This journey of motherhood won’t be perfect, but everyday will be worth it!
This is the first post on my new blog. Iām just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates!
Managing your time as a working mom can be challenging, but there are several strategies you can use to help balance your responsibilities and make the most of your time.
Ultimately, managing your time as a working mom will require flexibility and the ability to adapt to unexpected situations. By prioritizing your tasks, using a calendar, getting organized, setting boundaries, asking for help, and taking care of yourself, you can find a balance that works for you and your family.
Are you transitioning from working in the corporate world to working from home? Do you have babies or toddlers or even teenagers? If you are anything like me going from corporate to home was a bit challenging to say the least.
If you have a job that requires minimum time on the phones, you may have it a bit easier than us parents who have to spend our whole shifts on the phone. Yaaaaay for us, right?! When completing the job application, it says “be sure to have a distraction free workspace with no noises in the background”, mommy of two here ages 1 and 4, yeah that just doesn’t exist anywhere in my home until bedtime of course. I can go from one room to the next but somehow these little people manage to find me. It’s like they pinpoint the exact time a call is coming through and boom, mommy, mommy, mommy! Sounds familiar? Sooo because I have learned them oh so well, I’ll tell you what I have done to try to minimize the noise during work hours.
My go to things when working and dealing with toddlers are snacks and tablets/movie. I live by these things! During the beginning of my shift, they’re sleeping so that buys me a bit of quiet time but when they wake up, it’s go time. Now I’m not going to sit here and pretend that everyday flows smoothly because it doesn’t but overall these things have helped me a lot. Toddlers have their days so you just have to go with the flow of them.
Snacks, snacks, snacks! Lunchables, fruit, cheese crackers, granola bars, whatever your child enjoys to snack on definitely have them near by. This will for sure buy you some quiet time, even if its just five minutes, you have to take what you can get to get you through your shift. I have a snack shelf right behind me where I mainly do my work from and the convenience of having these snacks within my reach works great for me. It’s normally around lunch time once I’m back for the other part of my shift so they are already fed and playing and as long as I’m not on a call, that’s fine. However, once a call comes in and I let them know that mommy is on a call, if the noise doesn’t quiet down, I continue to talk to the customer as normal but at the same time, I’m reaching for a snack. It is at this very moment, excitement and then quietness.
I know that some remote jobs have no time in between calls so another good way to keep the noise level down is to put on a good movie your child enjoys watching or if they have a tablet, let them play on it or watch videos for a few minutes. My kids love watching the movie Home and the show Power Rangers (little too much action so it does not work to keep the noise level down, lol). Kids can have short attention spans especially when they see that you are minding your own business but putting on a good movie that’s engaging can keep their attention for a little while.
If you can manage your phone calls or workload while getting the kids situated, you’ve overcame the challenges of working from home. It’s all about balance and multi-tasking. We know its not possible to be in one room and put them in another room for hours at a time, especially with toddlers because that’s just asking for a disaster to happen. I’ve learned that you have to learn to manage it and take it day by day. š
As a mother when you think about making time for yourself, it seems impossible. Well, I’m here to tell you that although it maybe be hard…really hard, it’s not at all impossible. I know that us mommies have a million things to do each day and our minds are all over the place after playing with the little one/ones, preparing meals, nap time, bath time, story time, bedtime and everything in between. We’re definitely superheros but even superheros need a little downtime for themselves.
Once I became CordĆØ mommy, I forgot all about Ashley. From the moment I gave birth to him, every second, minute, and hour has revolved around him as it should. However, just because I gained the title as a mother, I had to realize that I didn’t lose the titles of being a sister, a daughter, an aunt, a niece, a friend, etc. When you become a mother for the first time, you will probably feel like you don’t have time for anything or anyone except your little one and it may take you some time to realize that. I still struggle making time for myself because I don’t like being away from my son for extended amounts of time but sometimes it’s needed just to clear and relax your mind a bit.
So now that I’ve said that you need to make time for yourself as a mother, the next question is how? Well…I have yet to master that part but once I do, I’ll give some tips on ways I make time for myself as a mommy so stay tuned! š
Comment some tips below on ways you’ve made time for yourself as a mother!
Have you considered being a door dasher but you’ve been wondering if it was worth your time? Well, I’m going to let you know the ins and outs, the good and bad, and everything in between of being a door dasher and maybe that can help you decide.
