How can you feel fulfilled as a stay at home mom? Here are 11 ways busy moms can find fulfillment, feel accomplished, & stay positive.

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Stay at home mom burnout can affect even the best moms. These tips will help you if you’re feeling trapped or unmotivated as a stay at home mom.

Even if you’ve been feeling down, you can find a way to enjoy being a mom, spend time with your kids, and still care for your own needs and desires.

1.) Call, text, email, or video message someone you haven’t talked to in a while. 

It can be a relative, your best friend, a coworker, or anyone you know, really. Just get in touch and see how they’re doing.

They’ll probably love to hear from you! And you’ll feel more joyful and relaxed after talking to friends or family.

Keeping in touch with those I love in the outside world helps me to stay sane and not go crazy as a stay at home mom.

2.) Look at or watch things that bring you joy.

Reflect on meaningful memorabilia, or watch videos that make you laugh or bring you joy.

Choose pictures or videos of your favorite…(insert your favorite memory, place, animal, etc.) Or just something else in general that brings you joy.

The other day I showed my toddler her baby pictures, and we both enjoyed looking at them. Even if you can’t physically leave your surroundings much, you can still look at something you enjoy.

3.) Read or listen to things that make you feel fulfilled, such as books/audiobooks, music, or podcasts.

You can read/listen for a set amount of time- even if it’s only 15-20 minutes. (I usually have to break up what I read over several days (or weeks,) while I’m taking care of 4 kids- 2 of which I’m having to help homeschool now.)

The last audiobook I listened to was by Laura Doyle- she has a few books that specifically help women to have a better marriage. She also has one for single women who want to be married- I haven’t read that one though.

Even though I’ve never felt my marriage was in trouble, there are several things I now understand much better about how men think and how women can affect the response we get from men. I’m glad I had a friend tell me about her books.

If you know any woman who is looking for marriage tips or help, I strongly recommend Laura Doyle’s books.

✅Check out the paperback version of her book ‘The Empowered Wife’ on Amazon here.

4.) Make something that makes you feel fulfilled or brings you joy.

Enjoy making a craft, doing a sewing project, a form of art, making a mug cake, or find something else creative or fun to make to help you to feel accomplished and stay positive as a stay at home mom.

I am always a fan of making mug cakes or just regular cakes.

We also made chocolate chip pancakes recently with some natural raspberry syrup. (They were amazing.)

5.) Start learning something you’re interested in/find a constructive hobby.

Even if you can’t get out of the house a lot, there are still a lot of interesting things you can learn to do at home.

For myself, (I’m a little embarrassed to admit it,) I have started watching YouTube videos learning how to dance, as well as practicing stretches to learn to do a split. (Although full disclosure, I haven’t been practicing these as much as I want to lately.)

If you can’t think of anything you want to learn to do: Grab a pen and paper and set a timer for 5 minutes and just start writing down general hobbies you can think of, and write down as many as you can. Then see if any of them are appealing enough to try.

And while you want to learn whatever your new chosen hobby is in a safe way & from a legitimate source, chances are you can at least get started by doing an online search, such as with Google or YouTube.

6.) Plan out your day.

You don’t need to stick to a rigid schedule, but it is important to plan out your day to a degree.

Staying structured will help you to feel accomplished as a stay at home mom and prioritize things you both need and want to do.

This also helps you establish to your kids when they need to do certain things, such as eat, do schoolwork or activities, or go to bed.

✅Download our FREE Sample Schedule Pages here for ideas on how to plan out a schedule that works.

When I have a game plan and goals I want to accomplish, that helps me to stay positive as a stay at home mom.

My favorite physical planner to use on a daily/weekly basis is the Living Well Planner. It has hourly time blocks for each day/week, and space to list your meal plans, budgets, monthly & yearly projects and goals, and more.

✅Get $5 off the Living Well Planner here through my referral link.

7.) Maintain a clean home environment with a daily cleaning routine.

A clean home allows for a relaxing and stress-free atmosphere.

Keeping a home clean and clutter-free has been linked with improved mental health and less stress.

When you are home all the time, (or at least it feels like it’s ALL the time,) the last thing you may want to do is clean. I get it, and I don’t particularly enjoy cleaning myself. But doing certain things daily is so worth the effort.

Using a daily cleaning routine checklist is the best thing I have ever done for the state of my house.

✅Grab our Free Daily Cleaning Roadmap here which will help you figure out where to start in each room and has space to write out a daily checklist that works for you.

By cleaning more consistently, I now actually save a lot of time. Plus the house looks better, and we don’t lose the car keys in a pile of clutter anymore.

If you want to learn about the big cleaning mistake I used to make and how I gradually transformed my house, check out episode 1 of my ‘Podcast or Post’ here.

8.) Take the kids outside when you can.

Going outside will give your kids a chance to get some of their energy out. And it gives you a chance to get out of the house.

This will help your kids settle down when it’s time for indoor activities. I know for my kids, they also sleep and nap better after spending time outside.

Being outdoors is great for you as well. Even if it is just in the backyard or a walk around a safe neighborhood for some fresh air, it does everyone some good to get outside.

9.) Make time to play with your kids each day.

It’s important to make time to talk and play with our kids so they get the attention they need from us as parents.

The 2018 LEGO® ‘Play Well Report’ revealed “a strong link between the hours spent playing together and the happiness of families.”

You can be with your kids for a whole day or days at a time, but not actually play with them.

The bond with your kids will help you as to enjoy being with them. And it will be easier for you to stay positive & feel fulfilled as a stay at home mom.

✅If you’re looking for a new activity to try, check out our FREE printable Healthy Lifestyle Match Game for Kids. (Get it here.)

10.) Take care of yourself with self care.

Take the time to change your clothes, bathe every day, do your hair, get enough sleep, etc. One of the reasons to practice self-care as a mom, is that when you are properly taking care of yourself, this gives you a better state of mind. It also sets a great example for your kids.

It’s also important to take care of other aspects of yourself besides physically. For example, spend a little time each day doing something you want to do.

Also take time to do something that helps you grow as a person- mentally, emotionally, or spiritually. You’ll feel happier, and your family will get the best version of yourself you have to offer.

11.) Get your kids into the habit of having quiet time each day.

For quiet time for younger kids, besides them quietly taking a nap, you could let them play with non-electronic toys, look at pictures, or let them do a coloring activity.

For toddlers, consider rewarding their behavior when they stay quiet/settled down during quiet time. Grab our adorable FREE toddler sticker reward chart here.

For older kids, they can read, do word puzzles or brain games, color in older kid coloring books, etc.

When your kids have quiet time, this gives you, mama, a BREAK. And you get to do what you want to do for a time period during the day.

Quiet time can seem challenging at first. But when you do it consistently every day, the same time of day, the kids will catch on and adjust.

I’ve started doing this during this current year with our 4 kids, and I should have done this all along. As long as the kids have something to occupy them, (for those who are too old to take a take a nap,) they should be fine, once they get used to it.

Well, there you have it- those are 11 ways to stay positive, fulfilled, and accomplished as a stay at home mom. Being a stay at home mom is not without its challenges. But you can definitely learn to thrive and enjoy your time at home with the little ones.

Have a great day & stay sane!

P.S. Don’t forget to grab our FREE printable Daily Cleaning Roadmap here before you leave. Everything else is less stressful and more manageable when your house is under control!

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