I recently read a post from The Bump Life called The Best Parenting Advice I’ve Received, and I think it’s a great list of 5 key pieces of advice. I just pulled the toy switcheroo in my house, and it worked like a charm. And I completely agree, getting out of the house every day makes you feel good – like you accomplished something!
I thought of a few more tips that came to mind:
1. Shower and fix your hair every day. This sounds kind of lame, but I think it ties back to taking care of yourself. When I take just 15 minutes to get myself ready in the morning, I feel much more awake and ready to take on the day. When we do finally make it out of the house, I feel better looking good – even better if I put on at least some makeup. I remember watching a daytime talk show encouraging women to get ready & dress nice just for YOU.
2. Do a load of laundry or some chore every day. With rarely getting uninterrupted time to get housework done, I break it up into smaller chunks of time, so I’m not overwhelmed. Today my daughter helped me dust and water the plants. Yay!
3. Do a few things the night before! This can go for packing lunches, picking out clothes, packing the car for a trip, etc. It is so much easier to get things accomplished with a quiet house that will help streamline the morning routine.
4. Take a timeout. It is perfectly acceptable to put your child in a safe place and leave them there for a few minutes to calm down. Parents can take their own timeouts too….again it goes back to taking care of yourself for your own health and sanity.
5. Don’t be too hard on yourself. I sometimes aspire to be the perfect parent – to do whatever I can to make my children the best people they can be. This can be exhausting of course, so give yourself permission to just “show-up.” Sure, there are days when the TV is on longer than I would like, or I may not have handled my daughter’s tantrum in the best way, but I know that there will be PLENTY of opportunities to try something different the next day or during the next tantrum. Parents – like kids – learn through trial and error, and there’s not one perfect way of raising children. Do what works for you and your family and just make it through the day. No matter how many tough moments there were, I try to reflect on the sweet, million dollar moments that I had the privilege of experiencing that day.
Want more advice or tips? Check out these links below:
go mama o. 
Great list! I like the “Take a Time Out” the best…we Moms tend to forget that it’s ok to take a break. Also, I didn’t realize how important #1 really is until within the last year- and my son is 3 now! I truly feel more self-confident when I actually take a shower and put make-up on in the morning.
Thanks! Yeah, I think just getting ready every day is important to feel good. Glad I wasn’t alone on that. Thanks for checking out my lil blog!