Category: Tips & Tricks

10 Tips for Working from Home as a Stay-at-Home Mom

It may be hard to find, but working from home as a stay-at-home mom is really the best of both worlds! Here are some tips to help make it happen.

For a lot of moms, working from home while still being able to be a stay-at-home mom is a coveted dream that often feels out of reach. It can be hard to find flexible work, hard to take care of your kids and the house, and nearly impossible to mesh the two together. But once you do figure it out, it can be the best arrangement imaginable. Whether it’s for extra money, personal fulfillment, or just to keep an oar in the water, it can be a total game changer for your life!

I’ve been working from home since I had my son and I’ve learned a lot through the years. Some things failed miserably and others opened up amazing opportunities. Here’s my advice for how you can make it work:

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10 Free Apps that Will Save You Money & Sanity

These must-have apps are all free but will save you tons of money (or just your sanity!). They're all worth the download.

There are lots of items I would consider absolutely essential as a mom, but honestly there’s only one item I can’t go 20 minutes without and that’s my phone. And it’s not because I’m playing Candy Crush or posting pictures on Facebook. It’s because of the collection of free apps I’ve gathered that tell me what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. Ones that calm my baby, put him to sleep, then calm me. And ones that tell me what’s going on outside the world of baby. And for those moments when I do have time to post on Facebook, it makes the process possible (and fun).

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The Baby Products You Actually Want on Your Baby Registry

There are so many items you will want to put on your baby registry, but you probably don't need half of them. You do, however, want to have these items on your baby registry!

Putting together a baby registry (especially if it’s your first!) is one of the most exciting parts of a pregnancy.  You can really start to visualize your baby being with you!  

There are tons and tons and tons of things to add to your registry – and you’ll still get a ton of stuff not on your registry – but you really don’t need (or necessarily want) all of those things.  So here are the things you definitely DO want!

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7 Chores that Your 2-Year Old Can Help with

Nothing is better than pulling your 2-year into all of your chores and if you can believe it, they'll actually enjoy most of them! Check out this list to see what you can start with.

It’s hard to believe that at such a young age your toddler is able to actually help out with the cleaning, but it’s the perfect time to get them started! Not only do they love to be little helpers, but it’s a great way to keep them busy and mix things up a bit. Not to mention that it’s great to get some habits instilled early so that they eventually do certain chores on their own.

Most of the chores my son has taken on started because he wanted to be doing exactly what I was doing. Then I started to realize that he was capable of doing more and before long he had his own list!

Believe me, you (and they) are ready for this! Here are some chore ideas to start handing off to your toddler:

 

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8 Reasons All Stay-at-Home Moms Should Be Freelance Writers

Being a stay at home mom is amazing, but it's even more amazing if you can have a small side gig going on! Writing is perfect for stay-at-home moms and definitely was a game changer for me! Here's how to get started and why you should give it a try.

For me, nothing beats being a stay-at-home mom. It is the best decision I ever made and I wouldn’t change it for the world. But I feel lucky that in addition to being a stay-at-home mom, I’ve found an outlet that lets me escape the hardest parts of the day – the times when you feel unproductive, flustered, lonely, or out-of-control. Being at home is worth it – but it’s still tough!

For me, that outlet has been through writing. It has culminated in this blog, but behind that are freelance jobs, pet projects, and other sources of writing for pleasure or pay. And I didn’t start out as a writer. In fact, I often can’t believe that I’ve even found myself here because writing was never something I actually enjoyed, nor was it something I planned on doing. It just happened. But thank God it did, because now I don’t know what I’d do without it!

Related post: How to Start a Money-Making Blog

So, if you’re considering leaving the workforce to be a stay-at-home mom, or already are and are in desperate need of an outlet, here are all the reasons you need to seriously consider taking on some freelance work:

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20 Ways to Incorporate the ABC’s into your Toddler’s Day

I love watching my son learn the ABC's and there are so many fun ways to teach him! Check out this list for some good ideas.

The ABC’s are one of the funnest things to start teaching your toddler – assuming they’re interested in learning. Luckily, there are so many different ways to incorporate the ABCs into their day – and more importantly, a billion ways to start exposing them to their letters so that they start to pick it up on their own.

Having a late talker, we were obsessed with learning the ABCs, so I’ve tested out more than you can imagine.  Here are some of the coolest ideas I’ve come across, as well as some new fun things to try:

 

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How to Transition a Co-Sleeping Toddler to Their Own Bed

Transitioning a co-sleeping toddler to their own bedroom can seem like an impossible task, but it's easier than you think and it WILL happen. Here are some tips to help!

Making the decision to transition a co-sleeping toddler to their own bed is a joyous occasion. Sure, you’ve looooved co-sleeping with them.  But as with all great things, at some point you realize it’s time to move on.  

And in this case, moving on means transitioning from co-sleeping to a toddler bed.  Whether it’s overcrowding, time to welcome a new baby, or just the right time for your toddler, you will reach a point where your co-sleeping toddler needs to move out! 

Related Post: 12 Ways to Make Co-Sleeping Safer

So how do you do that?  How do you get your toddler to sleep in their own bed after co-sleeping? Or, as so many like to point out, are you destined to sleep with your child until they leave for college?    

My husband and I co-slept with our son until he was 2 and then began the transitioning process.  And believe it or not, it was way easier than we thought!  Just like with breastfeeding, the transition seemed to be 1,000 times easier for my toddler than for me…which was a relief because I ended up being the only one that needed to cry-it-out. 🙂

Obviously every child (and parent) is different, so some tips may work better than others, but this is what worked for us.  And as I said, we were able to pull it off without any crying-it-out (at least from the toddler).

So if you need to figure out how to get a toddler to sleep in their own bed after co-sleeping, give some of these tips a try:

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