say win!

Johnny got an ear infection.

I met my new big boss. There are lots of pics from work this month but I liked our name tags for this staff meeting so it gets to be in the January highlights.

I started listening to free audiobooks from the library. I’ve burned through 4 this month already!

I found out why my walls are always so dirty.

It rained! We had a week of rain, then a week of 80° weather, then more rain. I love San Diego!

I get to be mom to 4 wonderful kids, 3 of whom need me for every little thing and I love it. The older one still needs me, he just doesn’t think he does. 😉

I went to Ikea. And bought stuff! 😀 Oh, how I love Ikea.

And finally on day 1 of the year 2019 I went on a moderately challenging hike with a friend. The perfect way to ring in the new year!

January was definitely a months of highs and lows. Illness was a constant visitor in our home but we battled those germs off like pros! What will February hold? I can only imagine…

Turning Setbacks into Victories

Unfulfilled dreams. Missed opportunities. Searching and longing for something that’s just out of reach. I am so thankful to be able to say that these are not my memories of 2018. While 2017 had some very sorrowful moments, 2018 was the year that I finally came up for air and turned my setbacks into victories!

It has been hard to see the positive in the middle of hard times, and this year has definitely not been easy. Especially the last 6 months have been real struggle even though John works 2 jobs. But what does money matter when we have our health, sweet kids, and a happy marriage? Those are things that people who are far wealthier than me could only wish for.

The Hard Work of Happiness

So what happened that made this year feel so much better, even when it wasn’t? Personally, It was a total mind shift on my part. I made an effort to find the joy in daily life, and dug my heels in against negative thinking. I read some great books. My favorite was “Love Does” by Bob Goff. It really puts things in perspective to read his stories of amazing miracles and incredible generosity. Knowing that there are people who find hope even in situations which are far more horrible than my own, can I really complain? Nope. At least, I shouldn’t. I’m still human. 😉

2018 Opportunities and Good Memories

Because of this blog, I got even more enjoyment out of the last year. Every time I have an idea for a fun activity with my kids or trying a new dish, my second thought is always that I can’t wait to share this with you guys. Seriously! A few of my favorite posts of this year were

Next year I hope to expand my creativity and bring more family value to this blog. Feel free to hold me accountable, too!

As I round out this last blog post of 2018, I also want to tell you where I missed the mark. The one word I chose to focus my energy for 2018 was “persist”. But as it turns out, that’s not what my life and family needed me to do this year. 2016 and 2017 were years when persistence kept me from losing my mind to grief and self-pity, so maybe I came up with this word on the heels of recent struggles. This year all my persistence paid off. I have a great relationship with my oldest, my husband and I are enjoying a strong marriage, work is going well, and my kids didn’t have a single injury this year! I think a better word would have been “surprise” because each time we found ourselves in hot water, “Surprise!” God got us through. Once I learned to trust Him with everything, I had a lot less to worry about.

In May my husband John graduated with his Bachelors from San Diego State University. We took the kids on our first family camping trip. Oh yeah, and I ran a 10K just weeks after hernia surgery. Wow, I guess 2018 was pretty great…

I look forward to the obstacles that present themselves in 2019. I know I can make it through the hills and valleys as long as I keep this in mind: It’s not the current economy that counts, but the eternal one.

Happy new year friends! May you find what your heart desires in 2019. <3

Sanity-Saving Tips for Busy Moms

When I first started blogging, I had newborn twins, a full-time job, and a 9-year-old with a packed extracurricular schedule. To say I was busy is an understatement! Since then, we added another bundle of joy to our family. I’ve learned a lot over the years about managing a growing family while working full time. With a little planning and these sanity-saving tips for busy moms, you’ll be more cool, calm, and collected when you’re out with your little ones.

Bring Snacks

Kids burn through a lot of energy. If you’ve seen mine, you know that they hardly ever sit still! If we’re planning on being gone for more than an hour or so, I always bring a little something for the kids to snack on. It doesn’t have to be a big gourmet meal. Most of the time a baggie of sliced fruit or some string cheese is enough to keep our energy up until we get home. For longer trips to the park, beach, or hanging on the sidelines of big brother’s soccer game, we strap a cooler to our wagon to keep our snacks chilly.

