Just Getting Things Done

Where working moms of toddlers come to find out how to get it all done.

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Moms: Eliminate Your To-Do List in 4 Mins

Even if you're exhausted after a full day at work and have no energy to play with your kids. Get my FREE Empowered Mom's Guide to Getting Things Done, a simple 2-part strategy you can apply automatically to get your To-Do List out of your head and done.
- Stop feeling like you're failing as a wife and mom even if you can't remember the last time you mopped the kitchen floor.
- Find the energy to get things done even when your toddler wakes you up at 3:31 am and you don't want to get out of bed in the morning.
- Take back control of your life even though you only have 3 waking hours a day at home with your kids.

 
 

Take Me to Church or, How to Turn Words into Action

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This Christmas Eve I went to church with my older girls, and something interesting happened.

The pastor was a woman who shared a story about her 6 year old son.

She talked about how he didn’t want to be in the play the church was doing. It was kind of funny because he was the pastor’s son, so she had to explain why he should do it without really pushing him to do it.

Then, in the end he was really excited about it because he got a different part that he really wanted to play.

The best part of the story wasn’t the story itself, it was how the pastor delivered it.

[Read more…] about Take Me to Church or, How to Turn Words into Action

Spectra Baby USA S2 Pump Review – Spectra vs Medela

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Are you thinking about buying a Spectra pump? Had a Medela and want to know how it compares? Just looking for your first pump? I wrote this review of the Spectra S2 pump so I could answer all the questions I think are important, but if you have more just let me know. I also posted a video review here: Spectra S2 Pump video review but I’m going to break it down for you below.

First, a little background. I’m using this as my primary pump with my third child. I work full-time so I use this 5 days a week. I’ve been back to work for two and a half months. At the time of writing, my baby is almost 6 months old. I have no supply issues and have never had any issues with pumping. Except that I don’t really love to do it so I pretty much only do it at work. With my first two children I used Medela Pump in Style (PISA) pumps.

Spectra Baby USA S2 Pump Review - Spectra vs Medela at Just Getting Things Done

 

Best thing about the Spectra?

Spoiler alert, the best thing about it is that it’s gentle. Their tagline is awesome, “Our pumps don’t suck, they suckle.” Of course it’s not the same as actually feeding your baby (assuming everything is going well and you’re not in pain), but it’s so much gentler than the Medela pumps I’ve used in the past. [Read more…] about Spectra Baby USA S2 Pump Review – Spectra vs Medela

Turning Procrastination into Reward

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Procrastination into Reward

The other day I had the day off but my husband had to work and daycare was open. By 7:30 I was home alone and had the whole day to myself. I thought since I had so much time to myself I’d get a ton of things done.

I knew I should write a list so I’d have a better chance of actually doing them, but I had hot coffee and I never get to drink my coffee while it’s still hot, so I sat on the couch and turned on the news. I figured I deserved to drink my coffee hot at least once in awhile. I didn’t really care about the weather or any of the stories I saw, so I decided to look for something more interesting.

I saw that Bravo was doing a marathon of a show called Flipping Out and I decided to check it out. After the first episode I looked at the clock, saw how late it was and realized I really needed to eat. So I paused the show and went and got breakfast.

When I got some food, I figured I might as well watch some more tv while I ate breakfast because I couldn’t accomplish anything else while I ate. So I watched another episode.

I was feeling guilty because I couldn’t believe I was watching this crazy show about a guy running a design business in LA and all the drama with his employees and personal life, but I was totally hooked. Didn’t I deserve to hang out and watch some tv? I should be able to relax a little bit on my day off, right?

I mean, I had intentions of accomplishing all kinds of things, even though I didn’t really know what they were. I was going to get the house cleaned up, put everything away, do all those little things I never feel like I have time for. Instead I’m sitting on the couch watching reality tv. But I couldn’t stop watching.

It was just so easy to sit on the couch, even though in my mind I knew I should be doing something else.

[Read more…] about Turning Procrastination into Reward

Going Back to Work After Maternity Leave – Week Two

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As a working mom, returning to work after maternity leave is a time of major changes and major emotions. There are so many thoughts and feelings that go through my head, I wanted to chronicle it because, well, it may never happen again. I hope my journey can provide some comfort to other women that are going through the same thing. (This is the third post in this series, the first post is here and the second post is here.)

Going Back to Work After Maternity Leave - Week Two - Just Getting Things Done
Getting out the door in the morning (you can only see half the bags I’m carrying)

The Weekend

Saturday morning I ran errands, got groceries and was way more productive than I usually am on the weekends. I knew I was going to be tired in the afternoon either way, so I wanted to get everything done in the morning. Most weekends 10am rolls around and we’ve done nothing. Not today.

