I love the minute we get back family photos. Trevor + I gather around and look at all of them enjoying each little smiling face. We took these family photos in Albion basin and my girl Paige is the best! When doing family photos I like to keep them candid, light hearted, and really let our personalities come out! I have a post all about tips to keeping Family Pictures easy right here if you are interested. I know with fall around the corner and Christmas (YAY) family pictures are on the rise.

I’m sharing 4 little tips I’ve used throughout the years to try to manage the chaos that comes with busy little ones. It’s so easy to get caught up in the day to day routine, to feel like you’re not doing enough, to have the dreaded mom-guilt weight on you, and to feel like you’re the only one with all these feelings. Well, you’re not. Being a mom is the best thing in the world but it can also be hard, very hard. These are a couple things I do and make sure I’m conscious of to help our days go better & for me not to feel overwhelmed.

4 ways to stay keep calm as mom

1. Write it down

If you have a billion things to do that day and feel overwhelmed even in your head take a couple minutes of undivided time to make a list of what you want to do. What is the most important to get done and what will make you the happiest. For me I have to have a clean house. I can barely function if I feel like my house is a disaster zone. But, guess what? I have a 4 year old + 2 year old so my house is never perfectly clean. So on my list I usually list a couple rooms or areas that I would like clean that day and the others put on the back burner (like their playroom). My list usually look something like this: Clean Family Room, Vacuum upstairs, Movies date with the kids, workout class at 6pm, Go through kids closets. This helps me so much to not feel as overwhelmed + stay on track.

2. Be organized before

I’ve talked about this before but it helps leaps + bounds in our family. I love to order my groceries online! I usually sit down Sunday night make a list of everything I want to have on hand that week and recipes I want to make and order my groceries. I literally pick them up after I drop Mason off at school and feel so ready for the rest of the week. I can’t tell you how much stress this takes off my plate and how many random tips to the store it have eliminated. Also I like to stay organized by preparing the night before for the next day. Maybe we are going to the zoo so I will have snacks ready, outfits laid out, everything that can be in the car in the car the night before so really all I need to do in the morning with the kids is get ready. I can’t tell you how many times I haven’t been organized and run around like a crazy lady getting everything together. Those are the times I usually loose my mind.

3. Be aware of your triggers

Which loosing my mind leads us into this topic. Knowing your triggers and what makes you feel overwhelmed & snap. I heard this advice a couple months ago and it has really helped me ever since. My triggers are being late, getting the kids to bed at night, and a messy house. When I say these are my triggers I mean that these are the times I usually snap the most. Becoming conscious of when you get mad the most and knowing you have a hard time with those moments is something that helps keep your cool. When I know we are running late already yelling at my kids 10+ times to get in the car and then get mad at them over every little thing after that (which really doesn’t matter) always makes for a bad rest of the day. So from now on I’m conscious that it’s a trigger of mine and I literally tell myself, “Brittany, it’s fine if we are 10 minutes late. It’s not worth loosing your cool and have a bad rest of the day”. Guys, it has helped so much! I might even have to tell myself that over and over but I find I’m more happy and even an hour later so grateful I didn’t freak out and cause a bad day over something so insignificant.

4. Take time to zone your mind

I remember one of my friends telling me she gives herself about 20 minutes a day alone in her room. At first I was like well how do you do that? Who watches your kids? She calmly said, they are usually playing in their playroom or watching a show. Guys! Us mommas get overwhelmed and need to recharge. Taking 20 minutes in the middle of the day helps me so much! I always find I’m dragging around 2-3 that’s when I usually do a nap for Monroe and quiet time for Mason. Mason just stays in his room playing with puzzles, coloring, or ready books. That’s when I set my timer and relax (almost meditate) on my bed. When my 20 minutes is up a do a couple things around the house and then get the babies. By this time I’m ready to roll again for the rest of the day + feel recharged.

I hope this list really helps you guys! It’s just little steps we add to our lives that help the most in the long run! Also let me know if you want more post like this. Have the best Tuesday! Xo