For most moms of school-aged kids, September is like January with a sense of renewal, resolutions and resetting the rhythm. After a lazy summer break from routine and set schedules, moms are almost begging for routine to come back to their days and start looking for new ways to implement structure and organization.
Here in St. Louis, school has started back for most kids, but my preschooler didn’t start her first day until after Labor Day. I’ve been pretty slow to set new routines in the house, because even with two kids gone all day, having one very active 3-year old was enough to zap my energy and continue my “I’ll Allow It” mentality. Having one foot in summer and one foot in school has meant a little bit of structure and a little bit of laziness….especially with myself.
This summer I succumbed to the “lazy” part of lazy summer, and fell out of my own personal structure and habits as a mom – not getting to bed at a decent hour, letting the kids be my alarm clock, going to bed without washing my face, drinking more coffee and margaritas than water and smoothies, eating more ice cream than salad…you get it. Mix all of that with all that comes from a new school year injecting its way into my non-schedule/lazy days of summer mentality, and I’m mentally (and physically) DONE.
This is not a post about how to get your home in order, or finding new organization techniques for schoolwork, or how to get your kids to bed on time. This is about the very foundation of our home life, the one who sets the climate in our home, the one who creates the routine and structure for the family…YOU!! It’s so cliché to say “if mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy”, but whoever came up with that saying had it right. Although I think that phrase is usually meant to place the onus on the family members … you better behave to help mommy not lose her mind. BUT, what if it means that mommy needs to take care of herself so she can better handle everything her family and life throw at her? I want my family to get an outpouring of my love because I’m healthy and taking care of myself.
So this September, I’m taking my home back by doing a “Self Start-Over” and we’d love to invite you to do the same.
How it works:
- Find a habit-tracking system that works for you. I’m a SmartPhone believer so I’ve downloaded the app Streaks, but there are quite a few other apps that do the same thing. Just find one that works for you. Or if you’re a pen & paper girl, go for it!
- Decide about 4-5 habits you want to start back up (or try for the first time) for the month of September. These are things you want to ADD to your daily routine, not take away. (Those will come later.) Some examples:
- Read for 15 minutes
- Go to bed at 10:30pm
- Drink 2 liters of water/day
- Wake up before the kids
- Wash your face before bed (w e see you and hear you, Rachel Hollis)
- Write a note to someone
- Complete one household chore
- Declutter one area
- Exercise for 30 minutes
- Eat one healthy meal
- Have quiet/meditation time
- Remember these are habits specifically for YOU, things that you need to jumpstart in your life to help you feel your best to be the best for your family.
- Take a photo of you doing your habit and share it on IG with #stlmbseptstartover so we can all track our progress with each other, be motivated with a new habit to try the next month, and share tips with how to make these habits work!
- Most habits take 66 days to officially set in, so at the end of the month, we’ll take stock of our current habits, figure out which ones are working, which ones aren’t realistic, and THEN we’ll figure out some habits to take away (ie, stop eating a bowl of ice cream each night).
The goal is to fill your daily routine with positive actions that add to your life. If this was all about taking things out of your life, this would get pretty negative and miserable pretty quickly.
So who’s ready for a September Start-Over?? Come up with your list and join us!
