Hi guys, welcome back to my channel. In today's video, I want to do a sit down with you and
give you some tips on how to be a happy parent or a happy mum. In the past I've been a stay
at home mom, I've been a working mum, and now I'm a stay at home working mum and let
me tell you all of those types of moms experience burnout. So here are just a few tips of things
that I do that help me get through the day and stay positive. And I hope you really like
them. If you have any of your own tips that keep you being a happy parent or things that
just really work for you, I'd love you to include them in the comments down below. And
if you're new here, please consider subscribing. It's completely free and I'd love you to be
part of our community. So my first tip is to have me time, and I
know this can be easier said than done when you have very young children at home, but
I read a quote the other day that said, "If you just take 30 minutes to yourself, that
is only 5% of your entire day." And it's funny how when you become a mum, things that were
basic hygiene, like having a shower before you are a parent suddenly become me time.
So whatever it is that you like to do, whether it's reading, whether it is like taking a
bath, once the kids have gone to bed and ignoring all the mess around you, whatever it is, try
and find that time for your own sanity. And for me, I've really struggled with having
me time because I feel such a huge amount of mom guilt. But recently I've found something
that I do that actually gives me no mum guilt at all and that is running. When I run with
my friend, I feel like I'm doing it for my health as well and I don't feel so guilty
about it. Whereas if I go and have beauty treatments
or something, I feel really guilty about doing that. So I actually tend to have beauty treatments
when the kids are asleep for some reason. But yes, if you can find some me time, it
will do wonders. My next tip is to create routines and take a little bit of time to
plan. I personally feel so much better when I feel organized and that's probably why I've
made so many organizational videos and routine videos in the past. So if you don't know where
to start with a routine, I will link some of my past videos down below. But I like to
use a planner. I also like to have to do this on my phone, which I can share it with my
husband so he can also do some of the tasks. I like to have a command center in our kitchen
so that the entire family is on board. And meal planning is also a game changer.
My next step is to make like-minded mum friends because motherhood can be so isolating and
lonely at times. When I had our first baby, I was the first one out of my friend group
to have a baby so my immediate friends couldn't really relate to everything that I was going
through at home and I also live very far away from any family. All of my family live in
Canada and I know that's the case for so many of you guys as well so it can be really lonely.
So if you can make some like-minded friends that you can either go for a coffee with or
just chat to about the things that you're going through as a new mother, it can be so
invaluable. But it can also be quite hard making new mom friends. It can be like dating
again. So I wanted to tell you about this really cool app called Peanut.
It's a social networking app for mums. So you can meet like minded moms in your area
and it's completely free to download. I will put the links in the description down below.
You can download it from the app store. I love that you can go onto this app and you
can meet like minded moms in your community, you can chat to them, you can join groups,
you can ask questions across topics such as pregnancy, motherhood, love and so many others.
When you download the app and you set up a profile, you're asked to choose three different
categories that describe you. There are so many different categories to choose from,
but I think I chose wine time, powered by coffee, and routines as well. But by choosing
those categories, the algorithm of the app will then connect you with like minded mothers
and also asks you about your interests or your work life and again that will connect
you to mothers like you as well. So when you're on the app it will show you
different moms in your community and you can either swipe up to give them a wave or a swipe
down to say maybe later. And then if they swipe up on you and wave at you as well, then
you're connected and you can chat and you can meet up if you want to. But my favorite
thing on the app is something called peanut pages, because on peanut pages there are different
chats going on. You can ask questions, there is support at all times. So in the middle
of the night if you're like, I just want to ask a question about teething, chances are
there might be other moms online as well and there are also some really sensitive subjects.
Some people talk about P&D or things that are upsetting them. You can be anonymous or
you can be yourself. It's just a brilliant little network and it's also a bit more intimate
than other networks because if you wanted to actually meet up with the mums that you've
been chatting to, you can do that. Yeah, so I'm loving being on the Peanut app.
I'm actually really enjoying giving other people advice as well, where I've been a mom
for eight years. If I see a question like who can recommend a good baby carrier? I've
tried so many that. I can be like, this is the best one that I've tried and I love sharing
that with other moms as well. So again, it's called Peanuts, but I will put the links in
the description so that you can check it out and download it for free if you want to.
My next tip is to get outdoors. I feel like our house and our family is so much happier
if we have an outing every day. I get restless if we don't, the kids get restless. And if
things ever do get heated at home, I'm like, right, get your coats, gear, shoes. We are
going outside. So whether it's like a simple trip to the park or even... I always remember
when I had three under five years old, even once I just got them all into the car, drove
to the drive through, got a coffee, and then drove home and it just did wonders for my
brain on that day. My next tip is to lower your standards or
ask for help. Now this is something I really struggled with when I had my first son. I
kind of felt, even though I had a baby, I wanted to maintain the house at the same level.
So when he was napping, I was cleaning constantly, but what I should have maybe done was asked
for help from family members or not care so much because nothing bad actually happens
if your house is a bit messy. The people that matter to you should understand that you've
just had a baby and therefore that's the life stage that you're in. So when I had my second
son, I was a lot more relaxed and better at just letting the washing pile up and having
cuddles with my son if that's what I wanted to do.
My next tip is don't compare yourself to other mums and don't compete with competitive mums.
I'm sure we've all come across competitive mums at playgroups. You know the ones that
say their one-year-old is reading or whatever it might be. Just know that when those moms
are being competitive, it's their issue and their insecurity and not you or your baby.
All babies are different and once they start school, they all pretty much catch up to each
other. So don't overthink it, don't worry. And another massive tip on this one is to
edit your social media. Only follow accounts that make you feel good about yourself. If
there are anyone that you're following that is bringing you down, just press the unfollow
button. And my next tip is kind of in line with the last one. And that is don't judge
other mums and try to have empathy for people because we really don't know what's going
on with anyone. We don't know what anyone's really going through. So if you see a much
older child with a dummy or a pacifier in their mouth, well, there might be a reason
for that. They may have just had a meltdown and that is the only thing that will stop
them screaming, like we really don't know. So I think the best thing we can do as moms
is if I see another mum trying to wrestle with a child who's having a tantrum or whatever,
it's like smile at them or give them like a nod. Like I know, like I've been there before.
I think we just all really need to support each other.
My next tip is to try and choose grace over anger when you're disciplining your kids.
Now, I'm not going to say too much on this one because I recently made a whole video
about how I try and parent without yelling. So I will link that video down below if you
want to see more of it. But yeah, I'm a much happier person when I'm not shouting and yelling.
My next tip is to have a thing that is just yours. So for me, once I started blogging
and it wasn't my husband's and it wasn't my kids, I felt so much happier because it kind
of gave me a purpose. So I'm sure for a lot of us it will be the work that we do. But
as I said, motherhood can be really isolating. So it was really nice to like have a hobby
or a thing. And my last tip, I was unsure whether to include
or not because I think it sounds silly, but it honestly makes me feel so much happier.
And that is to declutter. Whenever I declutter a room or even a drawer or a space like under
the sink or something, it just clears my mind and makes me feel a lot happier. So I've made
so many de-cluttering videos in the past as well. So I'll link some of those for you.
But yes, I hope you really enjoyed these top 10 tips on how I am a happy parent. Let me
know what you think in the comments below and I'll see you in the next one. Bye guys.