EP 89: Sticking To Routines As A Mom
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Hello, hello. Welcome back to the Think Happy Podcast. I am your host, Kaitlin Kuevas, coming at you from my closet office. Yes, if you have not seen my closet office, you should just go to my Instagram. It's all over my Instagram. I love my closet office. And it's now where I get to record almost all of the episodes for the Think Happy Podcast. And so, yeah, I'm sitting here with my computer in front of me, with my podcast mic in front of me and a big cup of water because I am batch recording today. It is one of my favorite ways to create content for the podcast. I love batch recording because I get to really get in the recording zone. And truthfully, I have so much fun creating content for the podcast. And yeah, so it's actually a Monday morning right now. And I chose Monday morning to batch record for the show because I knew I would be looking forward to it. And it just seemed like a fun way to start the week. Okay, so the timing of this episode for today is actually hilarious because at the time of recording, I am knee-deep into mom-ing, like not the fun part of mom-ing also.
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So let me backtrack with me to last week. So Eleanor got pink eye last week, and then she got a gnarly, gnarly cough that was keeping her up at night. And she was coughing so hard that she threw up a couple times and just breaking my heart. So that was last week. And then over the weekend, James got a fever. And then he also got pink eye because, as you well know, pink eye is very, very contagious. And he just generally is not feeling well at all. I was up with him last night from about 10:00 PM until 4:00 AM. And I will say he has been consistently sleeping through the night for at least four or five months now. So this was very unusual for him to be up like this. He just was so miserable. He also is breaking my heart right now. And now, lo and behold, I also have pink eye and just am generally not feeling 100 % also. But I wanted to share that with you. I wanted to start this episode by telling you that because as a mom, I know that life throws unexpected curveballs. I know that that is unavoidable.
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That is the reason why I talk about going into new habits, new routines, goal setting, etc, etc, with the expectation that it is not going to go 100 % according to plan. And with that being said, this is an episode that is all about having routines as a mom. And it was specifically requested by you, the Think Happy community. So you know that I had to show up for you and I had to dish out the details on this. And I could not have planned the timing of my mom life right now. It just fits pretty perfectly. But before we get into it, I do want to remind you that the time this airs, this will be the final week of Think Happy's big time Christmas in July celebration. So for just a few more days, my group coaching program called Becoming Your Best You is 30 % off, okay? Just a couple more days. And then it's going to go back to its regular pricing, okay? So Becoming Your Best You, which I referred to as BY-B-Y, is an eight-week group program that has been designed to take you from overwhelmed, stressed, running in circles, unproductive with your time, distracted and on empty, and take you to being in control of your life and everything on your to-do list.
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Having a plan for each day, consistently having enough time for yourself, and ultimately to being in the driver's seat of your own life. Okay? Now, in the words of my client, Sarah, through becoming your best you, I've been able to work on myself in ways that I would have never imagined. I'm a better person, mother, wife, and professional. Okay, so let me tell you what you will learn inside of BY/BY. You'll learn how to identify time you waste and use productively and how to reallocate that time back to yourself. You'll learn time management practices you can start incorporating into your life immediately, so you start optimizing your time right away. You'll learn how to manage and prioritize tasks so you're able to efficiently get them done. You'll learn how to identify tasks that can be delegated and how to actually start delegating them. And you'll learn how to build a routine that is sustainable and fosters being your best you. Now, included in the program are more than 15 self-paced educational videos that you receive lifetime access to; weekly group coaching calls, and daily communication with me and the other group members inside of a private messaging community.
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So to jump into BYBY with the Christmas in July discount, DM me on Instagram, BYBYChristmas. Okay, so pull out your phone. Go to thinkhappy_co. I had to think of my handle for a second. Pull up my account and send me a DM that says BYBYChristmas, and I will get you all set up. I cannot wait to see your message and I cannot wait to see you inside of BYBY. Now, let's get into momming and routines. Having routines as a mom is totally possible. And they can actually be super helpful in making sure you carve out time for the things that are important to you that might easily get neglected, such as time for yourself or time for you and your partner. I want to start by squashing, totally squashing this stereotype that routines need to be super structured and rigid because that just is not the case. Routines are such a personal thing. They look differently for everyone and they serve different roles for everyone. If a structured routine sounds awesome to you, great. Let's dive into creating something that's really structured for you. But on the other hand, if a structured routine sounds unappealing and like something that will totally turn you off of routines, I'm going to go ahead and suggest that you do not try to implement something super structured.
