By: Maryam Ahmed
Being the mother of an overly active 3-year old, I have much to whine about. Starting right with the complaining, I miss the days when I could hide under the covers, completing an entire season of Grey’s Anatomy in 3 days or not being able to put down Lord of the Rings since I just had to find out what mischief Gollum was up to next. Alas… those were the days, the end of an era as marked by September 21st, 2016 or the birth of my boy.
Now, I may sound like a horrible mom when I say all these things, but that does not, in the least, mean that I don’t appreciate motherhood. To all the new moms or to-be moms out there, I say this from experience: when the frustration of new responsibilities, lack of sleep and endless baby tantrums pass, you’ll begin to experience the overwhelming wonders of motherhood. And that’s the experience that’ll stick till the end. As your child grows, each day will bring new surprises for the both of you, each day will hold a memory that you will cherish.
Enjoying the day-to-day routine with your kids seems doable for a fulltime mom, but what about writers like me? While mothers with an office job have to spend much of their time away from family while the kids are looked after by nannies, freelancers have an edge. Well… that, or the fact that I live in a small town and did not find any nannies or daycare to make use of, but I have trained myself to do everything on my own. If we want, we can use the God-gifted 24 hours and make the most out of it:
Be a fulltime mom, write to feed your passion and earn while doing so!
No, you won’t turn into a zombie staying up all day, don’t worry! All you have to do is to organize your routine. You can do everything, dress your kid, eat with them, play with them, read to them, put them to sleep, cook fresh, homemade meals for the family every day, write an article or two, enjoy a few pages of a good book and enjoy a good night’s sleep! Understand that everything has a specific time for it, stick to the routine and you’ll have sufficient time for each of your activities.
Key to a workable parenting/blogging combo: stick to the routine
Now, the best routine is entirely your own decision, you will only figure that out through hit and trial. Some days will go by with no sense of achievement at all. But if you think about it, each day brings something to seize in itself, even if it’s not so obvious. Sometimes, only the 15 minutes that you spend watering plants in your garden with your kid will have more far-fetched benefits than an entire day spent researching and writing on a topic that you aren’t even passionate about.
I’m an early riser. I’ve read and heard from multiple sources that 7 to 8 hours of sleep is sufficient for a healthy routine, so I’ve decided that 7-hours sleep will work for me. So, I usually sleep around 10 pm, setting the alarm to 5.30 am. We’re all familiar with the ‘snooze’ button, sometimes I wish it didn’t exist but I still use it every morning.
After the alarm ringing every ten minutes, I finally wake up around 6 am and get down to work with a cup of tea. Till about 10 am when my kid wakes up and calls for me, I have plenty of time to write to research, read and write. Mothers will understand why not much can be done once your kids wake up!
So that’s how I go about it, and it works for me. Others may have other secrets; every mother is special and what she is doing by molding the brain and raising a gentleman or a lady, is beyond words to acknowledge. And the love we receive from our child, be it a kiss, a card, a wave when going off to school or simply a smile is the biggest remuneration we could ask for.
Author Bio
Maryam Ahmad is a passionate blog writer and has written on multiple niches over the course of her three-year career in content writing. Owing to her engaging writing style, the websites Maryam has written for have seen their rankings soar. Read more of her work at http://maryamswritinghub.
Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
Her easy-to-follow craft ideas and practical parenting advice have transformed In The Playroom into a cherished resource for parents.