I often get asked how I manage to still enjoy life to the fullest as a mother. Or how I managed to not “lose myself” in motherhood. Don’t get me wrong, there are days when I’m in the trenches & I look up (messy bun & stained tee shirts and all) and ask, “WTF?” But honestly staying true to myself was a promise I made between me, myself and I when I was pregnant. I wanted Nash to elevate my existence and he did just that. I’m still Michelle, but better. Michelle 2.0 if you will!
It is a mentality but there is small suggestion I can make that will make the biggest impact for you. Elevate motherhood. Elevating motherhood is when you take what’s seemingly the mundane of motherhood and take it up just one notch. Elevate it! It’s quite easy when you put it into practice and over time it becomes a way of life.
It's all about IDENTITY BASED HABITS. I recently learned this in Atomic Habits by James Clear. Step one: State your identity as a mother. Example: I want to be a healthy mom. And let that guide your day in bite sized pieces! Like when you're deciding what to do today, ask yourself, what would a healthy mom do? Would she sit and scroll her phone while her baby watches Cocomelon? Or would a healthy mom take a walk in the stroller? Letting these identity based habits guide your day, every day, and it will eventually become your lifestyle. Just ask yourself, "What would a healthy mom do?" Over time it'll be second nature and you'll create the most wonderful identity based habits.
Here’s an easy example. My identity as a mother is: I want to be a mom who enjoys motherhood. One small thing that defines that is, food truck Friday! We usually always go to dinner on Fridays anyways when Matt gets off work. So one day I decided we should elevate that experience as a family & hit up the local food trucks. This is something that can be easily executed and elevates dinner as family. It’s not just going out to eat, it’s FOOD TRUCK FRIDAY! It’s not only elevated motherhood for me, its elevated my marriage. We look forward to Food Truck Friday every week and I love waking up on Fridays and texting Matt, “YAYYY Happy Food Truck Friday!” Talk about something to look forward to! We did that. And you can too! With literally anything in your life.
This is just one of many examples but it’s really that simple. Take the mundane and elevate it. If we don’t do Food Truck Friday, I make it a point to find something else during the day to create excitement for myself & especially my family. Been cooped up all day? Have dinner outside! Too cold outside? Set up a living room picnic! Or roll up to Sonic, McDonalds or Chick-Fil-A, pop the trunk, and sit in the back picnic style and eat.
Bath time feeling like a chore? Play music! Nash loves to dance in the bath. Or I’ll get a new bath toy or two. We also love to take baths together! We’ll splash and play. Nash LOVES the water so when mama joins him, it’s the best! Or sometimes when Matt’s showering, I’ll toss Nash in there with him. All these things make your life simpler and mix it up a bit.
Try to really romanticize your life, any chance you get. If I’m dreading cooking dinner, I change my mindset. I blast some music while Nash plays, pour a beer, dance, & REALLY try to enjoy the process.
Coffee dates with friends is ALWAYS fun. If you don't want to hang in public, take a walk around the neighborhood with coffee. On a budget? Take coffee from home. It's really so simple, so it sounds odd typing this out..but sometimes us moms just need a nudge.
Another thing I love to do is HEB trips with Nash. It would be strange for Matt to stay home with Nash while I grocery shop. It’s our little thing during the week. I actually used to grocery shop once a week but I enjoy going with Nash so much, its more common for me to wake up, choose what I want to cook, then take a trip to the store with Nash to get our ingredients the same day! Nash has so much fun watching everyone in the store & I always try to get new foods for him to try. It's the little things, ya know!? I’m telling you, you can find enjoyment in just about anything when you have the right mentality.
Notice in every example I told you, it encompasses a mother who enjoys motherhood. The music, the dancing, the positive mindset regarding an outing together..
So how will YOU elevate motherhood? Choose one way you’re going to elevate your life this week. If this inspired you at all, please please please let me know by tagging me in your posts or stories on Instagram when you make it happen!
Mama you a BADDIE! Talk to ya soon! Besos!
- Michelle Burr
4 comments
This resonated with me! My desire has always been to have multiple kids and create the family I never had, but there have been lots of sidewinders since that brought me back to this very same and realistic concept of living in joy. Thank you for sharing!
This is such great pointers ! Being a first time mama I love to hear little ideas of things I could be doing with my little one or as a family , it is just so important ! And sometimes you need to talk to someone or see posts like that that really inspire you to try something new as a family. We have food trucks in my area but only first and last Saturday of the month so I think I want to actually incorporate this into our monthly plans !!!
I NEEDED to hear this. Working full time and then coming home to my two little ones is to immediately jump into dinner, bath, bedtime routine is a lot. Plus throw in my husband travels for work so I’m solo many nights. I need to change my perspective and enjoy this time with my babies because we all know it goes by so fast! Thanks for the reminder!
Omg girl I needed to read this I am not even a stay at home mom but I need to change my mind set about being a mother it is truly a blessing