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I want to break down the differences between something really structured versus something a little more loose. I'll use my own morning routine as an example here. So on a scale of one to 10, one being super, super structured and 10 being super, super loose/unstructured, my morning routine is going to fall somewhere around a seven or an eight. So it's heavy on the loose side. I am going to walk you through my ideal weekday morning routine. Then I'm actually also going to tell you what my mornings look like in reality, just day to day. So let's start with my ideal weekday morning routine. That would look like waking up at 5:30, having some devotional and journaling time, exercising. After that, drinking a cup of coffee and making sure that my to-do list is ready for the day. Then I would get James up at 7:15, get him fed. Then James's nanny comes at 7:30 and takes responsibility for him. At that time, I would get Eleanor up, get her dressed, get her fed. Then I would leave to drop her off at Mother's Day out at 8:00. I would come back home to warm up my coffee and get to work.
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So that's my ideal weekday morning routine. Now, realistically, I do not wake up at 5:30 in the mornings. However, I do consistently wake up a little bit before 6:00, so we'll call it 5:55. And then I usually either only exercise or have devotional/journal time. Most mornings I don't have time to do both of those. So if I'm doing exercise, I'm going to drink my coffee after that. If I'm doing devotional journaling time, I drink my coffee right away. Something that is pretty consistent is I always get James up and feed him at 7:15. And his nanny is super reliable and is always here by 7:30 at the latest, which is just such a lifesaver. Then there is some wiggle room with Eleanor. Sometimes we don't get her up until 7:45. And sometimes I don't leave to take her to school until 8:15. So a little bit of wiggle room there. And I do love getting just to check in with my calendar and my to-do list for the day before my kids are up. But I don't always get the chance to do that, to counteract, not always having time to do it in the morning, I do try to make sure that my to-do list is done the night before.
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And then most days I am sitting down to start work by 09:00 AM, if not sooner. So that is a look at my ideal morning compared to my realistic morning. So when you zoom out and take a look at my morning routine on a weekly basis instead of just on a daily basis, I do hit all of the aspects that are most important to me each week. Each week I spend time with my devotional and journal. Each week I get in some morning exercise. These are two things that I do for myself to keep my own cup full, okay? And I like doing them in the morning because mornings are the most consistent time of day for me. It's before the kids wake up. And once they're up, as we all know, anything can happen. So I also... Or also, each day I start my work day already knowing what's in front of me. I rarely have any surprises that I'm not prepared for, like specific to work, because my uninterrupted work time is so limited that I just have to make the absolute best use of that time. So one of my ways to make sure that I make the best use of my uninterrupted work time is to know what is in front of me.
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I look at my calendar very regularly. We'll actually talk about that a little bit more in this episode. So this is what I mean when I talk about having a loose routine or building flexibility into your routines. There isn't anything super rigid about my routine. And because of that, it's a routine I'm able to be consistent with week after week, month after month, going from one baby to two babies and so on. You have heard me say this before, and I will continue saying it over and over. Flexibility in routines creates an atmosphere for sustainability. Flexibility creates an atmosphere for sustainability. Now, the next thing I want to talk about here are boundaries. Boundaries will help you to protect your time and energy. And as a mama, those are two things worth protecting. Here is an example of one of my personal, most strict boundaries. I do not scroll my phone in bed, especially at bedtime. This protects my sleeping time and it restores my energy level. I know for a fact that if I start scrolling in bed, it'll be at least 20 minutes, if not more, of pure wasted time. That would be time that I could have been using to read or to journal or I don't know, to sleep.
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I also know that it's harder for me to fall asleep if my phone is the last thing that I look at before turning off the light. My body has proven this time and time again. And so because quality, restorative sleep is one of my top priorities in life, I protect it by having a no-scrolling-in-bed boundary. Now, examples of other boundaries that you might want to consider implementing. That could be creating kid-free zones in your house. No toys, no snacks, no apple juice allowed in certain zones or rooms or just areas in your house. Another idea for you would be creating some consistent adult-only time or avoiding screen time first thing in the morning or not allowing certain foods into your house except for special occasions. This is another one I do. For me, this looks like not buying chips that I love because once they're in my house, I am so much more likely to just mindlessly eat them. When I eat the chips that I love so much, I want it to be intentional and I want to enjoy them. So yeah, that's just a couple of ideas of other boundaries that you could implement into your own life.
