7 Simple Tips for Being a Happy Mom

Being a mom can be tough.  But it doesn’t have to be.  I have 7 tips for being a happy mom.

You can check them out in the video above or in the post below.

Know your triggers

First things first, know what your triggers are. Knowing your triggers can help you know what to avoid during the day that will take you from happy mom to what I like to call mommy monster.

For example, if you know that after a long day at work and the house is a mess that it is easy for your kids to get you upset.

Knowing that trigger and know how you can either warn the kids to clean up or tell your husband to help clean up the house can keep you happy.

I’m another trigger that is a pretty good example is talking to certain individuals on the phone always seem to get you to wind up.

Know who those people are and either avoiding them or having a certain time that you accept calls from that individual will help you to be happier.

So just knowing those triggers will help you to be able to identify what causes you to get easily agitated and easily upset with the kids.

And then you can do some things to diffuse the situation or avoid the situation altogether.

Plan ahead

Planning ahead helps you to avoid those triggers that get you easily upset or agitated.

Let’s go back to the example of coming home from a long day being tired. You can plan to do a quick meal instead of a big, fancy dinner.  Or better yet, pick up take out on the way home to avoid spending time in the kitchen and get even more tired and agitated.

So just knowing what some of those triggers are and planning ahead can help you stay happy or, and also prevent you from turning into the mommy monster, which your kids don’t usually like to see.

Another example is knowing that your child has to be in the bed before the tantrums start.  Planning ahead to make sure that bath time and dinner time happen without rushing so that you can get your child to bed before the whining and tantrums start that drive you crazy.

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Be grateful

Your mind can be very tricky if you are not careful. You can trick yourself into thinking that everything is great or you can make yourself think everything is bad, all with your thoughts.

Finding something every day to be grateful for will help keep your mind in the right place so that you aren’t easily agitated and upset. Or find things to complain about and, or feel sorry for yourself unnecessarily.

But finding one thing, even if it’s just something simple and you don’t think it’s worth being grateful for, be grateful for that to help keep you positive.

I know it was one time I was so grateful for air conditioning. Oh my goodness!

If you’ve ever been to Florida in July, the heat is no joke.

I was pregnant and our air conditioning went out on the fourth of July weekend! We called the landlord and they would be able to have anyone come to fix the air conditioning until after the weekend.

It was not pretty being pregnant with no AC in July … in Florida.

I was very elated when we did get the AC back on.  Since then I have been extremely grateful for air conditioning.

Finding the little things to be grateful for will help keep you in that good, happy mental state so that you don’t turn into that grumpy mom.

Maintain positive thoughts

If you go to my Facebook page, you will find lots of positive affirmations for moms because I know if you are thinking about positive things, you will feel positive.  When you feel positive, you feel happy.

I want you to feel good and radiate that to the kids and everyone else around you.

So, finding different positive affirmations or quotes can maintain those positive thoughts and not let that negativity get inside and get you down.

Self-care daily

I put together a post with 50 plus other ladies about different self-care ideas for moms because it’s so easy to get caught up in taking care of everyone else that you forget to take care of yourself.

But you have to take care of yourself in order to take care of everyone else around you.  Self-care doesn’t have to be complicated.  SOmething as simple as taking a long shower, reading a book or working out are ways do self-care.

You have to make time for yourself and when you do, you may feel a little bit of that mom guilt creeping in.

That’s okay.  I promise.  You are still a good mom.

In the end, you will be a lot happier after making time for yourself.

Make a routine

Having a routine is helpful not only for the kids but also for you too.

Having a routine helps creates consistency.  When there’s consistency, there’s less likely for unexpected events to happen that cause you turn into monster mommy.

Having a routine also make you more likely to achieve your goals and dreams.

This is one thing I know personally I’ve been working on. I have an alert on my phone that goes off every single day at 6:30 to remind me to give the kids a bath and get them ready for bed.  Because I come home at different times during the week, sometimes I lose track of time and then I realize it is time for bed and dinner is not ready yet!

The alert prompts me to start the routine of bath time, dinner time and bedtime so that I don’t have kids running around at 10 pm driving me crazy.

By creating this evening routine, things go a lot smoother in the house.  In the end, I am happy and less stressed.

Ask for help

The last thing, which is one of the easiest things to do, is asking for help.

If you know that you can’t do everything, asking your spouse, asking family members, asking your kids and people to help you will definitely make you a lot happier and a lot less likely from having a meltdown.

I’m going back to this, my favorite example of coming home tired from a very long day. If you know that you are too tired to make dinner, I ask your husband to help you with that. Or ask your kids to order pizza so that you don’t have to cook.

Asking for help doesn’t make you less of a mom. It doesn’t mean you are not good enough. Asking for help helps keep you sane.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help, especially when you really, really need it. You don’t want to push yourself to the edge and get to the point where you’re given so much that you just get completely drained.

There you have it! My 7 tips for being a happy mom.  I hope they help keep you happier throughout the day because I want you to be a happy mom.

Know that your happiness depends on you and not those around you.  You have to make a real conscious effort to do things to make life and motherhood more enjoyable.

Make sure to check out the Facebook page to find more tips and inspiration like this.