I’ve been a stay at home mom for 8 years.  (Where has time gone?)

There have been moments of pure bliss and moments where I thought I might lose my mind!  All things considered, it has been one of the biggest blessings of my life and I pray to keep my title of at home mom for many years to come (Since beginning to monetize this blog with affiliate links and a few ads and running my It Works! business I guess my title has recently changed to work at home mom, but because I set my own hours it I’m still available to my kids when needed.)

The longer I’ve stayed home, I’ve noticed three bad habits of stay at home moms that need to change.

The first pattern or bad habit of stay at home moms is when asked what they do, many look down and quietly say, “I stay at home” or “Nothing…I’m a mom”.

Nothing could be farther from the truth!

I have been guilty of saying this myself!  It’s a lie!

Stay at home moms work their behinds off (not that working moms don’t…I’m just saying that stay at home moms do not sit at home and do nothing.  There is a terrible misconception that stay at home moms watch talk shows and eat candy all day!  I do not know any stay at home moms that do that.) Personally, I have never had a harder job than being at home all day with a 6 year-old, two 1-year-olds, and a newborn!  Talk about being tired!  I’m not sure how I survived that period of my life but am so thankful for the opportunity.

The second bad pattern I’ve noticed about stay at home moms is they have a hard time doing anything for themselves, including simple self-care!  Simple things such as a shower, eating healthy food, and going on a date become nearly impossible.

Personally, after taking care of everyone else’s needs, it was hard for me to take time for myself (and this is sometimes still the case).

It is not healthy to care for everyone else without taking time to take care of yourself.  When mom is worn out, stressed to the max, and taking care of everyone else, life can unravel quickly.

Self-care is so important!  My lack of self-care is what inspired me to begin the free monthly self-care calendars that I post each month.  It is also what inspired me to create this blog.

The last bad habit of stay at home moms that I’ve noticed (and this is also true among working moms) is that many are getting their value and self-worth from technology.

How many times do you see a mom at the park and instead of playing or watching her kids, she’s checking Facebook on her phone?  (I’m not bashing, I’ve been guilty of this, too).  I don’t think that checking Twitter or Pinterest is a bad thing but when we are “living” through our personal accounts instead of interacting with real people (including our families) we have picked up a bad habit that needs to go!

Getting our value from social media is dangerous because most people post their “bests” on social media, not real life struggles or even the majority of how their day has went.  When moms compare their day with spilled milk, blow out diapers, and crying babies to another mom with a baby smiling in designer clothes it’s very hard to be content with life.

It’s important to support all moms and encourage real relationships, self-care, and to build each other up.  Being a mom is difficult.  When we build each other up, we each contribute to ending the mommy wars!

Welcome to Women With Intention Wednesdays!

Welcome back to another great week of community building and support for one another!  I’m so glad you are here and I hope you enjoy this week’s featured post and blogger!

This week’s most popular post is from Bethany at FIRSTandSECONDblog with her post It Is(n’t) What It Is (Photo from: www.armstrongeconomics.com)!  I loved this post.  My Grandmother uses the phrase, “it is what it is” all the time and I’ve come to despise it because it takes any ownership from the situation.  I loved how Bethany turned that phrase towards God.  Check it out!

Thank you all for giving me such great posts to read each week! Keep them coming!

Here is what you will find at Women With Intention Wednesdays:

• This is a link up party where you come to encourage one another, have fun, and share your best posts to help women live their best life!
• In other words, any post that you have written about Christian living, homemaking, relationships, healthy living, living a frugal life or that helps another woman can be included in this link up! Please just them family friendly (I reserve the right to remove anything that I feel isn’t appropriate).
• This link up is beneficial for every woman! Whether you are a blogger or a reader, this is one you won’t want to miss! I’m very excited to offer this link up as a place to not only build new relationships between bloggers but also by providing an awesome resource of information for my readers!

Here are the rules of this link up:

1. You must link directly to your post (no homepages, please).
2. Please link up no more than 2 posts each week and please do not link up the same post week after week.

3. For every link you add, please visit the link before you and one other of your choice. If your links are consecutive visit the blogger before you and your choice for the 2nd link. It’s impossible to build relationships when no one communicates! Please don’t link and run!

4. By linking up you give me permission to share your posts and photos on this blog and social media. Each week I will choose a featured post. I will only feature and pin your post if you have followed the rules. All features will be linked back to the original source.
5. You also give me permission to email you a quick reminder that the party is live. You may opt out anytime. I don’t spam my readers with emails.
6. Answer the community building question below so we all get to know each other! That’s the purpose of being here! 🙂

In order to help grow this community with great posts and relationships, I would love it if you would add the party button to your sidebar, your blog directory page, or a text link at the bottom of your post. This isn’t required to participate in the link-up but I would really appreciate it!