Posted in advice, Family

5 Things Every New Mom Should Know

Posted on by CapedNerdMomma

When I look back on my early motherhood, I mostly remember that time fondly.  However, I also realize that there are many things that I know now that I wish I would’ve known then.  So, I thought maybe I should write a blog post about it in hopes of helping some new mothers out there who may be frantically searching for any and all advice they can get like I was as a new mom.  I just didn’t want to mess anything up.  I am responsible for a human life now and that is a responsibility that I do NOT take lightly.  There were definitely beliefs that I had that I held onto for too long and it took away some of my joy in that first month of my son’s life.  Hopefully, I can help prevent that for others. Continue reading “5 Things Every New Mom Should Know” →

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Posted in Family, self worth

How To Deal With Mom Guilt

Posted on by CapedNerdMomma

Mom guilt is a b*tch.  There, I said it.  I don’t know of a single mother that has not experienced mom guilt at some point or another.  It can be consuming and overwhelming.  I can’t even tell you how guilty I felt that I couldn’t breast feed my son past 4 months.  I just couldn’t produce enough milk for him no matter what I did to try to improve that.  I had to supplement with formula since he was a newborn because otherwise he would be underfed.  I can recall more than one instance when I revealed that I supplemented with formula or had gone to formula-only feeding and got the side-eye from someone nearby.  Some people would even start to list the reasons I should’ve kept with it and tried that 6th lactation consultant or that miracle supplement that would produce milk but compromise my health.  On top of that, I was feeling like a failure because I couldn’t sustain my child naturally.  Everything around me seemed to constantly remind me that “breast is best” and it was a very difficult time, to say the least.  Like I said, mom guilt is a b*tch. Continue reading “How To Deal With Mom Guilt” →

Posted in advice, Family, Goals, self worth

How To Avoid the Comparison Trap

Posted on by CapedNerdMomma

Social media has become one of the most prevalent parts of our society.  We are addicted to it.  We have to develop apps to force us to be off of it and actually enjoy our families from time to time.  Social media is a great way to stay connected, but it can also be damaging to your feelings of success in your life.  Have you ever noticed that people’s lives on social media seem so perfect?  Everyone is getting married, having babies, climbing mountains, biking cross-country, running marathons, or starting businesses.  Meanwhile, I’m over here just trying to have a clean house, get my work done, and keep my kid happy and healthy.  It can certainly feel like everyone is living their best life except you. Continue reading “How To Avoid the Comparison Trap” →

Posted in advice, Family, Goals, Momentum

3 Ways Becoming A Parent Helped Me Deal With Perfectionism

Posted on by CapedNerdMomma

Perfectionism has its good qualities.  Your work is always done very well.  You have a great attention to detail and you always strive to do your best.  Also, the people-pleasing aspect is great for those around us as we will always drop everything to help them or otherwise make them happy.  If we aren’t careful though, perfectionism can really get in our ways sometimes.  Completing tasks can become a longer process for a perfectionist because they get hung up on the minute details.  Perfectionists also experience “analysis paralysis” when trying to make decisions during projects and often find themselves unable to do so for fear of it not being perfect.  Perfectionism also hinders our enjoyment of the day to day.  We over analyze things and have a difficult time letting things go, even if they do not matter in the long run. Perfectionists also often project their ridiculous expectations of themselves unto others making those around them unable to measure up. As you can imagine, this affects relationships and can leave a perfectionist feeling isolated or misunderstood. Continue reading “3 Ways Becoming A Parent Helped Me Deal With Perfectionism” →

Posted in advice, Family, Goals

7 Surprising Ways for Parents To Save Money

Posted on by CapedNerdMomma

I’ll admit that this is a bit of a self-serving post. My family is going on a budgetary “diet” and making changes I order to pay off our debt and save up a lovely nest egg.  So, I’ve been doing a TON of research on ways to save money and reduce costs.  We’ve all heard of the traditional ways to save money like changing up your grocery shopping, meal planning, getting rid of cable, or downgrading your vehicle.  While I’m re-evaluating all of those, I also wanted to dig a little deeper and find other creative ways to save money. Continue reading “7 Surprising Ways for Parents To Save Money” →