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So I want to talk about one more before I get into the listener questions for today's episode. There's a bunch of listener questions that I'm super, super excited to get into. That final thing that I want to talk about before listener questions is having non-negotiables. Okay, so I consider non-negotiables things that you ensure happen no matter what. No matter what curveballs the week brings, whether or not you feel like doing it before you get started. So some non-negotiables in my life are doing my best to get at least eight hours of sleep. And my asterisk there is we all know that sleep is not something that we always have a lot of control over, especially with littles. So my non-negotiable surrounding doing my best to get eight hours of sleep is to make sure that I'm going to bed most nights by nine o'clock. So that's one of my non-negotiables. Another is weekly intentional movement. So I feel my best mentally and physically when I'm in an exercise routine. Right now in this phase of life, I'm doing a combination of running and trampoline classes for my cardio and then mat/bar classes for my strengthening.
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Another non-negotiable that I have is a weekly plan for meals plus groceries to execute the planned meals. This takes away the temptation for spur of the moment eating out and it provides my family with balanced meals most of the time. Plus extra bonuses for this. It saves us money at the grocery store and it helps us to minimize wasting food, which is something I absolutely hate doing. I hate wasting food. So let me give you a couple other examples of non-negotiables that you could consider. That could look like having weekly or monthly date nights. It could look like having a morning routine, evening routine, exercise routine. It could also look like ensuring a certain amount of me time for yourself each week. As I'm sitting here, I'm drinking the most delicious cup of Kerbyn's coffee. Kerbyn's is a wife and husband duo who turned their passion for coffee into a business. They are so sweet and it makes me so happy seeing their business thrive. Now, let me tell you why Kerbyn's is thriving. To put it simply, it's because their coffee is amazing. Think Happy has had the honor of getting to pick a Think Happy Signature roast.
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These dark, roasted, Mexico beans smell like a good day waiting to happen. When brewed, they create the smoothest cup of coffee you have ever tasted, and it is even still good after being preheated. If you're like me and frequently get pulled away from your coffee, you know that's important. And I have a special treat for you. Think Happy listeners receive 15 % off their order of Kirbeans. Head to Kirbeans. Coffee. Kerbeans is spelled K-I-R-B-E-A-N-S, and use code Think Happy at checkout for your 15 % discount. Again, that's KIrbines. Coffee code Think Happy for 15 % off. Okay, so so far we have talked about squashing the stereotype of routines being super structured, the difference and real-life examples of what loose versus structured routines look like. We have also talked about boundaries and non-negotiables. So let's get into your listener questions. I love, love, love answering your questions on the podcast. So big thank you, big shout out to everyone who submitted these questions slash topic requests. Please keep them coming. Truly answering your questions is one way that I know that I am giving you guys what you're here for. So keep those questions. Keep those topic requests coming.
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So here's the first one. This is balancing family time versus solo time. So I really like this one because as moms, we crave both of these. I can tell you what I do here. So I literally schedule solo time. Personally, I'm an extrovert. So for me, solo time is frequently not just me by myself. It's just time without my kids. So it could be a date night with Oakley or time with girlfriends. And so the trick for me here is to have this actually in my calendar. This helps me feel like I have time to prepare for it, which might sound funny, but it takes preparation to be without your kids. And I am someone if I want to enjoy my time without my kids, I have to go into it feeling like I was prepared for that. Also having it in my calendar adds a layer of accountability for me. It helps prevent me from just skipping it or saying I'll do it tomorrow. If something that I'm going to do for my solo time is maybe getting lunch with a friend, that is also another layer of accountability, because I know that my friend is also making plans to be with me.