Busy Moms Pack Lightly

Even though it is a good idea to bring snacks and toys with you to keep the kids happy, you don’t want to bring so much stuff that it takes 2 trips to the car to unload it all. For us, gone are the days of stuffing everything under the stroller seat, although that was a great way to lug all our extra stuff around. Now we keep a wagon in the trunk of the car for trips when we’re bringing lots of stuff. This 3-in-1 Tailgater Wagon from Radio Flyer folds flat for easy storage in the back of the car.

Don’t Wear Yourself Out

When I get home, I do not want to be more exhausted than the kids are from a day of errands! As the mom, my job isn’t over once we’re home. That’s when the real work starts: making dinner, tidying up, putting away everything we brought with us in the car… So I don’t want to use up all my energy on the outing. We usually bring a backpack with water bottles and snacks on our short errands. When we need more storage we take our awesome wagon. Our 3-in-1 Tailgater Wagon™ has a cooler caddy to carry all our snacks and drinks. There are also 2 cup holders on the front to tote the kids’ water bottles, and a canopy to give them a shady place to sit. It’s so easy to pull, I had no trouble taking them to a lakeside picnic. And since everything was strapped to the wagon, I didn’t have my hands full juggling toys and drinks!

Ok, I know some of you are probably wondering, where did you get that awesome wagon and how can I get my hands on one? My suggestion is to find it at Walmart. We got ours for a very reasonable price, and it has the most bells and whistles available! I love how the side wall can zip transform to bench mode so it can fit all three little guys. They love riding to and from places in it!

Ever since the girls were born we’ve had several on-the-go days each week. With lacrosse meets and soccer games and church events, there is always somewhere we have to be, especially on the weekends! Busy moms, have you been there? Where your life is crazy busy and you are just amazed at how you handle it all? Hopefully these sanity-saving tips can encourage you, because I bet you’re probably doing them already. Hang in there, mama. You’re doing a great job!

Taking a Breath in the Waiting

The start of summer is always a time that I welcome with anticipation. Many of you know that I’m a teacher. The last few weeks of school are crazy hectic: end-of-year events, report cards and other paperwork, and cleaning up my room from a successful school year. By the time it’s all done I’m so ready to jump right in to long days spent at the beach or pool. Those lazy mornings at home with my kids aren’t too bad either! But this summer has a different feel to it. Yes, I am on vacation for 6 glorious weeks. But this summer there is a looming cloud of unknown that hangs over all the fun things we have planned.

Here’s the whole story.

Due to recent changes in California law, my charter school had to petition for the local district to sponsor us. In order for us to continue serving kids and families, our director wrote a whole new charter. I am told that it is so detailed, it filled 16 1-inch binders! Well, everything was moving forward just fine when she took our petition to the big district board meeting. Then, out of the blue, a group of school officials and their slew of attorneys came forward with some intense opposition. They accused our school of acting in a shady manner and disobeying educational laws. Of course, these were all lies. But it made us look really bad. The big district decided they needed some time to consider the opposition, and pushed the vote back. We’ve been waiting on pins and needles ever since. Then, just days before the rescheduled meeting, they pushed it back another week.

I’m worried.

If they don’t sponsor us as a charter, our academies will close. I’ll be out of a job. Ask your teacher friends how easy it is to find a job during the summer (hint: it’s not easy). Schools do their hiring in the spring so they can plan for August staff developments. This is not to say that teachers don’t get hired right before school starts, because they do. But those positions are few and far between.

I wish the big mean school officials would consider the children.If we close, the student population that our charter has served for over 17 years won’t have a school to come to next fall. Our kiddos come to us because, for whatever reason, they struggled in traditional public schools. Our academy is small and the students are always saying that it feels like home to them. And here, they are thriving.

I hate to think what will happen to these sweet, sheltered kids in a big public school. Many of them will fall through the cracks and become faceless names on a page of data and test results. I know how data-driven and impersonal schools are because I worked in traditional public schools for 8 years before finding my love of teaching in this charter school.

We wrote letters, emailed board members, rallied families to share their voice. And now we wait.

It was emotionally draining to close up my room. I carefully packed and tidied centers, filed my favorite units in their respective places, and made lists of things I need to order for next year. The whole while, in the back of my mind was that whisper of doubt, “If we’re even here next year.”

This is who I am. I’m a teacher. I’ve found my home with this school and I have no intention of looking for another job until the end is final.

A summer of waiting.

