The Professional Mama

Oliver and Charlie I've never been a big fan of "schedules" or "routines", even before kids. While sometimes it is nice to have a general "To-Do" list, I dread the idea of having to stick to a rigid regiment to get things done. I find I do much better either doing things as I go or just having a To-Do list to follow that I plan on getting done during the day/week. This has not changed since becoming a stay at home mom to my two kids (aged almost 3, Oliver, and 15 months, Charlie), plus watching another baby girl (10 months), PLUS being pregnant with our third. When I was first introduced to the concept of "Rhythms" I found that I could finally put my effective list following to use, without feeling guilty about "when" or sometimes "if" things are getting done.  First and foremost, we do not use an alarm clock to start our mornings. I know some people love having some quiet time to themselves for self-care or reflection bef

Raise your hand if you have spent more than 10 minutes at the end of the day cleaning up after your kids? ✋ Raise your hand if you are over it and ready to make things more simple for yourself and benefit your kids? ✋ Let me introduce to you a game-changer: the toy rotation! Flashback to about 7 months ago as I transitioned to staying home with my two boys. It was a few weeks after Christmas and I remember looking at our living room one day and there was an entire box of Picasso tiles dumped on the floor, a whole tote of Little People trucks and people kicked about the room, and another tote of random toys strewn about. This was the moment that things changed for us as a family. That evening I packed up most of the toys and put them out of reach/view of our curious toddler. This was the start of our toy rotation. Our current shelf upstairs Current downstairs shelf What does a toy rotation involve?  I try to pick out toys on a weekly basis that are on a shelf so the boys can grab

Washing dishes/water pouring bin Oliver making a bird feeder With quarantine and social distancing, many parents are left home with their adorable babies for the first time since maternity/paternity leaves. Personally, I was baffled when I started staying home with my toddler. How do I occupy him? How can I play with him? Can't he play by himself? As a toddler parent, I often find myself living in 15-30 minutes windows of attention for an activity, my goal is to fill each day as much as possible with enriching activities that let him explore and play on his own, are educational, or just get him off my hands for a minute! I've compiled a list of my favorite activities and some of my favorite Instagram accounts to follow for new ideas. Guide: Tong work Sensory Activites-   for these activities I use under bed storage bins ( Under bed Storage Tote ). For those involving water, we do them on the tile in with a beach towel underneath.  Art, Music, Engineering A

Meal planning has become a buzzword in the last few years for various reasons. On a diet? Meal plan. On a budget? Meal plan. Trying to eat in more? Meal plan. Hate grocery shopping? Meal plan. While everyone seems to agree that meal planning will change your food habits, they seem to always miss out on the "How to Meal Plan Without Losing Your Mind" section. I tried and failed many times at meal planning. I tried where every Monday was meatless, Tuesdays were tacos, etc but that felt too boring and rigid for me. I've also tried weeks full of new and exciting recipes, but this left me with ingredients that I would never use again and by the time the next month came around I wouldn't even remember some of the dishes. I tried a month's worth of freezer crockpot meals but they were lackluster. I tried using cheat sheets, other people's plans, and even their shopping lists but it just wasn't working. Overall, meal planning felt like a chore and I was n

When we toured daycare centers for Oliver we looked at various types of care centers: a church school, a nature-based facility, in-homes, traditional centers, and a Montessori. We ultimately chose an in-home provider, but we still talk about the Montessori school and the ideals of Montessori. For those unfamiliar with Montessori (i.e. me a few years ago!), here is a great definition: Montessori is a method of education that is based on self-directed activity, hands-on learning and collaborative play. In Montessori classrooms children make creative choices in their learning, while the classroom and the highly trained teacher offer age-appropriate activities to guide the process. Children work in groups and individually to discover and explore knowledge of the world and to develop their maximum potential.     Taken from:  https://montessori-nw.org/what-is-montessori-education Basically, to really simplify it for myself, I refer to it as "letting your toddlers (or babies, or