Moms Night Out

I’m usually juggling fifty things at a time, wanting to be there for my children, while trying to run a business on a daily basis. For me, the balancing act is far from balanced. Just when I think we had a good day, somehow we end up late for soccer practice. With this, I feel like I am always searching ways for my work life and mom life to be equal. These are things that keep me up at night. As if motherhood isn’t hard enough, you throw a little work related stuff on top, and the struggle is real my friends.

I know I’m not alone when I say this, but I strive to do it all. Most of the time, I overlook myself and doing things for my own self care. It’s something that Jason and I speak about constantly. He encourages me to get that massage or have a drink with friends, but usually I feel mom guilt, and my plans end up getting nixed. Just last week, I was so under the weather, but I had an invitation from Parents Magazine and Momtrends for a fun mom’s night. Siella was home with a fever, Ryder had soccer practice, so my feeling crappy made the decision of bailing an easy one. Not so easy though. Jason  pushed me to go. He stayed home with Siella and Gemmie, while a friend walked Ryder home from practice. Sometimes, you just have to make it work.

Funny thing about this mom night out was that it was just that. A night built specifically to have moms leave it all behind, and get out to enjoy some one on one time. Just before the festivities started, Nicole from Momtrends and Dana, an editor from Meredith Publications, shared their own stories, with some practical ways to creatively and successfully navigate the challenges and struggles us mamas face on a daily basis.

While sipping on a little vino and chatting with my favorite bloggers and friends, we pampered ourselves, and learned some great tips along the way. One of the first suggestions were to pay attention to sense. I know this is important, because the first things I do when the kids go to bed is light a candle. I swear the scent somehow relaxes me, or at least I think it does! One of the sponsors, Glad Kitchen Garbage Bags who joined forces with Febrile to help with odors, set up a station where we could create our own scented moisturizer, using essential oils. The lavender and lemon scents were so soothing.

Next, it was suggested to make our mornings a little more enjoyable. This one I totally get, because my mornings are so hectic, that I am left feeling as if I’ve run a marathon before 9am. Quaker Oats offered up the idea of preparing oatmeal overnight. To my surprise, it is something that my kids go nuts for, which is a total score considering thats its so healthy.

I think we all have a container, or should I say multiple containers of Clorox Disinfecting Wipes in our homes. Killing 99.9% of germs, these little wipes are like my secret weapon, especially during this back to school season. We got a little crafty and decorated our containers, because considering they are always on a counter or table, why not dress them up!

Time for food prep is always a killer, but now, Earth’s Best offers healthy frozen dinners for older children. Since its Earth’s Best, there’s less guilt in serving a frozen dinner, and your kids are sure to love it. They even have gluten-free options for Ryder!

As a nod to all the new moms out there, dealing with lots of feedings and sleepless nights, we customized some pacifiers and baby bottles from Philips Avent.

So happy I decided to take the night off. I left with some great ideas, and came home to a house with sleeping children. Sometimes you just need a little mom’s night out!

Thank you Momtrends and Parents Magazine for a much needed night out, and sponsoring this post!