When I was a stay-at-home mom with my oldest, I was drowning.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣Barely keeping my head above water.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣Every single morning, I’d lay on the playroom floor while she played around me. Unable to motivate myself enough to get up and DO something. Then by afternoon, the reality of our house would hit and I would plop her in front of the tv and clean like a mad woman - barely making a dent.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣Sometimes I would just get so overwhelmed that I would just pretend the messes weren’t there. It was almost paralyzing thinking about beginning, so I just wouldn’t.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣And you know what I regret the most ..read more

You’re a good mom if you feed your kids grass fed, pasture raised, organic food only.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣You’re a good mom if you grab chicken nuggets and fries on a sick day where all you hear is whining and coughing.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣You’re a good mom if your kid only eats pasta and.....pasta.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣You’re a good mom if you work 40 hours out of the home to support your family.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣You’re a good mom if you stay home with the kids to support your family.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣You’re a good mom if you have 6 kids.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣You’re a good mom if you have 1 kid.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣You’re a good mom if you send your kids to public school.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣You’re a good mom if y ..read more

A guide for asking family members to give experiences instead of gifts this holiday season and beyond. And what should you do if they still buy toys? Plus, my go-to Experience Gift Guide and an easy way to introduce experience gifts to your kids. It’s that magical time of year where more items seem to be coming into our house than going out. Our well-meaning family and friends want to give our kids so many toys, and it’s hard to ask them not to. And I get it! We have Christmas, and then both of my girls’ birthdays are within two weeks, so I completely understand toy overload!&n ..read more

I walked in through the back door of our house.⁣ ⁣Riley was crying because we had to leave the park, because Lila was losing her mind at the park.⁣ ⁣She was still mostly colicky, I don’t know what I was thinking trying to actually leave the house with both girls.⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣I was already overwhelmed, but walking in to our house and seeing all the stuff made me feel like I was DROWNING. ⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣3 large piles on the kitchen table had now morphed into one messy, overflowing pile.⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣I could barely find a walkway to the couch with all the toys on the floor.⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣Last nights dirty dishes were still i ..read more

What if, when you’re 80 years old....looking back on your life... “The good-ole days” that pop up for you are from RIGHT NOW. TODAY. THIS WEEK. THESE YEARS. What would you do differently? How would you look at your day today differently? How would you react to your kids differently? To your spouse? To yourself??? How much more grace would you give yourself? It is so easy to forget that life isn’t about the destination, but the journey. We stress away our days which is LITERALLY stressing away our life, our journey, our “good-ole days”.... What will you do differently today from this perspectiv ..read more

  I mean...right?⁣ ⁣Prior to ruthlessly decluttering, I remember marathon cleaning sessions on the weekend. I'm talking HOURS. ⁣ ⁣I would scrub away while I fumed inside about how our house was in terrible shape.⁣ ⁣I would rage vacuum while I thought about all of the other things I WISHED I was doing. ⁣ ⁣+taking a nap⁣ +hiking with my kids⁣ +day date with my husband⁣ +read a book⁣ ⁣....but instead, I would clean. And get the house nice. Then pick up after someone. Then pick up after someone else. Then get frustrated at someone for not picking up after themselves. Then WHY DO WE HAVE SO MU ..read more

I used to think I could out-clean clutter.⁣ ⁣I tried everything.⁣ ⁣Downloaded all the pretty printable cleaning schedules from pinterest…⁣ ⁣Tried zone cleaning…⁣ ⁣Heck, I even hired a cleaning service to come every other week…⁣ ⁣But my house was still a hot mess, 90% of the time. ⁣ ⁣The mountain of laundry still dominated the hallway.⁣ ⁣The paperwork piles still took over the countertop and kitchen table.⁣ ⁣We could barely walk through the family room without tripping over a toy…⁣ ⁣It wasn’t until I ruthlessly decluttered that I realized I had it totally backwards.⁣ ⁣Getting rid of all the exc ..read more

I saw a meme the other day that said something along the lines of “I have a messy house because I’m busy enjoying my kids”….⁣ ⁣Wait.⁣ ⁣What?⁣ ⁣My first thought was…”so with that line of thinking…if I have a tidy and uncluttered home, I must not have time to enjoy my kids?”⁣ ⁣When that is the complete OPPOSITE of reality.⁣ ⁣That meme has it backwards. ⁣ ⁣Because here’s the thing….⁣ ⁣When you fully declutter your home, and implement systems and routines - you spend a DRASTICALLY less amount of time on cleaning.⁣ ⁣Like, 50-75% less time on picking up and cleaning!⁣ ⁣Think about it…⁣ ⁣When you hav ..read more

All that stuff...⁣ ⁣The piles on the kitchen counters, the dining table, your bedside table.⁣ ⁣The cords and DVD’s and books overflowing the basket in the family room.⁣ ⁣The gadgets that fall out every time you open that one kitchen cabinet.⁣ ⁣The boxes of stuff in your kids closet.⁣ ⁣All of that stuff that you bought or received with good intentions. Things that were going to make your life better for various reasons.⁣ ⁣It’s causing you stress.⁣ ⁣It’s causing you anxiety.⁣ ⁣It’s making you lose your patience often with your spouse.⁣ ⁣It’s making you yell at your kids when all you want is for ..read more

I don’t need to tell you that clutter adds stress into our lives.⁣ ⁣…that it builds up slowly, and before we know it - has taken over our homes. ⁣ ⁣But did you know that clutter literally stresses you out? Like physiologically stresses you out?⁣ ⁣According to a 2009 UCLA study, women who perceive clutter in their home have raised levels of cortisol (stress)!⁣ ⁣But not only that…⁣ ⁣According to a 2016 Cornell study, stressed caused from clutter was found to have triggered avoidance techniques like eating junk food and binge watching tv!⁣ ⁣All because we have extra stuff in our house, that we do ..read more