Stay at home mom survival tip-create your village!

Let's be honest, nobody truly knows and understands the day in the life of one another let alone the day to day of a stay at home mom. Before becoming a stay at home mom, other's gave me tips and insight of what to expect. But just like parenting alone, nothing prepares you for what to expect.

A lot has changed in the last 2.5 years of being a parent, including how my day to day looks with now being a mom of two and a small business owner. When I reflect back to the beginning of parenthood, I am happy to have grown from then and created the village I now have today.

One of the most important things I realized was some of your closest friends you have before becoming a mom, may not be your closest when children come into the picture. You inevitably create a bond to those who also have children themselves due to the relatability and doing things together with the kids. I still have my friends today that don't have children, and I don't love them any less, but we may not see each other as often as we did before simply because we are not in the same place of our lives.

The number one thing that gets me through my weeks, is my support system. Before I dive deeper, I should state that I LOVE being a stay at home mom. I dreamt of it, and wouldn't have it any other way. That doesn't discredit that it is still difficult and some days are harder than others. With my first son, I genuinely felt what everyone had warned me about. Being Lonely. The days were long, I didn't have a crazy toddler to keep me on my toes, nor did I have a good routine dialed in. As a new first time mom, let alone were hormones post baby crazy, but everything was SO new. I went from only worrying about mostly myself and working full time, to suddenly being home A LOT more than I was used to. As my first was a baby, play dates weren't much of a thing yet. I honestly don't think it was until he was almost 1 that play dates started being a normal part of our weeks agenda. This is when things really started to get entertaining.

Lawson, my first born, began to love being socialized and not only was it good for him but good for me as well. I started to surround myself by other moms with children about the same age. We all wanted to do the same things with our children. We all felt stir crazy from time to time. This encouraged us to do meet ups, walks, park dates, indoor kids centers, rotate house play dates, etc. Being able to relate with these other moms on a true level of understanding helped me tremendously. All of our kids are unique, different ages and genders, yet motherhood is the most relatable topic. We all have one another to bounce things off each other, remind us we aren't alone or crazy lol, and help each other with raising our tribe. Although I don't require a lot of help with my kids, just knowing I have a village when it comes necessary is the most secure feeling. We may not see each other everyday, but we're all there when we need one another.

Now as a mom of two, the start of the first year of my second borns life is looking much differently than with my first. There are no lonely days. Even when my husband works late, or when the baby is sleeping, I have a busy toddler to keep me entertained both at home and keeping my calendar full getting out and about.

My biggest encouragement to a new stay at home mom would be that it gets better. This doesn't mean it isn't good in the beginning, but I simply remember thinking my days could look better. And now I wish I could go back to those quiet slow days of just my first baby and I only knowing how crazy things were going to get. My other piece of advice would be get you and your kiddo out there! Even alone, do the park date, make small talk with random moms, meet new friends, etc. There are so many different kids activities in most areas that can help make this happen. There are days my kid(s) weren't in the best mood, or I had little motivation or patience, but not once have I regretted having a chaotic day of getting out of the house and making memories. If you don't have your village, get out there and create one!