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Or another way that you could add some additional accountability is to actually book an appointment for something. So maybe you're going to go get your toes done, book it, schedule it, call the nail salon and make an appointment. So having some accountability for your solo time, I think is hugely helpful in making sure it actually happens. Next question, how do you keep track of doctor's appointments? Again, my calendar. Okay, so as soon as an appointment is scheduled, it goes on to the shared calendar that Oakland and I have. Also going into each week, I look ahead to see what appointments, obligations, play dates, etc, are on the calendar. And then on top of this, each evening I look to see what's on the calendar for the next day. Okay, so remember how I told you I rarely go into a day without knowing what's in front of me? See, this is where you see how that actually happens. So my rule of thumb is to never book something without putting it on the calendar. And so maybe I'm booking an appointment while I'm driving. If that's the case, I will call Oakley immediately after the appointment is booked and I'll ask him to put it on our calendar since that calendar is shared.
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If he can't do that, I will go as far as like calling my mom and asking her to send me a text message as a reminder to put it on my calendar for when I'm not driving. This actually goes into the category of non-negotiables for me. I do not book any appointment, whether it's a doctor's appointment or not, without simultaneously putting it on my calendar. So that's how I keep track of doctor's appointments. Now, next up, how do you plan meals for kids? Okay, so like I already mentioned in this episode, I meal plan, not meal prep, but meal plan on a weekly basis. So for dinners, nine times out of 10 my kids eat what Oakley and I are eating. So that makes it pretty simple. Now for lunches, there is a little bit more planning that goes into it. For Eleanor, I alternate between two lunches per week for the entire week. So for example, one week I might alternate between PB&Js and turkey, cheese and crackers. And then for the next week I might alternate between taco rollups and boiled eggs. I always do have fresh fruit and veggies on hand for her lunches too.
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So cucumber, carrots, grapes, apples, seasonal produce. And for her, I also keep this is like for dinner and for lunch. I also keep a bag of frozen peas and frozen nuggets on hand too, because those are just great to have for when something doesn't go according to plan, which is like a huge part of this episode because a lot of times things don't go as planned. Okay, now back to lunches. James' lunches are pretty easy. He eats dinner leftovers, cheese toast or avocado toast, fruit, veggies, eggs, smoothies. At this point, he pretty much eats whatever we give him. And for breakfasts for the kids, I make a lot of frittitas. Those are actually great for the whole family. And then Eleanor and James both love yogurt and fruit. It is also not uncommon for Eleanor to have a morning snack cup with dried Cheerios and some berries. So some breakfast things that I always have on hand are eggs, berries, bananas and oatmeal, also yogurt. Eleanor loves right now yogurt pouches. Okay, so that is a little bit of what meal planning looks like for the kids inside of the Cuevas household. Now, next one.
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What's your morning routine with kids? Do you get up before them? Yes, I almost always get up before my kids. We already talked a lot about this one, but my mornings are the time of day that I really try to take for myself. So, yes, almost every single morning I am up before my kids, even on the weekends, even if it's just to get the coffee brewing before James wakes up so that I can have a cup as soon as I'm finished changing him, whatever that is, almost every single day I'm up before my children. Okay, so this next one is more of a topic request, and that is going back to work after maternity leave. Okay, I'm so glad that this was brought up because it is something that so many of us go through and it is such a bittersweet moment. So the best thing I can tell you here is this reminder. You are the absolute best mom for your kids. And when you go back to work, your baby gets to see you rocking it not only at home but also at work. When you're going through this transition, know that it could be tough.
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And that is okay. Remind yourself that you are showing your kiddos that they also can do tough things. And just because something is tough does not mean it's worth not doing. So my number one reminder for you here is if you are having anxiety, if you are getting worried about the transition of going back to work after maternity, just remind yourself you are the best mom for your kids, whether you are staying home with them or you are going back to work. Now, the next one is, Flexible routines, including sleeping and feeding. Okay, I really like this one because I am a total nerd on baby and toddler, just kiddo sleep in general. Okay, so sleeping and feeding are two of the most important things for our babies and also for ourselves. With that being said, it's also something that is really unique for each family. Most families do eating and sleeping routines a little bit differently. Is your baby eating every two hours, three hours, four hours? Are you trying to stretch the night feeding? Do you, as a mom, have the opportunity for naps during the day? Maybe you're wanting a sleeping and feeding routine for older kids.