I’m trying to fill my time with cleaning and organizing our little home, and trying not to think about how we will afford rent if I’m out of a job. We’re planning family day outings, focusing on things that are free in case even a tank of gas is outside our budget. I know it sounds depressing and dramatic, but this is our reality for now.

I wonder what the kids and families of our school are doing? Are they also holding their breath, not knowing where they’ll be in the fall? That’s go to be such a disappointment for them.

So… deep breaths. Focusing on blessings even during this time of unknown. Finding words of encouragement for my fellow teachers, even when I want to break down and cry. And above all, faith and trust that God has a plan for me, the students, and for this school.

If you feel led, you may find the contact info for board members here. This is public information, and anyone may email them and share their thoughts on the importance of charter schools, either in favor of or against.

Please pray for us and for our student population. We don’t live in a world where things are “fair”, but it would be nice if the big guy didn’t always win.

Laundry Systems that Work for Busy Moms

The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free.

When you’re a mom on the go, the last thing you want to deal with is needing finding out the clothes you need for the next daily event are dirty. I’m dealing 6 people’s activities, plus keeping up with all the outfits, uniforms, and work attire that go with them. It’s a lot to manage. I’ve tried plenty of strategies, and I hope at least one of these laundry systems will work for you.

Teach your kids to sort

If you find that sorting is a pain, then show your kids how to take responsibility of this task. Teach them that socks/whites go in one hamper, darks/jeans go in another one, and light colored laundry goes in a third. They’re bound to make a few mistakes. But it will be easier to catch a loose white sock in the darks hamper then to sort everything out on your own!

Find your own laundry “groove”

There are a couple of different camps that moms fall into when it comes to washing laundry. There are the “once a week” moms, the “one load a day” moms, the “twice a week” moms, the “sorted by person” moms, and probably a few more that I’m forgetting to mention. Whatever your laundry style, getting into a routine will help you stay on top of the washing.

Get a washer that can handle your life

Honestly, it’s much wiser to do as much laundry as you can on the weekend, so everyone has full dressers of fresh clothes for school and work on Monday. I double-check the calendar as I’m building our weekly dinner menu. That way I know ahead of time that Logan will need his dark jersey for the lacrosse game, or that I need to wash something specific for a school spirit day (like what are you supposed to wear for dress like an animal day??). Then I only have to wash a few things maybe once during the week.

LG TwinWash system at Best Buy

The “once a week” plan works best if you have a washer that can effectively clean large loads. What I love about this LG TwinWash system is that these washers have mega capacity. Plus, their energy efficient technology results in a quality clean that’s easy on the electric bill – and better for the environment!

Make sure to find your LG TwinWash system at Best Buy, where from 1/11 to 4/25 you can get $500 off your purchase of a laundry solution for your home. A few more reasons why the TwinWash system is my favorite are

it’s a front-load system
you can choose to wash a big load in the top loader, and a smaller load in the bottom SideKick pedestal washer at the same time!

Hot Tip

For the rebel moms out there who don’t always sort their laundry, I do have one timesaver tip. Use your washer as your hamper, and just start it up once it’s got a load’s worth of laundry in it. Granted, this is not the recommended method to wash your clothes. You might sacrifice the life of your bright colors if you choose to skip the sorting. But you do save time and the trouble of dealing with loads and hampers.

This is a great time to take advantage of the $500 off on a laundry system at Best Buy. What feature of the TwinWash would you use the most? The SideKick pedestal washer, for small “need it now” loads? Or the mega capacity of the top loader?

When Work and Motherhood Collide

04. I cMost of the time being a working mom isn’t such a big deal. It’s just a normal pattern of life, the same as many other moms have. My family has a pretty good routine going and we’re pretty happy with our schedule. But every now and then the demands of being a full-time employee conflict with my responsibilities as a wife and mother. In those cases I have to choose between paycheck and child. Last week was one of those times when work and motherhood collide and I have no regrets that I sacrificed my reputation as an employee for my son.

This was 2 weeks before the injury, after his performance in Singin’ in the Rain

When Work and Motherhood Collide

On a lazy Tuesday evening as we were all settling in for the evening I got a phone call from a number I didn’t recognize. The rest is kind of a blur, but I remember some snippets of the conversation.

“… An accident”

“… Paramedics advise going to the nearest hospital”

“… In a lot of pain”

It was the kind of phone call a mother dreads. While things could have been far worse, it’s terrifying to find out that your child is injured and requires immediate medical care.

