Weekly Recap: family fun, changes around the house, something new I'm trying
Hey Mommas! One of my goals here on this blog is to document my daily life as a #stayathomemom. This will be the first of many weekly recaps sharing a glimpse into days here at The Meck House. A lot of what we do is pretty mundane, but I think it's important to show that being a good mom doesn't mean doing something crazy and extravagant every day of the week. I've said it once and I will say it again, we are the best mommas for our children. The way you mom is not the same as another and striving to be "perfect" will only cause anxiety. I know from experience.
With that said, we did have a pretty busy week. It flew by! For the first time in a long time, we had warm and sunny weather, so every chance we got we played outside. We were also lucky in that the local school was on spring break, so Sofie & Bubs got to play with their favorite neighbor kids who are school-aged all week. We went on walks, played at a few parks, and even taught the kids 4-square. What do you think, do you peg me as a mom who lets her kids win? 😉.
Another really fun thing we tried out this week was a Gem Stone Dig. We purchased this from Walmart on a whim for $12.97 apiece. It was a little more than I usually like to spend, but I knew we were expecting rain Thursday/Friday and thought it would be perfect for keeping the kids busy. Turns out I was right! The kids had a blast with this and even though the kit said 8+, they had no problem hammering & chiseling away.
On a personal note, I could not be happier with the progress I've made with this site & my Instagram account @themeckhouse_blog this week. I know that I have a long way to go in creating content and gathering a following but I don't even care. I am truly doing this for me & for mommas out there who need a #momfriend. To be completely vulnerable, I have been struggling with anxiety for years. On top of the stress of #momlife, the pandemic, and some personal health issues, my emotions were all over the place. I think I've been pushing myself to be the perfect mom, wife, and human for so long that I finally cracked. I started grad school for school counseling last July, and have been slowly becoming more and more aware of the importance of self-care. I am the type of person who gives and gives without leaving anything for myself. With this blog, I've started to take some of those pieces of me back, giving myself an outlet to just be me.
If you haven't already, you should check out the posts I published this past week. Not because I want views, but because I think you will enjoy them! You can click the blog link in the header of my site to view them all. I've been writing like a machine so there is plenty to read. 😂
Anyway, getting back to the daily grind of motherhood, we had some big changes in our home this week! We bought our house in April of 2021 and have slowly been making it ours. After months of procrastinating on the decision, we finally got new carpet installed in our bedrooms & a new stove/dishwasher for our kitchen. See the picture of us camping in the living room waiting for the carpet installation to finish up below. Our house was a complete mess all week and the experience left us exhausted, but it was totally worth it. The carpet in our bedrooms was seriously disgusting. We had white carpet in all the rooms that were beyond stained and impossible to clean. We are SO happy to have our new carpet, which matches the carpet we put in the basement last summer. 🤞It holds up better with our kids and pets as well!
As for the new appliances, we knew when we bought this house we wanted to upgrade our stove and dishwasher (which were white) to match the slate fridge and microwave. This is just the first phase of our kitchen upgrade. I hope to get a backsplash and reface the cabinets in a few years. Of course, no project can go without a hitch, and the dishwasher is still sitting in its box. We found out on the delivery day that our dishwasher could not be installed due to plumbing mishaps. So I'll be sure to share a picture once we get the dishwasher installed!
Finally, I wanted to end each of my weekly recaps with something new I'm trying. This could be an activity with the kids, recipe, or homemaker hack. I will try to keep it fresh, but also real. If there is a week we are struggling to do much of anything (let alone something new), I'll share that too.
This week though, I started doing The 10 Minute Miracle with my kiddos. This idea I got from @biglittlefeelings on Instagram. Basically, you dedicate 10 minutes a day (any time, any place) with your child to focus solely on them and do something fun with them. I was able to squeeze this in with Bubs and it went REALLY well. He is a total momma's boy and gets frustrated when I try to clean, cook, or sleep without him. This week I set a timer on Alexa for 10 minutes where he got all of my attention, not a phone or other person in sight. We played with his toy cars, board games, and solved puzzles together!
Here is what I noticed
Less fuss when I needed to do the dishes/make dinner (he was happy to play alone or with Sofia)
More willing to sleep next to Carl or on the opposite side of me (yes the side he sleeps on is usually a huge battle)
Lots of laughter & happiness for both of us. He is happy to get more intentional mommy/bubba 1:1 time, and I feel less mom guilt over spending too much time cleaning or doing school work.
That's all for this week mommas! My goals for this coming week are to continue being more intentional with the kids, using the 10-minute miracle as a strategy! I hope to get more 1:1 time with my girl Sofie too. I will give you an update in next week's recap to let you know how it's going. Until then, stay tuned for part 2 of the OBX vacation series (part 1 found here) & whatever else inspires me to blog next week. Oh and don't forget to follow me @themeckhouse_blog on Instagram and/or hit the subscribe button at the bottom of the blog for sneak peeks into our daily life as well as blog updates.
💕💕sending lots of love & momma to momma support,
Kaylin