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Maybe this isn't about babies. Let's talk about implementing some bedtime routine for them. It's never too early to start a bedtime routine. So if you are going to be doing that, work backwards. So ideally, what time do you want lights out and for you to be out of your kid's room? Let's say that time is 7:30, you want to be walking out of their room. Now, what consists of the bedtime routine and how long will it take you? Let's say the bedtime routine is a bath, brushing teeth, jammies, a book, and a song. And all of that collectively takes 45 minutes. That means the bedtime routine should start around 6:45 in order for you to be leaving the bedroom with lights off at 7:30. Now, let's continue working backwards, knowing that the bedtime routine should start around 6:45, use that time to help you hone in on when dinner should be and so on and so on. I will say if you would like help creating a routine for your family, send me a DM on Instagram. I would love so much to be a resource for you there. Okay, we have, I think, two more, maybe three more.
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The next one is another topic request. Energy. How do you have energy to do everything? My answer to this one is simple. Prioritize keeping your own cup full. That is the only way to keep your energy up for the long run. You have to be pouring into yourself. We serve others better when we serve ourselves first. Okay, next up is maximum productivity and efficiency with a child. So for this one, I may know of a couple different productivity strategies that can be used here. So the first is one you've probably heard me talk about before, that is to identify your top three priorities for the day. If you're not able to accomplish anything outside of three things in a day, what are the most important things to you? And what I really like about this strategy is these can be three different things each day, or it could be three of the same things every day. Maybe one day those three things are doing the laundry, going grocery shopping, and calling your friend. Then maybe the next day it's getting your nails done, going for a walk and ordering more baby wipes. I don't know, something like that.
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The point is go into the day having three top priorities identified. That way, when curveballs come, you are prepared and you know what your highest priority things are so you can most efficiently, most optimally use your time. The other strategy that I wanted to talk about here is just optimizing your time. So ask yourself, what can be done with one times the effort but two times the result? Or what can be delegated? Here's what I mean. So one time the effort, two times the result. That could look like doubling your dinner recipe. So you have leftovers for lunch the next day or dinner the next night. One that I really like doing is making two days of kid lunches at once. Yes, these are identical lunches that I make, but it's one time the effort, two times the result. Another one could be not folding your kid's clean clothes and just hanging them up, something like that. Or letting them put their clothes away. Maybe you sort them and put a pile of clean clothes in each of the appropriate bedrooms, and then it's your kid's responsibility to put those clothes away. That brings me to the third one, which is delegating.
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Delegating is the best mom hack in the history of mom hacks. Here is how you can start delegating. Make a list of everything that has to be done. Then look at the list and identify the things that only you can do, cross them off. Next, with what's left on the list, what are things that you actually enjoy doing? Cross those off. Finally, what you're left with are things that you can delegate. You do not have to have gobs of money to delegate. Ask for help. People are so willing and anxious to help. You could... Gosh, just like thinking of how easy delegating can be, you can delegate grocery pickups to your partner. You could hire a housekeeper to come once a month. You could get a refurbished robot vacuum. My robot vacuum is like such a great delegating hack because I can set it to vacuum while I'm doing other chores or while I'm making dinner. Literally, one time the effort, two times the result, guys. Delegating the best mom hack. Okay, so that's a wrap for today's episode. Man, we talked about a lot. We talked about squashing the stereotype that routines need to be super structured and rigid.
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We talked about loose versus structured routines. We talked about boundaries and non-negotiables, and we answered just a whole bunch of your questions. Again, I will say this one more time before we wrap up today's episode. If this is an area that you would like additional support in, send me a DM on Instagram. You can find me at thinkhappy_co. I would love nothing more than to be a resource for you, whether that looks like one of my on-demand workshops or you hopping in to byby, delegating routines, time and task management are all topics that are covered inside of byby. Or for you, it could even look like some one-on-one calls just between you and me to help you create a routine for your family that fits so well. Last thing I want to say to you is you have so totally, completely got this mama. You are rocking it. I am so proud of you. I am here from my closet office cheering you on. And with that being said, I will be back next week with another episode of The Think Happy Podcast. Thank you for joining me for this week's episode of The Think Happy Podcast.
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I would so appreciate it if you could leave a rating and review. And if you just can't get enough, find me on Instagram @thinkhapp_co that's C-O. And online at thinkhappco.com I'll be back in your ears next week with another episode of The Think Happy Podcast.