While being a mom is a rewarding role it’s also a tough job most days. You may have a hectic career as well as many responsibilities to attend to at home.

You want to avoid overdoing it and wearing yourself out. It’s vital that you live a healthy lifestyle and proactively find ways to reduce your stress. If this is something you want to improve at then you’ve come to the right place to learn more. Take the time to review the four steps to a better life for yourself as a busy mom.

1. Eat Healthily & Get More Exercise

Be attentive to what you put in your body for fuel each day. You must make wise choices if you’re going to feel great and function to the best of your ability. If you’re someone who’s always rushing around then consider getting on the go lunch options instead of always eating out. You’ll save money and can cut portion sizes and calories this way. You should also prioritize working out and try to get as much exercise as possible each day. Count your steps so you can make sure you’re moving more also, especially if you have a sedentary desk job.

2. Reach Out & Ask for Help

You should never feel ashamed or bad about asking for help and delegating as a busy mom. People may not know you need it unless you speak up. Put pride aside and admit it when you are overwhelmed and could use some assistance. There are likely many people in your life who will jump in and help you if you let them know what you need from them. Asking for help is a sign of strength and you will feel less stressed when you allow others in and notify them of ways to step in and give you a hand.

3. Find A Greater Work-Life Balance

While having a job and a purpose in life is good for you, it can also take a toll on you over time if you aren’t careful. It’s important that you are proactive in creating a greater work-life balance for yourself. This means setting boundaries with people at work and in your personal life. Try to make to-do lists and prioritize your tasks so you’re getting the most essential ones done first. It may also help to set up a home office and work from home some days of the week if possible. 

4. Slow Down & Live Mindfully

Running around daily and never slowing down can negatively impact your health and mood. Make a better life for yourself as a busy mom by purposefully slowing down and moving at a more graceful pace overall. Live mindfully by focusing on what you’re doing in the present moment and not worrying so much about the past or what’s yet to come in the future. There are many benefits to living more mindfully such as that you’ll have greater concentration on what you’re doing in the moment. You’ll also find you experience less stress and frustration because of what being mindful can do for your mental health and anxiety.

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The days are short when you have multiple responsibilities. This is something that every woman can confirm to be true. But, when you are studying, working, and raising kids, even adding 48 hours to every day wouldn’t be enough.

Plowing time into your professional development comes at a cost, but so do missed opportunities. No one wants to feel that sense of disappointment of lost chances for success. So, if studying helps get you to where you want to be professionally, committing to it is the way forward.

Unfortunately, you need a lot more than just commitment to combine work with study. You’re also going to need a ton of practical help to keep your plan moving. Here’s what you need to juggle working and studying without burn-out:

Sort Childcare First

Before anything else, sorting childcare should be a priority. Thinking on your childcare options is wise before you even see your study timetable. If you have a partner, now is the time to get them to commit to handling the childcare on specific days - and to stick with it. Now is not the time for flaky behavior; you need arrangements you can trust. If there are gaps in your childcare schedule, fixing these now is vital. Taking a look at care.com can help. There are loads of details for childcare centers and other caregivers available. So finding one should be simple.

Map Your Time

Multitasking can be tempting when you have tons of things to balance. Unfortunately, multitasking can also be a surefire route to burn-out. Combining studying, working, and raising kids is simpler when you stop trying to do everything. Choosing one thing and focusing on it is a lot kinder to your mind. So, dividing up your time and attempting to direct your attention to just one task instead of ten can help.

When you have many responsibilities, it can be easy to push your studies aside. But falling behind on your course will only cause future stress. If needed, taking a little and often approach can be a massive help. Working consistently on your studies, even for short bursts, can help you stay on top. This approach should also keep those stress levels low.

Seek Support at Work

Your studies will ultimately benefit your career. So why not ask if some extra support is available from your employer? Ultimately, your employer will benefit from your newfound knowledge and skills when your studies are complete. So, they may be happy to support you while you earn your new qualifications.

Knowing that they have a lot to gain from your new skills could encourage your employer to allow you periods of study time ahead of exams. Your employer may even have a mentorship scheme you could join. Having an extra person on your side and cheering you on is always a bonus. 

