Motherhood is the most incredible gift we can be given but along with the joy of being a parent comes sleepless nights, balancing your career and interests, relationships, and taking care of yourself. Needless to say, balance seems to be one of the biggest issues for women. Every Monday we will be asking a mommy we adore how they balance their life and career, lessons they’ve learned, their advice, struggles, and a few of their favorite products.
Kath Younger from Katheats.com & babyKERF.com
Name: Kath Younger
Children: Mazen, 1 on Sept 7
Blog/Company: Katheats.com and BabyKERF.com
What are your favorite baby products?
We couldn’t live without two big things: our BOB stroller, which we use every single day for walks and runs and our Motorola video monitor, which I have found to be priceless to check in at naptime.
Two things you learned that no one could have prepared you for:
Not all newborn babies sleep all the time. Mine never did! And breastfeeding can be a logistics puzzle sometimes, but it’s also one of my favorite parts of motherhood.
Best advice you received:
Take things one day at a time. When I was home alone with a newborn I reminded myself I just had to get through that day. It helped me focus on just what had to be done by the time the sun set.
Something you struggle with as a mom:
As a work-from-home mom, it’s hard to find time to relax. When nap time comes around I start to work when sometimes all I want to do is rest. I have realized that I don’t have to work every nap so I give myself a few off each week.
How do you balance the demands of your career, family, life, etc.?
We sleep trained 🙂 I kid. But when Mazen started sleeping and napping much better at 6 months, that was when I finally felt like I was getting some balance back. I’m incredibly lucky to work from home and my husband and I own our businesses so we have flexibility in our work hours. When my to-do list piles up or I have a particularly stressful week I ask for help from my family. They are always happy to play with Mazen while I complete a freelance task or catch up on blog posts. I’m also trying to take Sundays off, although sometimes they are the best days to work because Matt is here to play with Mazen! I also have started having a cut off time of 8pm and use the hours after Mazen’s bedtime to relax. After blogging in the evenings for 5 years, it’s wonderful to know those are now my hours to chill out.