A typical day of dashing begins checking your map on the Dasher app to see if you have the option to “Dash Now” or if there are any open availabilities to schedule a dash. Whichever option is chosen, once it’s time to begin your dash, you will need to check be sure you have your red card, a charged phone, your hot bag, and more importantly enough gas! Don’t worry the app will remind you of this every time.
Once you have gone through the checklist and acknowledged that you have everything, you are now ready to receive your first order.
Hot Spots
Now, depending on the area you live in and how busy it is, you could receive your first order in seconds of logging on. If this isn’t the case, then you will have to drive to a “hot spot”. This is normally a place that is surrounded by a lot of restaurants. The more you dash, the more familiar you will become of the hot spots in your area. After a drop off when you are waiting to receive your next order, the app will navigate you to the nearest hot spot of your last drop off which can be a good and bad thing.
One of the pros of being navigated to a hot spot near your last drop off is that you don’t have a far distance to drive and you will more than likely receive another order quicker. On another note, if you start delivering in a certain area and want to stay in that area, one of the cons of being navigated to the nearest hot spot is that you will begin getting orders farther and farther away from where you initially started. You’ll eventually end back up in the area you started in but I personally would prefer to just stay in my area. For example, if your drop off is 15 minutes away from your initial start area and you don’t get an order right away, the app will direct you to a hot spot in that area instead of sending you all the way back to where you came from. Like I said, this could be a good and bad thing.
Payout
I know this is the main part you have probably been anxious to hear about. Door dash pays you every Monday or if you want, you can cash out your earnings everyday. You will have the option to cash out once you’ve reached a total of 25 lifetime deliveries.
The pay out for each delivery varies. I know when I first started, I thought there was an hourly wage plus the total amount of the delivery. If you are too thinking this, it’s not the case. You don’t get paid hourly nor do you always get paid the same amount for each delivery, instead you get paid based on the amount door dash offers. For instance, if an order comes through and it totals out to be $6.15, you will be offered that amount. You can either accept it or decline it. This amount includes the customer’s tip, door dash base pay ($1), plus door dash additional pay (varies). The payout of each order is determined by door dash. The typical payout is normally anywhere between $5-$9 because the average person tips between $1-$3 although in some cases it could be more.
So, is becoming a door dasher worth your time? It all depends on you and your reason for door dashing. If you’re looking for a quick way to make a few dollars just delivering someone’s food, this is one of the easiest way I know. You can dash for about 2 hours and make $40 or even more. That averages out to about $20 an hour, which is more than what the average person makes working full time! I normally door dash on the weekends and can make an extra $100 just by dashing for two days. If you would like to dash full time I would suggest investing in a used car that you don’t mind putting lots of miles. I would also suggest downloading Quickbooks Selfemployed:Mileage Tracker & Taxes app to keep track of your mileage so when it comes time to do taxes, you will have this information handy.
Comment your thoughts below about door dashing and if you feel it’s worth it considering the pay, delivery distances, tips, and everything else you would take into consideration before applying for a job like this.
If you decide to give door dash a try, you can use my referral code https://drd.sh/j8ZkEr/ and get a $50 bonus after 200 deliveries in 60 days!
So you’ve just found out you’re pregnant and you have a million things running through your mind. Trust me, I know! You’re probably wondering about everything you need to get your little one whether it’s a car seat or crib. Before you begin thinking of everything you need to buy, let’s take a moment and look into the budgeting aspects of having a new baby.
Cutting Back on Unnecessary Spending
When it comes to budgeting, I know this is a subject many of us try to avoid especially when we feel we have enough income, have enough money to buy and do what we want and still have money left over. This may be ideal when it’s only you but getting prepared for a baby, you kind of have to have a different mind set because as you may have already heard..babies are EXPENSIVE! Even if it is only you, budgeting is still a good thing. You’ll be surprised at how much you could save.
If you’re anything like me, when I first found out I was pregnant, budgeting was the last thing that was on my mind. Not because it wasn’t important but I just didn’t think much about it. All I was thinking about day in and day out was getting prepared for the baby, not even understanding or realizing that this was an important factor in “getting prepared.” As I look back, I could have cut back on the amount of money spent on fast food, lowered my cell phone plan, and found alternatives to cable plans in the beginning of my pregnancy. I guess its better late than never, right? I would like to share with you what I believe I could have done differently that could have saved me lots of money and I hope to help you along the way!