The in-laws came on Saturday while I was still running errands with Ivy and were here almost until dinner time. I was tired and really wanted to take a nap but didn’t because they were here. After they left I realized I should have just taken a nap anyway instead of sitting around wishing I could. I don’t think I was very fun.

My sister stopped by shortly after they left, and I started making dinner while she was still here. It was a busy day.

Sunday was more relaxed, since we’d even managed to get most of the laundry done the day before. I was brushing Emma’s hair and decided it really was time for a haircut. Like now. We talked about it for months because it was so long and hard to brush, but I hadn’t made it happen. I didn’t know where we should get it cut. I didn’t make an appointment. I was just indecisive. Well, today I decided we were going to Great Clips and doing it.

My husband needed a haircut too so we all piled in the car. Haircuts went well and were pretty fast, but by the time we got home it was practically lunchtime. I didn’t get a nap on Sunday either because I had my own hair appointment that afternoon. I guess it was haircut weekend.

I remember now how fast the weekends go too. [Read more…] about Going Back to Work After Maternity Leave – Week Two

My 2 Year Old Isn’t Sleeping Through The Night and It’s Driving Me Crazy

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I’m back at work after maternity leave. The baby is finding a rhythm now and consistently waking about the same time each night. But the 2 year old? She’s waking up 3 times a night! Every night! And yelling so much that she wakes up the 4 year old in the basement. I’m so angry and frustrated by it that I swear and criticize my husband in the middle of the night. Of course I blame it all on him. It’s the middle of the night. And I can’t go back to sleep right away because I’m so frustrated. Why isn’t my 2 year old sleeping through the night?

My 2 Year Old Isn’t Sleeping Through The Night and It’s Driving Me Crazy - Just Getting Things Done

 

How did we get here?

Ivy slept through the night earlier than either of our other two kids. At two months old she was sleeping through the night and it was awesome. Then I went back to work when she was 3 months old and that was the end of it. It was devastating.

It was hard because she woke up at random times every night and there was no rhyme or reason. I knew she could do it, she just didn’t. One night she would be up at 10pm, the next night it would be 1am. She did this until she was about 9 months old, when she started sleeping through the night consistently (again).

She seems to always revert back to waking up during the night though. If she gets sick and wakes up once during the night, she’ll continue doing it for weeks until we finally realize she’s not sick anymore. So we talk about it with her and then we don’t go in her room for a night or two when she calls out. It’s hard to listen to her calling out and not answer, but we know she doesn’t need anything and if we do what we say we’ll do she’s back to sleeping through the night.

This time around the problem has been a long time coming. When I was pregnant with Clara, our youngest, Ivy was calling out pretty often. At first she said she needed medicine. Then later it turned into “I need a drink.” At some point she didn’t need anything. My husband would go in, tell her to go back to sleep and then cover her back up. That was it.

She went back to sleep right away so it didn’t seem like that big of a deal. I got upset about it sometimes, but it was one of those things that I would say needed to change, but nothing changed. I wasn’t usually the one getting up so it wasn’t that big of a deal for me. Sometimes I didn’t even hear it. But when you have an infant that’s sleeping better than your 2 year old, who doesn’t actually need anything, you realize it’s time to put a stop to it. [Read more…] about My 2 Year Old Isn’t Sleeping Through The Night and It’s Driving Me Crazy

Decluttering With Kids

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Stuff just seems to accumulate when you have kids. Everywhere you go, everywhere you turn, there’s more stuff. They come home with goodie bags from birthday parties, the dentist, the grandparents. They have a treasure box and a million art projects at daycare. Someone’s bringing over hand-me-downs. It’s just an overload of stuff. So how do you declutter your kids’ stuff?

Decluttering With Kids - Just Getting Things Done

Let’s get to it.

Cheap toys

Throw them away. Don’t just toss them in the trash right away though.  This is how we do it. We hang onto the toy for a couple days while they’re still interested in it. Once they stop playing with it and we find it lying around the house, we put it on the mantle. That way we’ve still got it in case they suddenly need their spider ring again. Usually it doesn’t happen, but sometimes it does. Then, after a couple days on the mantle, we toss it into the trash.

So far our kids have not noticed we use this tactic, even when they get attached to the most ridiculous things, like cheap yo-yos they don’t know how to use. You could use a bin of some kind or a drawer. Either way, keep it out of sight for a couple of days and if they don’t ask for it, then you can get rid of it. [Read more…] about Decluttering With Kids