Motherhood. The greatest gift I have ever received. But also the greatest challenge I have ever received. Raising three children is exhausting, draining, and well pretty much a shit show every single day. The whining, the yelling, the fighting all take a toll.  But even when things are the absolute worst I am able to push through and survive. Here are the five tips I use to survive motherhood plus a great Mother’s Day gift guide!

Five Tips on Surviving Motherhood

Find Your Escape.

Answer this. What are your hobbies? Did you pause, think about it and come up with answers like coffee, watch TV, sleep, or hanging with my kids. Well then its time to find your escape! What are you passionate about? What is something that you would love to learn? Take these answers and do it! It is so important for you as a mom to have something that cultivates your creativity or your passion. It can be as simple as reading your favorite book. Just take the time to find something that allows you to escape for just minutes a day!

Wake up before the kids.

I have to admit, I am not a morning person. I loathe waking up super early. However I find that I am most ready to survive a day of motherhood if I wake up before my kids do. It can be difficult with a one year old, since his schedule is not consistent, but I have tried my hardest to get up at least a half an hour before they do. This allows me to grab a cup of coffee, check my social media, and write out my to do list for the day. I feel a little more sane when I do this!

Simplify your life.

A big part of surviving motherhood is creating an environment that is simpler to handle. I have found things that have worked really great in making my life easier. Getting rid of the excess, weeding out the unwanted toys, and creating lists are just a number of things that I do to make life easy.

Learn to laugh.

In motherhood there are going to be countless times when your children will aggravate you, your spouse will aggravate you, your house will aggravate you, and well quite frankly life will aggravate you. There will be days where nothing goes as planned and chaos has erupted. In these moments there is just one thing to do and that is to laugh. Things happen in life and most of what causes a day to awry can easily be brushed off with a good laugh! Try it I swear it is a life changer!

Make time for yourself.

I think we as moms hear this all the time but never follow through on a consistent balance. I know I haven’t. I get so consumed with everybody’s needs and wants that there isn’t even time to focus on myself. Well this is wrong! Mothers need to carve out enough time to recharge and reboot mentally, emotionally, and psychically. This in turn will make you a better mother! May sound strange but if you are a better version of yourself, you will be an a better position to meet your loved ones needs and wants!!!

Mother’s Day Gift Guide

While you are trying to not go insane and work on surviving motherhood, here are some wonderful gifts to pass along to your spouse and children for Mother’s Day!

1. 1. “Mama” t-shirt – This shirt comes in a number of colors and oh my goodness it is so soft. I love t-shirts that have that already worn in feel and are a tad longer than normal t-shirts. This shirt is my new favorite. 

      

   2. Water tumbler – This tumbler may have inspired me a bit to write this post. I have been a fan of this company for some time now and I absolutely love the sayings they come up with for apparel, drinkware, and so much more. You could totally add “surviving motherhood one sip at a time” to the list above!
   3. Flowers – One of my favorite things to fill the home is flowers. I simply fell in love with the Bouqs company bouquet that I received for many reasons. The fact that they are farm fresh, eco-friendly, amazingly beautiful and vibrant flowers completely won me over.
   4. Girl, wash your face – I know on my social media so many women are buzzing about this book. And for good reason. A book declaring us to stop listening to the lies we are told in order to live the joy-filled life we deserve is a definite winner!                                                                                    
   5. Magnolia Journal subscription – I have not run into many mother’s that do not love Joanna Gaines. However even if your mama is not a big fan, this magazine would still be great! There are wonderful articles about life and home which inspires, empowers, and encourages confidence.
      

Surviving motherhood with a smile and most of your brain power is possible! Happy Mother’s Day to you all!