Attempting to study, work and raise a family is never easy. But, when you have a clear plan and support mechanisms in place, it is manageable.

 6 Easy Ways To Improve Your Hair Texture

Your hair requires a lot of care to ensure it’s looking healthy and has the best texture. Appropriate hair care can work wonders for your physical appearance and ensure your locks are always in top condition. However, you may not always have the time to give your hair the attention it needs. Therefore, finding simple ways to care for your hair is essential. You may be thinking of ways to improve your hair’s texture so you don’t have to worry about it for a few days. Below are six easy ways to improve your hair texture and give it a healthy look. 

1. Upgrade your diet 

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Improving your diet can work wonders for enhancing your hair texture, making it essential to prioritize nutrition. Incorporate nutrient-rich foods into your meals, such as leafy greens, nuts, seeds, and fish, packed with essential vitamins and minerals like biotin, omega-3 fatty acids, and zinc. Also, a protein and vitamin A-rich diet can boost your hair strength and look. These nutrients are crucial in promoting healthy hair growth and strengthening the hair shaft, improving texture and shine. Additionally, staying hydrated by drinking plenty of water ensures your hair stays moisturized and less prone to dryness and breakage. 

2. Use olive and coconut oil

Harnessing the power of olive and coconut oil can be a fantastic way to add texture and vitality to your hair, especially if you’re seeking quick yet effective solutions. These natural oils have been cherished for centuries for their nourishing properties. The combination of olive and coconut oil provides deep hydration, seals in moisture, and strengthens the hair strands, resulting in increased texture, bounce, and overall hair health. This quick and natural remedy will help you achieve gorgeous, textured hair without compromising your precious time. 

3. Rub in egg mask 

Using an egg mask can be a game-changer in improving your hair texture. This simple and cost-effective treatment can fit seamlessly into your hair care routine. Eggs are rich in protein, biotin, and essential nutrients, nourishing hair follicles and promoting stronger and smoother strands. To create an egg mask, whisk one or two eggs, depending on your hair length, and apply the mixture evenly to damp hair. The proteins in the egg help repair damaged hair, while the biotin adds shine and softness to your locks. Incorporating this natural remedy into your hair care regimen will leave you with a rejuvenated and more manageable hair texture, ensuring you look and feel your best amidst your busy mom duties.

4. Color your hair 

If your hair is limp or needs to be refreshed, fresh hair color may do the trick. Hair coloring can highlight texture and restore the shine lost due to overexposure. You can use thickening ingredients in certain hair colors to add volume, but it’s always best to read the instructions to ensure you get it right. Fortunately, you can use a few shampoo products to enhance your hair shade. For instance, if you have dark hair and recently dyed it but want to restore a darker look, you can learn more about blue shampoo uses and how you can use it to correct brassiness and enhance your hair’s vibrancy.  

5. Practice yoga 

Believe it or not, practicing yoga can significantly benefit your hair while transforming your body and mind. Finding peaceful moments can be challenging as a busy mom, but dedicating even a few minutes to yoga can work wonders. The stress-reducing benefits of yoga help balance hormonal levels, which, in turn, can prevent hair loss and promote healthier hair growth. Certain yoga poses, like forward bends and inversions, increase blood circulation to the scalp, delivering essential nutrients and oxygen to hair follicles and encouraging a more lustrous and voluminous texture. Moreover, yoga can improve sleep quality and aid in better hair regeneration at night, leading to stronger and more resilient strands. 

6. Apply aloe vera gel

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Aloe vera is renowned for its soothing and moisturizing properties, making it an excellent remedy for dry, damaged, or lackluster hair. Extract the gel from a fresh aloe vera leaf to use it as a hair treatment. If you can’t store-bought pure aloe vera gel can also be a great option. Apply the gel directly to your damp hair, focusing on the ends and any areas that require extra attention. Aside from locking in moisture, aloe vera gel strengthens the hair strands and promotes a healthier scalp, ultimately improving hair texture, manageability, and shine. Incorporate this natural remedy into your lifestyle for a quick and effective way to revamp your hair and elevate its texture effortlessly.

