Being a mom is tough, no matter if you are a stay at home mom or a working mom. No matter our employment title, we all have major responsibilities and little lives depending on us. Its hard. Way harder than I thought it would be. It’s 100% worth it, but still a struggle to stay motivated sometimes.

My work schedule is pretty much perfect. I work Monday, Wednesday, Friday in the office. Tuesdays and Thursdays, I’m able to remote in from home. I really lucked at when I got hired with my employer, they are the nicest people. I love my schedule because it allows me home time, but also some time interacting with grownups. As much as I love my schedule there are days where I wish I didn’t have the work load on top of my home life. It’s hard to get it all done to the degree I feel like it should be done. That is where my mindset had to shift when I became a working mom. The idea of perfection is completely different now.

Batch Work
I’ve learned to work in batches, instead of multitasking. I’m already being pulled in too many directions so when I have a project or to-do item on my list, I must do it all at once, instead of trying to do 3 things at the same time. My day is sectioned off—work time/home time. During work time I am solely focused on my projects due at work. No paying bills, making grocery lists, or cleaning for my personal life. This is super hard to do when I’m working at home, but I have to or else my mind shifts from work mode to home mode and my work starts to lack.

List Making
List making has always been my organization tactic, but now it is a must! If it’s not on my to-do list I won’t get it done anymore. Mom brain is real! I schedule “me time”, which usually is a bubble bath where I actually shave my legs! I would recommend finding your own way of making lists that work for you. I use the Happy Planner where I can organize it with stickers and make it fun. I look forward to opening it up and seeing what my to-do list has on it for the day. 

​Cleaning Schedule
I follow a cleaning schedule now. It’s helps me tackle a few household cleaning chores daily instead of trying to fit it all in on one day. I work from 8-5, go home, start dinner, and do my cleaning schedule while dinner is cooking. After dinner is ate, we clean up, I give Rhett his bath, we play for a while, and then Rhett goes to bed. After his bed time I should get more done, but I usually watch tv and then go to bed (not gonna lie)

​Social Media Schedule
Since starting my online boutique I’ve had to step up the time I spend on social media to market the store. I don’t want to be tied down to my phone or computer any more than needed, so I knew I needed help with it. I searched online and found there are a few social media scheduling apps available but the one I have really liked so far is called buffer.com You can schedule far in advance what days and times you want to post on all your social media apps. This helps me a ton with the business aspect of it because I can look ahead at what item I want to drop that day and schedule a post to advertise it. I usually schedule 2 weeks in advance. I could go further, but 2 weeks is enough to take some stress off my shoulders but not enough that I forget what I had scheduled.
 
These are just a few of the ways I try to manage working and home life. I know these don’t work for everyone, but hopefully there will be some ideas that you can use to help manage some stress and give you as much down time as possible with your littles.
 
XOXO,
Whitney 

​Body image is always something that will be talked about. Everyone has an opinion on how it should be viewed or what is the norm but the norm is never going to be the same for everybody. My story with body image is going to be so completely different that any one else’s. We may relate with other stories but no body and no story is exactly the same which if you think about it, that’s pretty amazing!

My body image story starts as far back as I can remember. I can look back to my pre-puberty stage and kind of, slightly, remember a time where I didn’t care about my body but for the most part all my memories growing up are hindered by thoughts I had at that time regarding my body. I remember always feeling different because I was taller than all my friends and never as skinny. I remember changing after PE when I was probably in 7th grade and one of my classmates commenting on my stretch marks that happened after I grew 6 inches that summer. I was always self conscience. I maybe did good at masking it, but it effected a lot of my childhood.

After high school and into college, I still battled insecurities but I could finally feel myself gaining some confidence. Then I made the decision to get married young and my physical and mental health took a toll. The marriage was a mistake, but not, because I did learn a lot from it. After my divorce, I went on a journey of self discovery. I found my health and lost a significant amount of weight. I found and married the man of my dreams, but then my body decided to throw more curve balls at me and hit me with infertility.

My battle with infertility has been tough. It has had me hating my body for not doing what it is genetically designed to do.  It’s made me hate my stomach even more because the stretch marks are not from growing a human. I’ve hated my butt because it’s still numb from the injections that couldn’t even help me carry my baby full term.  My body has been shot up, bruised, and bloody from infertility but still no viable pregnancy to prove it. My body is a failure.
Over the last 2 1/2 years I’ve gained a lot of weight back, call it stress or emotional eating, but I call it life. In those 2 ½ years I’ve hit the lowest of lows and the highest of highs and my body has been with me through it all. I can’t hate it after that. I can’t hate it after it’s fought tooth and nail to become a mother through adoption. I can’t hate it after it’s spent countless nights staying up, bonding, and nurturing a new baby who I’m lucky enough to call my son. I cannot hate it after all the hours we’ve spent playing on the floor, being crawled on like a mountain, or a sleepy head laying on my arm. I cannot hate the vessel that has led me to my greatest calling in life. It didn't happen the way I pictured, but its so much more beautiful than I ever thought possible.

​Social media has so many great qualities, but the harm it can do to female body image is scary and my biggest advice is to get away from those people/accounts who make you feel belittled. Some accounts think they are inspirational, but the affect they have is completely opposite. Those words of encouragement saying “no excuses” or “Just make time” can be shattering to someone who is in a completely different situation than the one posting it. Instead of encouraging, it makes others feel “I made an excuse. I guess I’m a failure”. Unfollow those people if they make you feel like a failure, because you are not one. I love social media for all the great things it can do and the awesome connections I've made through it, but I do think we all need to be a bit better about what we let affect us on there. No 2 lives are the same and no 2 social media accounts will be the same. Remember that social media is almost always that person's highlight reel, they don't show the struggle side of things. After welcoming Rhett home I was having the hardest time getting on Instragram because I was following a lot of fitness accounts that made me feel depressed. I took a step back and decided to delete any account that did not make me feel better. I deleted a lot and added even more mom and adoption accounts. Find those accounts that feed you positivity. It will make you love life so much more!   

Now that my baby is for the most part sleeping through the night, I should be able to get up and work out before he wakes up. Some days I do. Other days, I don’t. I sleep a bit longer because my body and mind need that more than exercise. I still dislike the weight I’m at, but if I’m making the conscious effort to be better. I’m okay with that. We as women need to remember that we can not like our body, but still love ourselves. Self love and body image are not the same thing. We are much more than our physical form. Have a good heart, be a nice person, and remember you're worthy of so much self love.