Fast Food Spending
Chick Fil-A, Waffle House, Zaxby’s, and there are so many more places that I can name but that’s just to name a few. From 7 weeks when I first found out that I was pregnant, I was eating fast food everyday and in most cases, multiple times a day. I know, that was terrible! Let’s take a look at my fast food spending and break it down.
Just think about it for a moment, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Okay, let’s say for breakfast I ate Waffle House and my meal was about 8 dollars, for lunch I ate Chick Fil-A and my meal was about 7 dollar, and for dinner, I didn’t eat out. In one day, that’s already 15 dollars so let’s multiply that by 7..I spent approximately 105 dollars a week on fast food. If we look at it that monthly, I spent about 420 dollars on fast food! If you are heading down this road, please stop now because you can save so much money. Money that I can guarantee you will need for the new arrival.
It’s so easy to look at small amounts like that and not really think of it as a big deal. By the way, it’s only 8 dollars, right? Yes it is and small amounts add up very quickly as you can see, especially if you aren’t watching what you spend and how often you are spending. As I am writing this post, I’m almost getting angry at myself just seeing that in 9 months I could have saved almost 4,000 dollars or more that went toward fast food! Shame on me!
Re-Evaluating Cell Phone or Cable Plans
If fast food isn’t your thing like it was mine and you are trying to decide where you can cut down costs, try reaching out to your phone and/or cable company to see where you can lower costs. During my pregnancy, I had a phone plan with unlimited everything which was probably the most expensive plan and I also had WiFi and cable. Along with my out of control spending on fast food, I could have lowered my monthly phone plan maybe by 20 to 30 dollars and did away with my cable and just got WiFi but I didn’t think about this at all. See the tips below on how you could maybe cut back on these expensive wireless and cable plans.
Tip #1:
Tip #2:
Tip #3:Invest in a Roku or a Fire Stick. Roku sticks can be purchased at Amazon, Best Buy, or Target for 30 dollars, in store or online. There are some that are more expensive, it just depends on what you prefer. Fire Sticks are a bit more and can also be purchase from Amazon or Best Buy for 40-50 dollars. You can sometimes catch them on sale on Amazon. I think this is a great investment and a great alternative to spending all that money on cable each month! You can watch live television, movies, television shows and much more!
Roku Express | Easy High Definition (HD) Streaming Media Player
Fire TV Stick 4K with Alexa Voice Remote, streaming media player (Includes $45 Sling TV Credit)
Even if you aren’t preparing for a baby you could still use the tips I mentioned to lower your monthly costs. Sometimes we look at the small amounts we spend daily and don’t realize how quickly they can add up over time and sometimes we have unnecessary bills that we can really eliminate or re-evaluate. I hope you enjoyed reading this and I hope that I provided some useful tips!
Finding out I was pregnant was one of the biggest shocks of my life. My mind was racing just thinking about the fact that a human being would be growing inside of me! I needed to tell my boyfriend, my sisters, my nieces, my friends, but I contemplated because I was afraid of what everyone would think. Thoughts of abortion and adoption started to cloud my mind because I was unsure of how I would take care of a baby. Making minimum wage, going to school full time, and two semesters left before graduation..how was I gonna do that?
My boyfriend and I made a decision to go through with the pregnancy. Was I happy, was I sad that I was pregnant? I was scared, very scared. If you’ve come across this blog it’s probably because you’ve been browsing the internet to get some insight or just read about other’s experiences because you’re expecting. I can tell you now that it’s normal to feel scared and it’s normal to not even know how you feel. Let me take you through a journey of my experiences…
First Trimester
My first trimester went…smooth surprisingly. I went crazy searching on the internet looking for anything that could tell me what to expect. I read about expecting morning sickness, nausea, extreme fatigue, and so much more so I was expecting all of these symptoms to come at any given time. As days and weeks went by I didn’t have any morning sickness, nor was I nauseous. I was rocking this pregnancy! (Or so I thought). I was more tired than usual and as you have probably guessed, hungry.
Everyone’s body is different, therefore what I may have experienced during pregnancy, you may be experiencing something totally different. Don’t you wish it was like menu where you got to choose what symptoms you wanted? I don’t think anyone would be ordering off of that menu!
