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Between school, activities, carpool, household work, cooking, and maybe even working full time on top of that, moms and dads are prone to stress and exhaustion. It can be difficult to keep it all together, especially when you’re crunched for time like most of us are. Seeing as April is Stress Awareness Month, now is a great time to practice some tips and tricks on how to stress less, so you can enjoy more out of life. We asked a few female entrepreneurs–working moms themselves–to contribute. See below for their best tips!
- There’s An App For That
Six years ago, Sara Schaer was a working mom at a tech company in Silicon Valley. She had an “aha” moment when she realized that tech could be applied to parenting, too. “As a working mom, I suddenly realized how dependent I had become on my smartphone. It allowed me to juggle work when on the go – as work was basically composed of voice, text, and data. I was wishing that somehow that device could be equally helpful with managing my kids,” says Sara. These days, Schaer runs an app she founded called Kango, which provides safe, secure rides and childcare for busy families. If you find yourself running around like crazy, see what kind of apps are out there to help you get organized and help your day flow better. Why stress when you can have things like carpool, cleaning, or even dinner taken care of with the click of a button? - Embrace Creativity
Sometimes, to save your sanity when it comes to kids, you have to get a little creative and use your imagination. No one knows this better than busy mom, Candice Romo–she and her husband, Tony Romo, just announced that they are expecting baby number three!–who also runs her business, Hawk + Sloane, with partner and fellow mom, Hollie Siglin. They started Hawk + Sloane, a line of sprays designed to “conquer parenthood”, when they realized they needed a creative way to bust stress when it came to parenting. “For example,” Candice says, “Our Sassy Spray is what we refer to a the ‘modern day soap in the mouth’. It’s a blend of Apple Cider Vinegar and VitaVeggies. A quick spray on the child’s tongue after naughty words (or even biting) and the sour aftertaste is a punishment that fits the crime. A dose of discipline and a dash of nutrition teaches the kids and eases our stress of the dreaded back talk.” Whether you use a spray, a game, or something else creative to keep the kids in line, it will help with your work-life balance in the long run, and allow you to relax. - Make Some “Me” Time
Hollie and Candice also cite that taking some “mommy time” at the gym is one of their preferred ways to de-stress, take a break from work or household chores, and get a workout in. “Now, that doesn’t mean we have time to hit the gym for two hours–or even one,” Holly told us. “A lot of the time it’s just 30 minutes, but it gets our blood flowing. And ultimately we feel more equipped to face the rest of our day. We also try and work out together as much as we can. Having a work-out buddy is helpful, it keeps us accountable and we can distract ourselves by talking about life while we sweat.” If you find yourself up to your ears in stress, try hitting the gym, taking a fitness class, or even a walk around the block. - Bath Time – Not Just for The Little Ones
Sara let us know that she also loves a good, long, hot bath to relax at the end of the day–or a “home spa”, as her son calls it. “A hot bath with mineral salts” is the key, according to Sara. We also love the idea of adding a fun bath bomb, essential oil, or fancy face mask to really make the experience perfect. - And If Stress Gets the Best of You?
“We can all admit that we have had those blow-up moments with our kids that we regret and feel badly about, and most often than not it had nothing to do with them and everything to do with the other laundry list of things going on in our grownup world,” Candice and Hollie told us. “We will be the first to say that we have yet to master mommy stress management because frankly, we can work out 7 days a week, organize the whole house, pray, take 10 deep breaths, read all the best parenting books, and we are still going to mess up and lose it on our kids from time to time. So, in addition to those common stress – management techniques, our houses practice apologizing. Just like when we make siblings apologize to one another for disrespectful behavior, we as parents can, too. Apologizing to your child after you’ve wronged them can make a world of difference, they can see that grownups even make mistakes, and it removes the pressure off of them when it wasn’t there fault to begin with. So, when stress management fails–as it will–be quick to apologize because we mommys can’t be perfect, even though we try.” Well said ladies!