After rushing to meet my son at the ER, all the missing details were filled in. He had fallen while roller skating. His right ankle was broken in several places. A splint would be put on to keep the bones in place until we could get to a pediatric orthopedist. The injury was treatable but may require extensive treatment.

The timing couldn’t have been worse

But I guess that’s the definition of an emergency, isn’t it? I had already taken the day off work to stay home with the twins, who were sick with the stomach flu. I had parent conferences scheduled for the following day, but while in the ER I was quickly making arrangements to postpone those.

We spent most of the next day at the children’s hospital hoping to have the fracture repaired by a specialist. Unfortunately, the doctors weren’t able to push the bones back together. Surgery was recommended, as soon as possible.

Our care was transferred to our insurance carrier’s hospital, where we spent another half-day doing pre-operation tests and scans. Our appointment was so early in the morning that I had hoped to still be able to hold parent conferences later on that day. After several hiccups in the process, it became clear that I wasn’t going to make the already rescheduled conferences after all.

There was nothing I could do

We were at the hospital, where the phone service is practically nonexistent. With it being such short notice, emailing the families wasn’t a reasonable option. I had to make a difficult decision.

I called my supervisor and told her there was no way I could make it to parent conferences. It wasn’t even possible to call families to let them know I wouldn’t be there. I asked if she could please tape a note to my classroom door because today I’m not even going to try and be an employee. I’m a mom first and foremost.

It didn’t sit well with me to bail on all those families. They entrust their children to my care, and my commitment to my own child had a negative impact on the children in my class.

Sometimes being dedicated to my family makes me feel like I’m being selfish. Having to choose between somebody else’s child and my own doesn’t seem like it should be that difficult, but it is. I care deeply for the students and families in my class. It breaks my heart to let them down.

Regardless of your profession, it’s never easy to have to choose between work and motherhood. It takes a conscious effort to push away the guilt you feel for not choosing the other, and to be confident that you made the right choice. I hope I’m not alone in feeling like, no matter what I do I’m going to be disappointing someone. I just don’t want that someone to be my child. 7c2e0580ad6cb2f0df3056f6bcfa88098e1cdbdc453438aaf7

Teacher Christmas Gifts 2015

I’ve never done this before, but this year I thought I’d share the teacher gifts I received for Christmas from my students and their parents. This has been my best year yet because I’ve been truly blessed with a wonderfully supportive director and kind, dedicated parents. I feel like a simple thank-you card wasn’t enough to show how grateful I am for their thoughtfulness and generosity.

Because the school I work at is part-homeschool, many of the families are supported by one income. While one parent works, the other is available to do homeschooling activities with the children. This means that, although the city where I work in is pretty affluent, the families of my students are not necessarily well-off. The fact that they spent time, effort, and money on me is very humbling! Many of my students gave me a gift, but hey, they’re 7… So their parents helped quite a bit. 😉

So on to the good stuff! Here are my awesome teacher gifts this year:

Thank you to A.R.’s family for the yummy hot cocoa set, complete with marshmallows and salted caramels for snacking! I looooove hot chocolate! and the pretty mugs will be a lovely addition to my holiday mug set.

Thank you to B.H.’s family for the See’s candies (gold box in the background). They know how much I adore chocolates! And thank you to S.T.’s family for the AWESOME jar of “Cowboy Cookies” mix! My kids and I are going to have a blast making these over the vacation.

C.M.’s mom always spoils me. I figured I was getting an early Christmas gift when she brought me a delicious homemade chocolate chip scone Monday morning. But then 3 days later I was delighted when I was given this amazing gift bag! Inside was a bottle of delicious chardonnay, chocolates (see? She knows what I love 🙂 and a sweet scented candle.

S.N.’s mom came up with this super cute idea: On the card is a neat little holiday story, and inside the box is a mishmash of all kinds of different M&M’s. MY FAVORITE!! Do these moms know me or what??!! Oh, and there was also an Amazon gift card because, well, I do quite a bit of online shopping. Hehe. Ahem.

J.B.’s family gave me some a-mazing salted caramel dark chocolates and a cute infinity scarf which I couldn’t include in the picture because I had already worn it and left it at home when I took these photos. 🙂

L.W.’s family put together a neat little gift with a yummy scented candle and a pretty earring-necklace combination. Everything was packaged in a plain box that had been decorated DIY-style with Christmasy printed washi tape. What a fun way to wrap a present!

