Best Dr's Advice for a Stressed-out Lazy Mom

~by Veronica G

I went to the doctor last week. I was overwhelmed by my husband's chronic illness and the pressure it was putting on me.  I had gone from being wife and mother to two wild children with my husband's help evenings and weekends, to nurse and mother to 3 - with no husband support, for four weeks straight. I was maxed-out and had been so completely overwhelmed so much that I was simply done.

She gave me what may be the best advice I've ever been given. I will repeat it here with the disclaimer that The material appearing on LazyMomsLikeYou is for educational use only. It should not be used as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

She told me to 1. Make a Schedule (DREAD!!!!!!!) and to schedule in 2. Nothing (AWESOME!!!).
My doctor advised me to set aside 10-30 minutes up to 3 times a day where I do nothing. I should set a timer and sit or lay on the couch or my bed, and do nothing else.

Well I'll be. I never thought I'd ever get permission to do nothing. I was thrilled by this advice and immediately set out to make a schedule, something I'd always abhorred, lazy mom that I am.

Lazy mom schedule in pen on recycled paper

 After I made the basic schedule, I set about to fill it with nothingness. It is actually harder than it looks, but totally worth it. Notice I have the word nothing followed by a "?"  Sometimes I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to fit it in.  Luckily my husband trusts my doctor, and doesn't like living with a crazy person, so he was on board with me doing "nothing" for 10 minutes a day.

Now that I have the time written in the schedule, the trick is to actually do nothing during that time. The task is NOTHING.  So I lay there with a timer counting down my 10 minutes.  I try to close my eyes and not think. If I find myself thinking, I follow the thought a little bit - until I remember I'm supposed to be doing nothing. I try not to focus on my breath, or scratch my head. I try not to wiggle my feet, or relax too deeply.  It is a challenge, but I do enjoy it. I really do. 

I even got my kids on board by telling them my doctor said I needed to take a 10 minute time-out each day and do nothing. They don't want me to get in more trouble by talking during my time-out, so they leave me alone pretty quickly. 

This nothing sure is helping me feel rejuvenated. If you try it and like it, let me know!

 

Clutter AHHHH! Part 1 of 1 Billion

Less is More in the Bedroom

Could I state anything more obvious, but keeping clutter under control is really difficult. I could blame it on the kids and the husband, but I had a clutter problem back when I was single. After a few days, weeks of neglect, my little apartment got pretty bad. Now you add four more people into my usual clutter mix, and it's so much worse. What used to take a good week to accumulate happens within hours. Sometimes minutes.

Unfortunately I'm not one of those people who feels calm and relaxed surrounded by piles of stuff.  I get anxious and stressed when the clutter hits a certain threshold, and if I lack the time or energy to clean, I feel depressed. Not crippling depression, but a bad case of the grouchies. Grouchy mom, wife, neighbor, friend, and coworker is not who I want to be. I prefer snarky or sassy, not short tempered grumpy complainer. 

To keep on top of my stuff, the only solution I've found is to have less. If I were living at Downton Abbey I could have endless knick knacks and throw pillows, and my team of maids would keep them dusted and delightfully arranged. Me alone, no way. 

Last spring I had a horrible case of allergies which lasted for weeks. I don't usually have them, and I was thrown. The symptoms were worse when I woke up in the morning. So I decided to do a complete cleaning out of my bed room. Maybe it was dust or dust mites or mold spores. Turns out it was seasonal, and the allergies went away on their own. However, the byproduct of my red puffy eyes is my lovely and low maintenence bedroom. 

I nixed all extra decorative pillows, blankets, books, and paperwork. I can now make the bed in less than 30 seconds. I have four pillows where I used to have eight. I have one quilt that is easy to pull up keep smooth. (I hate anything I have to iron or fluff. I'm looking at you, duvets.) I took out an entire book shelf. Now we only keep the books we're reading.  

It's the perfect bedroom arrangement for a lazy mom who likes things neat. I used to think I needed a bed that looked like this pillow mountain, but I've discovered I'm so much happier now with less. The real challenge is keeping the clutter from creeping back in... 

Craft Storage

Hi Lazy Moms! 

This is Veronica, and I'd like to share my kids crafting storage ideas!  

First of all, we do our crafting at the heart of our home, the kitchen table.  

We also eat around the kitchen table, clip coupons, read the newspaper, and pay bills- sometimes all at once.  The kitchen table is our ultimate versatile work space.  

When the kids are lucky, the craft supplies can be found in their very special storage container, next to the kitchen table. 

Here they can easily access coloring books, construction paper, workbooks, and stamps.  

In this house, we consider markers and stamping ink controlled substances.  The kids must ask for access to these tools.  This has successfully kept our walls, couches and floors mostly clear from kid scribbles.  

 

We keep our controlled substances in a locked cabinet 

Inside are our wonders including our magical ziplock bag of markers. 

I store the puzzles, beads, and playdoh in here too.  None of these are things that I want the kids having without supervision. My #1 lazy mom tip is that if you don't want to clean, lock up the stuff that makes a mess. 

Scissors and tape, useful adult supplies, are kept in a junk drawer in the the kitchen. The kids can reach these things, but it's a compromise we make so that the adults can use these things too. Our 5 year old would never touch them because I've trained him well, but our 3 year old thinks she has full access.  I will often find her wielding those massive blue scissors, cutting up an advertisement from verizon (and hopefully not a bill).  

There's my toes and my jammies! 

We do have things like paint and glitter, but I'm no dummy.  I keep that stuff where the kids forget about it.  I only have to pull it out a couple of times a year.  Just for your sake, I'll show you how I store it. 

Cardboard box in a drawer in the the closet. 

Happy Crafting and share your lazy mom craft storage ideas in the comments below! 

The Reason for This Blog

I do love my mommy blogs. Recipe ideas. Home decor. Fun mom tips galore. However, has anyone else noticed that when a mommy blogger is trying to get you to do something hard and time consuming (making meals from scratch, exercising more, homemade crafts, cloth diapers, romantic nights out with your SO, whatever) she says all you have to do is prioritize. Well, I can't prioritize all of that. There aren't enough hours in the day. How about some advice on how to do something half ass? How to make real food meals when it's #4 on your priority list. Or how to exercise when you are carrying a baby and toddler and only have 10 mins. Lazy mom crafts, etc. Dear Mommy Blogger, your pet issue, isn't my top priority. Sorry. 

Here's a place to learn how to do it half-ass  not so good. Welcome.