Posted in advice, Family, Goals, Momentum

5 Things To Do When Life Is Overwhelming

Posted on by CapedNerdMomma

In an age of information, personal growth, and an overwhelming amount of people telling you what you should and shouldn’t be doing, it’s easy to get overwhelmed.  Everyone has their opinions and most people are not afraid to voice them to you or anyone else.  Generally, they are unconcerned or just careless about who their opinions affect.  They don’t take into consideration the situations of others when making blanket statements such as “I think everyone should use organic, eco-friendly diapers.  It’s just irresponsible to use anything else.”  Meanwhile, the widowed mother of two who has to lean on state assistance to get by, starts to feel like crap because though she would love to save the environment, she simply can’t afford those diapers that are twice the cost of regular ones. Continue reading “5 Things To Do When Life Is Overwhelming” →

Posted in advice, Family, Goals, self worth

Accept The Compliment

Posted on by CapedNerdMomma

As a veterinary technician, I work in a field that is heavily dominated by women.  While there are a fair amount of fellas around and more are venturing our way every day, it is still mostly women.  I think this is really great.  Women have the amazing ability to be strong and fierce, while also somehow being loving and caring.  In the clinic that I work in, the owner is a male veterinary surgeon.  Our other surgeon on staff is a powerful and accomplished female, though she’d be damned if she’d let you recognize her for that.  The rest of the staff with the exception of 1 man are all female technicians or assistants.  Every single person that works in our clinic is great at what they do.  We are a cohesive unit, a well-oiled machine.  We get the job done and we do it well every single day.  Our patients feel the love and confidence in our abilities. We get compliments regularly from our peers and clients about our exceptional care and service. We are over here just doing the dang thing! Continue reading “Accept The Compliment” →

Posted in advice, Family, Goals, Momentum

3 Things to Include In Your Morning Routine

Posted on by CapedNerdMomma

If you’ve delved into any sort of personal development material, you probably already know that most of the influencers in this space stress the importance of your morning routine.  If you want to be successful in your day, your job, your parenting, and your life, shaping a morning routine that supports that is vital.  There are two main ways that people can start their day.  Reactively or proactively. Continue reading “3 Things to Include In Your Morning Routine” →

Posted in advice, Family, Goals

10 Winter Friendly Family Activities

Posted on by CapedNerdMomma

I grew up in the Midwest.  We had all 4 seasons.  Summer is my favorite, if I’m being real.  However, there’s positive traits and special moments in every season.  I feel like the summer positives are obvious – sunshine, beach parties, flip flops.  Springtime brings a wonderful sense of renewal as if the earth has just woken up from hibernation.  Fall brings beautiful colors and those wonderful days where it’s cold enough for a hoodie but warm enough to skip the jacket.  Then, there’s winter.  Winter is most magical the first few times it snows.  The blanket of white covering everything and bedazzling the leafless trees is my favorite part of snow.  The only problem I have with winter is that it seems to last way too long.  It’s too cold to do a lot outside and, especially where we live, it gets windy sometimes and cold + wind is just the worst combination. Continue reading “10 Winter Friendly Family Activities” →

Posted in advice, Family, Goals, Momentum, self worth

5 Tips To Help You Let Things Go

Posted on by CapedNerdMomma

Every single one of us have things that we have a hard time letting go.  We have heartbreaks, betrayal, insecurities, and fears.  Sometimes we can let things roll off our back.  Other times, we have a harder time letting things go, especially when you had it planned all out in your head and it didn’t go that way at all.  We get resentful when our spouse isn’t helping around the house or seems blind to the clutter in the living room.  We feel hurt when our friends go out and forget to invite us.  We have guilt when we are asked to do something and have to refuse because we are too tired, double-booked ourselves, or we feel we’ve disappointed someone. Continue reading “5 Tips To Help You Let Things Go” →