Second Trimester
As I entered my second trimester, nausea decided to welcome its self into my pregnancy that was going oh so well. I couldn’t eat my favorite breakfast anymore. I could barely eat or drink anything, except for fruit and water which was better for me anyway. Everything else left a disgusting taste in my mouth. To help with the nausea, you can talk with your doctor and they will probably prescribe you medicine to help with the nausea. I’m not a big medicine taker so if you’re like me, some of the tips below may help you.
As I mentioned, what worked for me may not work for you but its worth a try!
Third Trimester
Finally, its nearing the end, its almost over! Toward the middle of my third trimester, I got so sick, it was unbearable. The nausea had calmed down alot but I would probably have taken the nausea over this! I was congested, had a stuffy nose, a bad headache, and worst of all…I couldn’t sleep..at all. I couldn’t lie down flat so I had to use the recliner chair as my bed for almost two weeks. Can you imagine?!
I was definitely over the pregnancy at this point. I was uncomfortable because I wasn’t feeling well, uncomfortable because I couldn’t get comfortable, and uncomfortable because baby just decided to ball up in that one spot and kick me every five minutes. I was so desperate I was begging the baby to please be nice and stop kicking me so I could try to get some rest. Wanna know how well that worked out? It didn’t. It’s like he moved and kicked me even more. If you’ve made it to this point in your pregnancy thus far, I hope you’re having it better than I did. If you haven’t made it to this point yet, wait on it. Not to say that you will experience everything that I have but I can say, the further you get along baby is definitely gonna be running out of space in there so they’re gonna be all over the place!
Good news is once the day comes for you to deliver, you’re not gonna care about any of this anymore because your focus will now be on meeting your little angel for the first time and I must say, all of that pain and discomfort is definitely worth it!
I’m sure as a teenager or an adult with no kids, at one point in time we’ve all heard people whose had a baby say just how drastically your life will change once you have a baby. You won’t be able to do this and you won’t be able to do that. As a teenager listening to my mom and sisters, I was scared to even imagine having a baby, ever! You’ve probably stumbled across this article because you’re curious to hear stories about personal experiences of becoming a mother.
I was 24 years old when I had my first child and I must say I was nervous as nervous could be! Up until the birth of my son Corde’, I had only held a baby twice and that was my youngest nephew and my first great niece. The reason for this is because babies are so fragile and I was too afraid that I would hurt them by holding them wrong or even dropping them. So because of this I never thought that someday I would actually become someone’s mom but I must tell you, its one of the greatest feelings ever!
Before I had Corde’, I worked part-time at night and went to school full-time during the day. My daily routine consisted of going to class from about 8 a.m to 2 p.m then going home to take nap before work. I’m kind of an introvert so I don’t really go out to parties and social events. The most I would probably do would be to have lunch with my friends or go on a date with my boyfriend but it was back in the house after that. So, with that being said how could a baby “drastically” change my life when I didn’t do anything but stay home 80 percent of the time?
Having a baby was definitely a transition. I went from eating, sleeping and doing whatever else I wanted when I wanted to do it to being on this little person’s schedule which was all over the place! When I brought Corde’ home on March 29th (my birthday, what a great birthday gift, right?!) it felt so weird because I kept thinking to myself how am I suppose to take care of a baby? I can tell you now they don’t come with any instructions but good thing is, you learn as you go. Whether you are a single mom or you have a partner who is along side you on this rocky roller coaster, my best advice is to be the best person you can be for this little person who is depending on you to take care of them. I wouldn’t necessarily say that the transition is easy, whether you are an introvert and an extrovert, but the transition is so worth it. Cherish those little moments because they grow before your very eyes.
Good luck on your transition to motherhood and I wish you the very best on this new adventure! Stay strong and stay positive! š
Pampers Swaddlers Size 1, 216 Ct.
“You’re always going to wonder if you’re doing things wrong, but that’s what it means to be a mom, to care so much about someone else that you just want to be as perfect as possible.” -Naya Rivera
My name is Ashley and I have a two year old son whose name is Corde’. He actually inspired me to begin this blog. I just wanted to share my personal experiences as a first time mom and how it was for me transitioning into motherhood. I also plan to give tips about what to expect during milestones from newborn to toddler, scary mommy moments, being a working mom and more!
All Things Ashley 