Mommy Rules, Stop Shaming Yourself

Hey, you… other mom… psssst….

I see you. I see you hiding in your car. The only place you get a few minutes to yourself while your kids are asleep in the backseat. I see you getting drive thru just so you can have two minutes of peace where the kids are snacking in the backseat on chicken nuggets while you enjoy your cup of coffee.

Being a mom is hard!

To help keep my sanity I find that I live by several Mom Rules, here are my top 10: 

  1. Eating in your car… all the time. It is ok, just save up your quarters to eventually go to a car wash and use the vacuum every once in a while
  2. Toddlers screaming and yelling can sometimes be nails on a chalk board, turn on some fun music to help drown it out. Maybe they’ll join in on the dancing and singing too. My go-to’s are Weezer, Bruno Mars, and Jack Johnson. 
  3. Using a tablet or phone for an immediate reprieve is ok. A little bit of screen time is better than you losing your mind.
  4. Talking to yourself even when your kids aren’t around is normal. Being so used to giving a play by play of everything you’re doing because you are trying to teach your children speech will happen even when you are outside of the house. Who cares if you look crazy, at least you’ll ward off the people who try to make small talk when shopping at the store. 
  5. Leave your house a mess, don’t worry about that laundry and watch your favorite tv show or movie. Take a mental health break once in a while. 
  6. Make some time to hang out (without your kids) with your friends and your significant other. Go out to a movie, get dinner, get a mani/pedi, go on a weekend adventure- getting a chance to be yourself and not just a mom or a parent is important.
  7. It is ok to serve chicken nuggets, hot dogs, and tater tots to your kids every once in a while. It has been a long day, don’t make it any longer trying to make the perfect lunch or dinner…. take a break! Don’t try to live up to the Pinterest mom expectations. 
  8. It is ok if you enjoy those kids tv shows. One of my favorite things to do is to even watch cartoons from when I was a kid. I have found Hulu has a lot of 90’s shows and movies and I can share them with my little ones. Hello, 90’s Disney movies! 
  9. Take up offers from people to babysit. Allow them to watch your kids, even if just for an hour. 
  10. Six words: Pour Yourself That Glass of Wine.

Always remember that you are awesome, you are doing a good job and It’ll all be ok.

 

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Michelle Walter
Michelle grew up in Beaver Falls, PA then moved to Carnegie, PA with her husband and then back to be closer to home and they now live in Monaca, PA. Michelle met her husband in high school and they dated for 8 years before getting married. Then following the wedding they adopted their loving cat and had two beautiful children. Michelle’s daughter and little princess is now 2 years old and their son is 2 months old…