A couple of weeks ago, I had an aha moment after several days of feeling overwhelmed.
I do not have to do it all!
There is SO MUCH that goes into running the household and I live with three other humans who are
capable of helping me BUT, I never ask. We have tried the chore charts before but I decided to go a different direction with things this time. I realized that because I am doing so much work behind the scenes, the rest of the family isn't aware of all of the tasks that go into our day to day routine. Things like keeping the house clean, getting dinner on the table, managing schedules, planning get togethers, or making sure things are in order for our fur kiddos.
Last week, on Friday afternoon, I created a quick print out to keep on the fridge. It read, "Help Wanted!"
On this printable, I listed all of the tasks that needed to happen for the weekend. This included vacuuming, dusting, emptying trash cans, bathing the dogs, picking up the dog poop, etc. I simply asked that everyone do 1-2 things on the list before they had their fun for the day. There was no pushback whatsoever!
Two things happened!
One, my overwhelming list of things to do became shorter. I could focus on planning a birthday and Father's Day because I had help with the household tasks.
Two, it gave my family insight and a gentle reminder of all the things that need to be done to keep the house running smoothly and in order, just like we all like it.
Here is your reminder to ask for help!
it takes the overwhelm off of everyone when the family is working together.
Click the link below for your "Help Wanted" printable. If you find it helpful, I would love to hear form you.
Enjoy!
I spent all of 2022 doing "thought dumps" or "thought downloads" at the beginning of my day to help get myself into a better headspace. It was a new routine I had worked into to my mornings and loved the shift I saw in my approaches to the hard days and weeks. Getting my thoughts out on paper helped me sort through my emotions and mindset. It was a game changer when it came to starting my day.
Cue a few weeks ago when I woke up on a Monday morning and overwhelm hit. I knew the weekly to-do list in my head was a mile long. However, the thought of "all the things" left me feeling frozen and stumped on where to even begin. I have always been a pen and paper gal so I quicky started making one long list for the week. I love being able to cross tasks off as I tackle them. However, this time I was still feeling the overwhelm. It dawned on me to categorize my to-dos. One list for things to be done around the house, one for my new speech therapy business, one for my essential oil business, one for the boys. I quickly prioritized all the tasks. I pulled what needed to be done right away from each list and put it down for Monday. Then I wrote down what my list needed to be for Tuesday, and so on. When I saw that long list turn into short, doable lists organized into days, I felt a weight lift. In a matter of minutes, my brain dump turned into an organized week of tasks that would be crossed off by Friday!
For the past two weeks, I have been quickly creating a hand drawn grid with pen and paper to create my Monday Brain Dump. Today I decided this habit was going to stick and created a printable that would make the "To-Do List Break Down" look more organized and clean!
You are invited to start this habit with me. Enjoy the free "Weekly Brain Dump" printable below!
Every year I print a cute Santa letter template and the boys quickly work through it with excitement. They list their wants, sign the letter, and off it goes!
Now that they are a little older, I wanted a template to guide them to be a little more thoughtful with their list.
This isn’t something that I wanted to make too deep but still reflective. I wanted them to have fun with it! My youngest, who is 7, obviously had much different responses than my fourth grader. However, the few reflective fill in the blanks, did have both pausing to think on things for a moment.
Initially, I thought the reflective portion would be about behavior, I quickly realized I needed to let them guide their own responses and have fun with it. I know the responses to those questions will changes over the years.
While I am not a graphic designer, you are free to download the Letter to Santa printable below.
Enjoy!
We have all heard of a gratitude journal. If you are like me, you have started one and loved it but then somehow life creeps up on you and the journal falls to the wayside. Somehow that habit that was so good for our mindset and that we enjoyed so much has fallen through the cracks and we hesitate to jump back in.
The truth is, a journal is not necessary to sit in gratitude. I am not saying that gratitude journals aren't great, because they are. However, I want this to be a simple practice that my kids can understand and implement on their own for a healthy mindset. I want something that can encourage positive conversation and reflection over meals or while riding in the car.
To get in the habit of being mindful and practicing gratitude simply, I created a simple print out that I can keep on the fridge, at my desk or in the bedrooms to remind us of questions we can be asking ourselves to reflect at the beginning and at the end of the day.
In fact, it is so simple, that you probably won't have to glance at it after a few run throughs. You may even add your own reflection questions to the mix! My hope is that this becomes a simple habit for our minds when we wake up and when we end our day.
I hope the printable below helps to stir up some reflective conversations in your family!
Meal planning….
When someone says the words “meal planning” to me, my response is, “UGH”. I am not big on planning ahead for anything, let alone what we will be eating for breakfast, lunch, and dinner the next five days. However, when I know my kids’ schedules are about to pick up, I KNOW the way to take some stress off my plate is plan out our meals for the week. The more you do it, the easier it gets! I have been off track all summer but I am ready to get back to planning and taking the guess work out of our meals.
When I think of meal planning, I often just think about dinner. As my kids have grown a little bit older, I have found that THEY LIKE to know what their meal options are for breakfast and lunch. When they do, this leads to less meltdowns and arguments over what is being put on their plate.
For breakfast, I like to pick three different items to rotate through for the week. One of those items is always a grab and go that I can easily pair with fruit. I will make a batch of muffins or hard-boiled eggs to reach for when little feet are dragging.
When it comes to lunch, I tell my kids to pick two days they will be purchasing their lunch at school. Once they do that, they know they have a couple of options to choose from when they are bringing their lunch.
For dinner, I ask everyone for one dinner suggestion for the week. This leaves me with only two meal ideas to come up with! Also, if we know we are eating on the go one night, I am sure to write that down as well.
Check out the FREE Meal Planning Printable HERE!
Tips for this print out:
1. Save them! A friend once showed me how she saves her weekly meals so that when we is in a slump, she can simply look back and recreate a previous hit!
2. Let the family participate in their choices. It takes a load off of your plate and gives them a sense of control.
3. The breakfast and lunch boxes are there to lay out the options for the week. This way you aren't short order cooking at the crack of dawn while trying to get everyone out the door.
4. In the lunch section, you can mark whether or not a child/family member is purchasing lunch out that day. This way you have a better idea of the meal prep that will be going into the following day.
5. Be flexible! Things change. Schedules change. Wrenches get thrown into plans. Don't sweat it if you don't follow your plan to the tee.
Enjoy! Remember, the more you do this, the easier it will get.