A.G.’s family gave me a jar of homemade carrot cake jam. Isn’t that a unique flavor? Let me tell you, it is deeeee-licious on toast!

L.T.’s family gave me a bouquet of flowers in pink- my favorite color! It came with a sweet Target gift card. Can you say new boots for Nikki? 🙂

E.T.’s mom knows that I am a Christian, and she gave me the perfect little purse-sized book! That, along with a pink water bottle, made me a very happy girl.

Overall, I feel very appreciated by my students and their families this year. They totally didn’t have to get me anything, but I sure am glad they did!

The Magic of Kindness

It’s amazing how someone’s kind words can totally change your attitude. Last night a wonderful lady did that for me. It was 6:30 and I was hurrying to pick up my oldest from the after-school program on campus. I was starving. It was cold. The kids were starting to get grouchy and the baby was tired, clingy, and crying.

I’d been in rush-hour traffic with 3 small children and I was desperate to get home. I zipped across the school parking lot, snagged the closest parking space and pulled all the kids out of the car without even closing the doors behind me. This of course left the dome lights on and exposed our nasty, toys-and-snacks-cluttered inside of the minivan exposed to the world.

I don’t know if you’ve ever been late to childcare pickup, but it’s a stressful experience! And of course it’s the time when your kids choose to slow you down tremendously.

I sped across the campus and up the ramp to the Boys & Girls Club building, toting a whimpering one-year-old and frustratingly repeating common sense instructions to my three-year-olds.

“No, you can’t run through the sprinklers. It’s 50° outside.”

“Don’t take your shoes off.”

“Stop climbing the fence.”

By the time I had corralled all three little ones into the Boys and Girls Club office, my hair was coming undone because the baby kept going on my ponytail and I was… Let’s just say, not at my perkiest. 😉

I located my son, who in true tweenager fashion immediately started grumbling to me about something. With everything I’d been through in the last 20 minutes I was having to work really hard at not losing my patience.

Then along came my sweet friend. Her twin boys and my son were the last three kids on campus that day. Tall, with short blond hair, she always has a smile on her face. While we’ve never really done anything together, our kids have known each other since kindergarten. After signing our boys out of the Club, we all made our way back to the parking lot together. She started telling me how great I look, how wonderful my children are, how sweet their voices sounded, how pretty the girls looked in their sparkly shoes (I think that last one was mostly for the girls’ benefit ;). the magic of kindness

I got in the car and instantly a wave of peace fell over me. I was so uplifted by those kind words that all of my stress and anxiety melted away. I couldn’t believe it. The woman’s simple gesture of saying a few nice things to us made such an impact on me that night. It totally changed my mood around and made me realize what an amazing effect kindness can have on someone.

I’m sharing this story for a few reasons. I want to help spread kindness and encourage moms to keep on lifting one another up because it really does make a difference! But also, I need a little reminder myself. Hopefully opening up and being honest about my weaknesses (getting frustrated, being impatient) will help me remember to keep those reactions under control. And now that I know how good it can make a person feel to hear compliments, maybe I’ll remember to give them more often.

Weaning My Last Baby-Sad Transition or Cause to Celebrate?

It’s here. The change I’ve known would eventually happen finally did. Now that baby John is 1 year old, I’ve decided it’s time to think about weaning him.

My breastfeeding journey has been a challenging one through all 4 children. With my oldest, I worked 2 jobs and pumped on my breaks. But no matter what they tried, the daycare ladies couldn’t get him to take a bottle. I weaned him at 9 months and he basically went straight from breastfeeding to using a sippy cup of formula. The twins were a whole different story. I struggled for 5 hard months to make enough milk to feed 2 babies before I finally gave up. Nursing baby John was not exactly a stroll down easy street but I stuck with it thanks to the help of an amazing lactation consultant and a breastfeeding support group.

Every milestone with this baby seems monumental because it is my last everything. Last pregnancy, last crawler, last teething child… I get emotional just writing this post because in my heart I feel like this is my last chance to mother a baby. I’m not in any rush for him to grow up.

