Welcome to the first post of the new series The Organised Housewife’s Guide to Helping Mum’s Thrive at Home. Firstly I want to say a huge thank you to those that left comments on the post where I announced the series, I read each of them and I truly hope that you find the tips helpful that I will share and you can start Thriving at Home! I just wanted to knock on each of your doors and give you a big hug and I know being a mum, running a household and keeping a smile on your face can be so hard. For those that are new, please leave your a comment about your struggles in this post here and I can answer them throughout the series for you.
I would really love you to leave your comments about this post below, to share your ideas and tips as we all run our families and household differently and your tip may make a difference to another mum.
Remember, every family is different so adapt the ideas you find to suit your family. Be sure to read the comments as well, as there can be some great advice in there from other mums going through the same struggles.
Think Positive and Be Happy
According to the Urban Dictionary a stay at home mum is a mother that stays at her home during the day. Unemployed, usually with the husband supporting the family.
I received quite a few emails from readers saying that a struggle they are having is that they are at home with the kids and feel guilty for not working and contributing financially to the family and at the end of the day the kids are driving them crazy.
Being at home with young children can be hard. At times your mind can wander, feeling guilty for staying at home and not working. Being with the kids all day is hard work, can drive us a little crazy and can lead to depression, lonliness and sleep deprivation.
Know you are doing an amazing job looking after your child/children, despite it being monotonous being there to watch your child grow, guiding them to make the right decisions and laughing together makes all those long weary days worth it.
Get rid of the guilt
I stayed at home with my kids up until they started school, I felt guilty not returning to the workforce sooner for few reasons:
- not helping towards our bills
- despite being home all day I didn’t keep the house perfectly clean
- that I got to experience wonderful times with my kids while hubby was working
- that I get to stay home while other friends of mine had to work
The guilt had to stop, as the ultimate reason of why I wanted to be at home had nothing to do with a clean house or comparing myself to others. It was all about my kids, my babies are only babies once and I wanted to be with them as they grew.
Both my husband and I worked full time since we were 18, our wedding was so much fun but didn’t cost a fortune (if I remember right it was under $8000) at 20 we purchased our first home and both had safe cars. Between then and having our children we saved our money knowing that one day in our late 20s we will start a family and lose one income. During that time we didn’t go on expensive holidays, spend on extravegant items, shopped for only what we needed and rarely dined out. We were very frugal with the furniture in our first home, it was all 2nd hand from op shops or furniture our family no longer wanted, it was mismatched but it got us by. It wasn’t until the twins were 3 and youngest 1 that I began to slowly replace it all.
When we budgeted we did so with our future in mind. (I will go into budget in more detail later in this series). I had to remind myself that this was always the plan I could not continue feeling guilty for being at home full time with the kids as that was our goal all along.
If you find yourself feeling guilty remember why you made this choice.
Think positive
Don’t listen to any negativity around you from either people giving it or the thoughts in your head. Remember why you wanted to be at home with the kids and be proud that you are able to follow through with it.
- Be happy
- Think positively
- Learn from your mistakes
- Laugh often
- Stay strong
- Dream big
- Be proud of who you are
- Eat healthy
- Be thankful
- Believe in yourself
- Make memories
- Love unconditionally
We will discuss some of the other issues that can affect your positivity during the series.
I created this print below which you can frame and look at daily and help you through the hard times. Get 50% off print using this coupon code: behappy –
DOWNLOAD PRINT HERE.
Do you feel guilty for being at home with the kids? How did you overcome it?
Read all posts from ‘Helping mum’s thrive at home’ series.
