Managing Life as a Mom of 3 Busy Kids, a few businesses and a Marriage

I am a mom. I have been running Sweet Elaine Boutique for almost 7 years and our customers have seen my kiddos grow up as the business matures. When they were smaller, they helped in the store all the time. The main reason, I've now discovered, was because they just wanted to be near me. Now that they're older, personal time gives way to mom time. They still help when they can, but nowadays the help is centered around school being out because my kids sports and social calendar is busy. 

If you see me around town, this is what I look like. Hair up, getting in and out of one vehicle trying to not be late to the next thing for whichever kiddo. This t shirt is one of my favorites. It's from Bobi and it is my go to for my mom duties. You can scoop it up here. 

My kids are so busy it gives me anxiety. I have three kiddos and after 5 o'clock I turn into a bus driver. Every single day of the week, at least 2 of them have somewhere to be with 5 of the 7 days of the week all 3 of them have to be somewhere. This semester, we don't have any nights off. None. 

I realize after you read that paragraph you probably think, "Um, why are your kids that busy? You get to control their schedule. You're the mom."

This is true....sort of.

When my kids were discovering sports and friends, I did what almost all moms do. I enrolled them in a variety of things to see what they enjoyed or excelled athletically.

Nolan played soccer, baseball, gymnastics, football, basketball and karate. Sydney did gymnastics, softball and karate. Brooks did gymnastics, baseball, basketball, football and karate. We went through the process and had the "easy" life where they each had one practice a week and perhaps one performance each. No big deal. Easy to manage.

As much as my husband and I love baseball and literally named our boys after famous baseball players, we really had no intention of influencing their sport love. 

But then something happened....I have no idea how, but ALL three of my children fell in love with baseball/softball. IN LOVE. These kids eat and breathe the sport.

At first, I told them if they were going to play a sport they could only pick one per season. The older they got, the bigger their commitment got and the more competitive of teams they wanted to be on. The next thing I knew, all three of my children starting playing travel ball and BAM they each had three practices a week and tournaments nearly every weekend. 

So back to the thought above where I should be able to control their schedule, right? Well, the problem is my kids are pretty good at their sport AND I do not have to talk them in to outside practice, washing their uniforms, and getting ready for practice. They have their own workout schedules and work on baseball/softball themselves on the days they don't have practice. My front yard is literally a baseball field.

My kids are so intense in their love for the game, they are normally reminding me about the goings on for the afternoon the moment they get home from school. As their mom, I can honestly say I don't want to take that away from them. Their hardcore commitment is God given, and I'm really just their schedule facilitator.

Which brings me to the coolest gadget I discovered this year. In January, I was freaking out about our impending schedule to a friend of mine named Kelly. She's a friend that's very A Type personality and tends to be 100% more organized than I ever thought about being. She told me about this electronic calendar she uses to manage her family and suggested I try it.

I was skeptical at first. My husband and I already manage our calendars and sync them so we know which of us is going where. In my head, I kept thinking of ways to not spend the money and just use the tools I had already. We even have a Google Home so I figured I would use the calendar function better.

It took a few more weeks of me trying out different tools I already had to realize, a lot of my anxiety was actually coming from my kids asking me questions. They wanted to know what time to be ready for practice or what town their tournament would be in that weekend. I was fielding so many questions it was driving me insane. So I went back to trying to make the Google Home show the Google Calendar. It turns out, it doesn't show a calendar per se, but instead announces the schedule. My iPhone calendar isn't accessible to my kids, nor do they always need to be privvy to work meetings and things. None of the tools I had at my use were actually working for managing my family. So I took Kelly's advice and ordered the calendar.

It's been 4 months since we have had the Skylight calendar and let me tell you, it's been an amazing tool to do my mom job. What I failed to realize is how easy it is for my kids to use and how much they would rely on it to answer questions.

Each kid is color coded and as I add things to my personal iCalendar, I can choose to send it to the Skylight with uniform and field details. My kids have figured this out and they're all the sudden tracking on making sure those uniforms are clean and doing the math for when they need to be ready so we can leave on time.

It also has a few other functions I didn't even realize until my kids started poking around and investigating. I can list daily chores and they can check off when chores are complete. They can also add a grocery list within the device and I can access their lists while I am at the store. My oldest is VERY specific about the type of beef jerky he likes, and I can quickly access the exact name of the product while I am in the aisle instead of buying him something that is "oily and gross" (his words). Finally, you can send pictures to it and they display in the kitchen on a scroll. My kids love that part too, because frankly, a lot of the pictures in my camera roll never make it out of my phone. It's nice to be able to email to the frame it poof....there they are.

You can order your own Skylight Calendar and use this link so we get credit AND you get $20 off your purchase. Just make sure and click here. 

So today, I am sharing the details of the Skylight Calendar as a gift to other mother's who manage the family too. I am so thankful my friend Kelly told me as it really has saved me so much headache. So thankful that I wanted to share it with all of you too!

If you need a fantastic Mother's Day present, look no further than this tool. It's an anxiety saver, organizer, picture frame, chore scheduler and grocery list maker all in one.