Being a nursing, working mom is a lot of work. And my work environment makes it extremely difficult to take breaks to pump. My school shares our facility with another organization, so the nearest ‘private’ space is a bathroom on the other side of the building. There is no wifi service in there so I can’t get any computer work done while I pump. The refrigerator I store milk in is in the office at the front of the building but the microwave I use for heating my lunch is someplace else. These little hassles make it so that I need at least 25 minutes for a pump break. I arrive at work 30 minutes early to pump before work, then I pump on my lunch, and then again after work. That’s almost 90 minutes while I’m at work when I’m not actually able to get any work done. Teachers just don’t have 90 minutes to spare. I don’t think anyone does, for that matter!

My infant is quickly moving into toddlerhood. This past week Johnny started walking everywhere he goes. Our supplemental food nutrition vouchers can’t be used for pureed baby food any more. Now that he’s 1 he gets vouchers for vegetables, eggs, milk, beans, cheese, and cereal. He’s not a picky eater and has been stealing his sister’s milk sippy cups for months. It’s been a cinch to transition him to ‘solid’/mashed table foods and milk in a cup. He loves cuddling with Mommy or riding around in the baby carrier. It just seems like it’s time to wean him. He’s ready. So why aren’t I?

I think I need to change my mindset. When we weaned the twins I was ecstatic because there were so many drawbacks to bottle feeding 2 babies. Just like I did back then, I need to start focusing on all the perks that go along with no longer being a nursing mom. Perks like:

I get my lunch break all to myself
I don’t have to get up 30 minutes early to nurse before leaving for work (we’re talking 4 a.m., folks 😛 )
I can wear strapless bras again-and all my clothing the require a strapless bra (it’s like shopping!) 🙂
I’ll save $40 a month by not renting a pump anymore… Cha-ching!
No more ouchie boobies when I’ve had a too-busy-to-pump kind of day
NO MORE PUMPING!!!! 😀
I can toss that threadbare nursing nightgown I’ve had for 3 years now
I can drink alcohol (not that I’m a big drinker but hey at least I can now! 😉
No more leakage during meetings or in the middle of sex (both happened this last year! Awwwwwkwarrrddd!)
I’ll have more time to spend with my other 3 kids. At home Johnny has to be nursed in a quiet room because if he’s distracted by a noise, a light, anything– he won’t nurse. So I’ve spent a lot of time in my room away from my family
We can be more spontaneous. Road trips, day hikes-these are an option again! Not having to stop and nurse means I can hand Johnny a cup and keep moving!

Maybe weaning my last baby isn’t such a sad transition after all. Sure, he’s growing up faster than I’m prepared for. But the same is true for all my children. Instead of moping over it, I can choose to embrace this new stage of our family life. In fact, I might even go so far as to celebrate it – with a bottle of champagne, a new bra, and a nice long day hike in the mountains! Maybe not all at the same time though. 😉

Save Time with Dinner Prep Shortcuts

With some advanced planning, busy working moms can manage to get it all done and still maintain their sanity. One thing that really helps to save time is to plan your dinners ahead of time, and do all your grocery shopping over the weekend. After that, you can cut weeknight dinner prep times drastically by taking care of some of the work ahead of time.

We eat brown rice several nights a week, but the trouble with this high-fiber grain is that it takes more time and effort to cook than, say, white rice or Pillsbury refrigerated biscuits. To shave off a few more minutes of dinner prep and clean-up, I pre-cook rice ahead of time. Then I store it in freezer-safe bags for when we need it.

I also do the same with chicken breasts. Some of my favorite casserole recipes call for “cooked, cubed chicken”. And who has time to bake chicken, then bake a casserole on a busy weeknight? So, usually over the weekend, I pre-bake several chicken breasts. Then it’s all ready to be chunked and thrown in your casserole or doused in some homemade Alfredo sauce and served over pasta!

Another make-ahead chicken alternative is to put some chicken breasts in a crock pot with a little seasoning and stock, then let it cook for 6-8 hours while you enjoy your weekend with your family. It shreds on its own once it’s done, and works great for a fast-fix dinner like these chicken wraps. Yum!

You can also take advantage of the fresh-frozen packages of vegetables that have been pre-peeled and cut. Just make sure they are preservative-free. Although it is a bit more expensive, occasionally I like to use pre-trimmed vegetables in recipes. I figure I save time and the trade-off is more time with my loved ones, and who can put a price on that?

As much as I love spending time in the kitchen, I DON’T love all the prep work that goes into every home-cooked meal. Be sure to share any of your won tips in the comments below!

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