Ideas for Stay at home Moms

Being a stay at home mom is a challenging role for women. A lot of women prefer to work then be a stay at home mother. Some women agree that being a stay at home mother is harder than being a working mother. In this circumstance and time, it is my priviledge to be a stay at home mom. The hardest challenge for any stay at home mother is meeting all of the needs of her children while taking care of her own needs. I believe a mother who's needs are being met on a daily basis thrives as a stay at home mom. In this article I will be focussing on the needs of mothers and how she can go about meeting them each day so that she will be prepared to meet the needs of her family. There is a saying in our culture that mothers are the heart of the home. This saying likens the role of mothers to the role of a heart in the body. She pumps life giving blood to the rest of the body (members of her family).

Meditation

"The key to life is meaning." Stephen Covey. Meditation should be the start of every woman's day. Meditation allows a woman to connect to her spirit, her inner core, her spirituality or whatever else you call it. It is important to reconnect each morning to our sense of meaning and purpose for our being, whatever that is for you. A lot of people use prayer and others use meditation. It all direct toward the same goal. What is your mission in life? What will you do with life at this time? I suggest that you keep a pen and paper at this time and write whatever comes from deep within you. The perfect time to meditate is usually in the morning before anyone wakes up to bother me. I tend to use an hour where I can write all of the inspiration that comes to me as well as map out a schedule for the day. A schedule is just as important as the meditation, because if you don't turn your inspiration and meaning into a schedule to fulfill, you would still feel unfulfilled. A schedule is a tool for turning your meaning into actions and fulfillment. Meditations bring you to face all of your high potentials and possibilities. In this situation, you are your own teacher, counsellor and best friend. If you listen intently you can teach yourself better than anyone else can. And its also up to you how firm or gentle you are with yourself. Its important to examine that you are not being taught by negative voices that you've acquired over the years from other sources.

Physical

Well, it is fair to say that our physical health greatly affects our overall health. A lot of women get so caught up in nurturing others that they forget to nurture and nourish themselves. It all starts from the beginning of the day beyond meditation and scheduling. Mom needs to get up and get ready for the day. This includes shower, dressing up, and eating a nutritious breakfast. Whatever the schedule is for the day mom needs to schedule in an exercise routine. I think an hour of whatever exercise you're doing is sufficient and adequate. The exercise depends on your level of fitness and personality. It is only important that it goes for at least an hour and that you are consistent. Why an hour? Of course it doesn't have to be an hour but i think it can't be less than 30 minutes. It is also a good idea to plan your eating habits for the day. Planning meals that are nutritious is paramount for you and your family's health. Scheduling adequate resting time for you is also important. You do not want to burn the candles at both ends. The body is a great teacher. Whatever you put in you will get out. If you eat poorly you will have poor performance.

Emotional

Physical health affects emotional health just as emotional health affects physical health. For a woman, emotional health encompasses all of her relationships with others. It is a good idea to list all of your relationships and check their health status. One needs to weed out those relationships that have a negative impact. You need to evaluate what you need to do in those relationships that are important. The relationships that you have within your immediate family is most important. Obviously your relationship with your young children will not be completely reciprocal. I find that in adult relationships, making sure that your actions and words reflect how you really feel is the challenge. And when you have made a mistake, you need to own up and apologize and forgive each other. The feeling that you have done all you can to heal a relationship is what will bring peace to yourself and your conscience. Being a peaceful person toward all people will bring you peace within yourself no matter the result. And we only have time and energy to make peace with our own conscience. If mothers had to make peace with what everybody thought of them then all mothers would be hospitalised.

Writing

Someone once taught me that writing is theraputic. I think this is a good exercise to do at the end of the day after the children go to sleep. Writing helps a woman unravel the mysteries of the emotions of the day. Putting it down on paper is certainly better than keeping it all bottled up inside. You can write all of the positive as well as the negative. Writing during a storm of emotion is also an excellent idea. When emotions are intense writing on paper is almost as beneficial as taking a walk. Writing on paper is a good vent for negative emotion. I find that venting to others builds my negative emotion and experience. It is a way to get it out of your system without affecting another person with it. Strong emotions has to come out in someway. And if you don't channel a way, I find that it will come out in the way that I treat others....especially my closest loved ones. One young boy said to his mother," I understand that you're having a bad day but I don't understand why you're taking it out on me!"

These are the main ideas that I wanted to present in this article for stay at home mothers. I feel assured that if these ideas are incorporated into the lives of stay at home mothers their lives can be greatly improved. She can be ready to face whatever the day has to offer and help meet all of the needs of those who depend on her. It is not an easy job being a stay at home mom. I can certainly relate to all of the challenges that we have as stay at home mothers. No one told us it would be easy, neither did anyone ever tell us that it is this complicated either.