5 Ways To Be Classic As A MOM!
Even when you're COVERED in spit-up...
Hello classic crew! I hope you’re doing well! It’s been a weird couple of days for me because my son has not been adhering to any sort of feeding or sleeping schedule - and that means lots of time up in the night with him (which makes for one tired mama!). It also means nearly no time to do anything except take care of him during the day…so getting out content has been a little tricky!
But these past few days have got me thinking about how to be classic as a MOM. Being classic when you have all the time in the world, I’ve learned, is a lot easier than it is when you have a little human to take care of. Before having a baby, you can clean your home, work hard to look your best, and spend time to improve yourself. But after having a baby - all that stuff goes out of the window. I mean, I have a baby with acid reflux, so I’m covered in baby spit-up 95% of the time…which isn’t the most fashionable look!
But even though time is shorter as a new mama, I think there are ways that you can stay classic and, in some ways, become even more classic. So here are five ways how!
Get ready every single day. The small act of washing your face, brushing your hair, putting on a little makeup, and getting dressed can make all the difference in the world. If you spend all day in your robe and slippers, it almost doesn’t matter how much you get done, you will still feel unproductive. But if you make sure that you get ready, even if it means that everything else you have to do gets pushed down the priority list, then you can feel confident and classic as you take on the rest of your day. For example, because my son still doesn’t wake up at the same time every day, I can’t wake up before he does and carve out half an hour for myself. Instead, I wake up with him, feed him, and then put him down in his play gym. While he entertains himself, I make myself a quick breakfast. Then I put him down for his first nap of the day and during that time, I get ready. By the time he’s ready for his second feeding of the day, I’m ready to go and can start to tackle the other things on my to-do list. (That is, if he’s being cooperative with his naps and feeds!) Being classic includes taking time to look and feel your best - so make sure you do it when you can. You won’t regret it.
Make detailed to-do lists. Each evening before I go to sleep, I take out my notebook and write down everything I want to get done the following day. I also have a running list of to-dos for the week and month. My to-do list is my guiding light, my North Star. Without it, I feel at sea and overwhelmed with the number of tasks I have to accomplish. I divide my to-do list into sections: mother to-dos (nurse, go for a walk, give baby a bath), homemaker to-dos (laundry, clean the kitchen), work to-dos (write my weekly article, record videos), and other random to-dos (schedule the moving company, pay bills). Then I can pick my top priority items and add them to my daily to-do list. By making a list like this, I can stay on top of what I have to do rather than drowning under the weight of my responsibilities. And staying calm and collected is part and parcel of being classic. The best part is, even if I get absolutely nothing done on my to-do list because I was too busy “mom-ing,” I have that list to reference for the following day and can try to get those tasks done in the future.
Take walks and eat mindfully. Exercising when you have a baby and you don’t have family around to help is really hard to fit into your schedule. There are some days I can make it happen and others when it simply isn’t plausible. But taking a walk is something I can do that is good for me AND benefits my baby! Most days, I take my son out for a walk and give him some good fresh air, a really good nap, and I get my steps in. As well, once you’re out of the survival stage of motherhood (AKA the first 6-8 weeks), you can start thinking about how to eat that will support your body. I’ve just started to pay attention to what I eat again so that I can feel better each day as well as try to get back to a healthy weight. It’s classic to want to take care of yourself so that you can look your best (setting a realistic goal), feel your best, and be the best mom to that new little baby that you can be! And being fit enough to run around with your little one is a huge motivator to stay healthy.
Join a book club! Wow, I am SO glad that I started the Classically Abby Book Club! It can be easy to let your brain turn to mush when you’re tired from sleep deprivation and from devoting all of your time to your child, so being held accountable to read has been so wonderful during this time. When I’m nursing my son, I can read books. When I’m out for our walks, I can listen to them. It has been such a blessing to have this book club to encourage me to keep working on my book list. Reading is one of the most classic things anyone can do, so joining a book club like ours is a great way to give yourself the motivation to read!
Remember that taking care of your child is the most classic thing you can do. At the end of the day, the most classic thing you can do is be a mother. If that means that you have spit-up on your shirt because you were feeding your child, or that your house is messier that day because you needed to spend quality time with your husband, or that you haven’t had time to read because you were exhausted chasing after your little ones…you are still doing the absolute most classic thing in the world. What could be more classic than raising the next generation and endowing them with moral values and truth? On those days where I didn’t get to do any of the things I wanted to do and made no headway on my to-do list, I look at my son sleeping in his bassinet at the end of the day and I know that I am still my most classic self simply because I did my job in taking care of him. That’s truly the most important thing.
So those are just a few ways that you can stay classic while being a mama. Would you like to hear more? How do you stay classic as a mom? If you’re not a mom yet, how do you feel your mother was classic or how do you think you could prepare during this season of life? Leave a comment below!
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I'm a wife, mama, opera singer, entrepreneur, YouTuber, and your guide to becoming the classic woman you've always wanted to be! Follow me on YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter to see how! And together, let's be classic.
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Love these, especially the prescription to get out and walk. For my part, those early months felt overwhelming and isolating. Going on walks and getting fresh air helped clear my mind. It still helps! My baby is now in his 15th month. I’d add:
1. Make “getting ready” super easy. I have a handful of dresses, decent sweaters, and comfy (important that they be comfortable given all the baby wearing!), decent-looking shoes that I cycle through.
2. I think it’s classic to be calm and patient. One thing that helps is prayer. It helps during nursing sessions. Other thing that helps is just talking to my baby about something good: the day he was born, how I met his dad, stories, songs, etc.
3. Be joyful. Make a list of easy things that you enjoy doing or makes you feel good. When the moment presents itself, check it out and do one.
4. A classic woman imo is gracious. When close family or close friends are around, let them help you with things: food, cleaning, etc.
For the Q&A on 6/23: How do you draw the boundaries of what you share about your significant other with others and what you keep between the two of you? Confiding in friends can be nice, but can be taken too far. Within a marriage especially, how do you manage proper privacy?