I’ve been back working full time, outside of the house, for just over three years. In those three years, I’ve found these three things have made my life a little easier.

Let’s face it, being a mom is hard and it doesn’t matter if you are a stay at home mom, a work from home mom or a mom who goes to a job all day, this shit is hard! There’s the constant guilt. It feels like no matter how early you get up or how late you stay up, there are just never enough hours in the day. The feeling that you can’t have it all can be almost too much to take sometimes.

For me, I often feel like I can be a good wife or a good mother or a good employee, but NEVER all three at once. I have yet to figure out how to juggle all three of those in perfect harmony. Those feelings used to really frustrate me and get me down until I gave myself a little grace and realized that perfect harmony doesn’t exist.

Manage expectations!

We are all our own worst critics, usually with extremely high expectations for ourselves. No matter how you slice it, the day will only ever have 24 hours. There are days when it’s not all going to get finished, but guess what…Tomorrow is another day. I have tried not to stress about the things I didn’t accomplish today, instead I focus on all that I have accomplished and save the rest for tomorrow.

I downloaded an app to help me with the things I want to get done each day. TickTick has been huge in helping me to manage my expectations and stay on task. Every morning, while I drink my coffee, I make a list of what I want to accomplish during the day. I even add things like, make the bed and work (as in go to my job) to the list. The next day, anything I didn’t accomplish from the day before is already on the list and the app lets me know just how overdue any given task is.

Take time for yourself.

Read, workout, get a massage, lock yourself in the bathroom and eat a bag of Oreo’s, whatever makes you happy and will help you hit the reset button. I try to get everything I’m going to do for the day finished by a certain time so I can relax and enjoy a few episodes of a show before I go to bed.

When I make my to do list on TickTick, I always make sure one of those things is for my benefit and my benefit alone. I always want to close the rings on my AppleWatch so I make sure that is on my to do list. That may mean I take time for a workout or do something to be active and close those rings. I go for facials and massages sometimes, those go on the to do list too.

Ask for help!

I have two children who are able-bodied, there is no reason why they can’t do a few things around the house to lighten my load. Each day I try to give them both one small item off my to do list. They will often complain, bitch and moan about it but eventually it gets done.

In the past I never asked them for help because I felt it wasn’t worth the fight and they usually didn’t complete the task to my standards. I saw the meme below and it struck a cord with me. I let them know what my standards are and told them they were expected to start pitching in. On most days they do actually lighten the load, even if it’s just by a little bit.

By managing my own expectations, taking time for myself each and every day and asking for help I have made my life so much easier and so much better. I think I’m more pleasant to be around, you’ll have to check in with my family about that though. I definitely feel less stressed than when I was trying to do it all alone and not scheduling time for things I enjoy need.

I’d love to hear how you make your day to day life a little easier, drop a comment and give me your tips.

Hello there! It has been exactly 883 days since my last post here. I got lost somewhere along the way and this thing that used to bring me joy fell to the wayside.

So what have I been up to since March of 2019? WOW, it seems like it was a lifetime ago and in many ways it has been.

Let’s start with a little refresher on who I am for those who might not have been around all those years ago. My name is Mychal (pronounced Michael) and I am a wife, mother, full time employee and dog mom who seemingly runs on coffee.

I am married to one of the most amazing men on the face of the planet, he takes all my craziness in great stride. He often indulges my every whim. He is my rock and without him I would have definitely starved to death and God only knows what hole I would have ended up in.

I have two sons.

Cameron, my oldest, is about to start his sophomore year in high school…How the hell did that happen? He’s into I-racing, or is it E-racing? I’m not really sure. What I am sure of is that he has some talent with it and the paint schemes he creates for his cars are nothing short of amazing.

Logan is my soon to be seventh grader. He has the world’s biggest heart, always taking good care of the people he loves. He refuses to play organized sports but is super athletic. He enjoys Xbox and just about anything with a screen. He also has the fiercest temper (like his mother) and doesn’t always think before he chucks attitude.

I work in the death care industry. I first started out working support, I’d run errands for the funeral home, help out at services, you name it. In May of 2018 I moved into a full time role as an office manager. I spend my workdays in a house that was built around 1863 making sure that families have all they need to give their loved ones the final farewell they deserve. It’s probably not the best job for someone with high anxiety and a fear of death (but somehow not a fear of dead people), but most days I really enjoy what I do.

I have three Yorkies, they are all rescues. Cooper came to Mommyland in July of 2015, he’s now elevenish and either can’t hear for shit or gives zero fucks about what I have to say. Daisy was adopted in May of 2020, she came to us from a Lancaster County puppy mill. Daisy is six years old and very sweet, although she has some issues from spending her first five years in a rabbit hutch with very little food. Bella is our newest addition, coming to Mommyland in May of this year. She was surrendered by her owner at a kill shelter in Alabama. I can’t for the life of me figure out why, she’s amazing! Her only downside is that she is absolutely obsessed with my husband. So obsessed that she barks when I hug him and tries to get between us.

Coffee is my lifeblood. I have the vocabulary of a well educated sailer. I can’t keep a plant alive to safe my own life. I’m socially awkward as hell. I’m easily overwhelmed. On most days I feel like a hot mess.

That’s me in a nutshell. If you’d like to learn more, stick around. Questions? Feel free to drop a comment.

If you’ve been following along with Mommyland from the beginning, I’ve missed you. I’m hoping my effort to rekindle the joyful act of blogging brings a little joy to your life too.