Hair is a significant aspect of your look and should be cared for. Although you may not have much time on your hands to give your hair the total attention it needs, the above tips are simple and easy, not taking much of your time. Applying them will help yield tangible results for your hair, improving its texture. 

Even though children lose their baby teeth and don't need to worry about these being damaged as much as adult teeth, it is still important to teach them about good dental hygiene from a young age. Without the proper background and foundation of understanding in their early years, kids can grow up to neglect their teeth until it is too late. To avoid your kids experiencing the discomfort and pain of unhealthy adult teeth, it is best to teach them simple and lifelong oral care tips that they can use for years to come.

Set a Positive Example

As with most lessons in life, children learn by seeing the examples set by the adults around them. This means that the best way to teach your kids how to take good care of their teeth is to care for your own. Even something as simple as demonstrating the way to apply toothpaste and how to move the toothbrush around your teeth will help your child pick up these skills for themselves. If you want to limit your child's sugar intake to protect their teeth and overall health, start by cutting down on sugar yourself.

Demonstrate Good Brushing Habits

At first, you will need to brush your child's teeth for them. Over time, you will be able to let them take charge and use the toothbrush themselves. Make it clear that brushing teeth twice a day is just another part of their routine so that it doesn't feel like a chore. There are plenty of ways to make brushing teeth more fun, such as by using fun toothbrushes or making up songs.

Make Dental Appointments Stress-Free

Do your best to keep stress out of visiting the dentist by showing confidence and remaining calm at your own appointments. Some dental care extends beyond a simple checkup and can be more troubling. If your child or young teen needs orthodontic work, for example, this could be a potentially stressful situation. Searching for orthodontics Enfield will show you how trained professionals can make all the difference when it comes to putting young people and children at ease while caring for their teeth. Research the best experts in your area and reward your child for being brave if they find the dentist or orthodontist frightening. This will help them see that it's an important part of maintaining good health.

Encourage a Healthier Diet

It can sometimes be incredibly challenging to control a child's diet. If possible, don't rely on sugary snacks as rewards or treats, as this will make caring for your child's teeth more difficult. Encourage them to enjoy crunchy fruits and vegetables as well as milk and other dairy products to keep their teeth strong.

When a child gets a cavity in one of their baby teeth, the stakes are relatively low. However, teaching children that it's not an issue to ignore dental health can lead to problems in the future. If you want your kids to live happy lives with strong teeth for as long as possible, now is the time to teach them all about keeping their teeth clean, eating healthily, and not being afraid of the dentist. Every child is different and will learn in their own way, but it is still vital that they see just how precious their oral health is.

There is no doubt that one of the most fun and enjoyable rooms of the house to decorate is the living room. However, there are also a number of common mistakes that crop up time and time again. Avoiding these mistakes can help to create a generally nicer environment that you are fully and properly happy with. So, let’s check out just a few of the main living room decorating errors that you should avoid. 

Only going for matching furniture 

While there is nothing wrong with a couple of pieces of furniture that match, you certainly do not want the whole lot to have such a uniform style. Doing this can create a highly boring effect that you could otherwise avoid. So, it is certainly worth being a little bolder in your furniture choices. This way, it is more than likely that you are going to have the type of room that stands head and shoulders above the rest. 

Not hanging up any art 

Some people simply do not feel all that confident with artwork. However, if you do not have any art at home, you are missing out on a major win when it comes to decorating. These are often the pieces that get people to sit up and take notice. If you are not sure of what you like, it is certainly worth browsing around and going to a couple of exhibitions to see what appeals to you the most. This way, you are going to have a better idea of your tastes and will be able to choose some items accordingly. 

Missing out on a major focal point 

The focal point of a living room is what should draw the eye from the moment that anyone steps inside. If you do not have one of these at all, you are certainly missing out on a trick, and your room can end up having a cluttered style that simply does not really work. Therefore, you should certainly opt for a clear focal point. Many people will go for a mirror, a great piece of art, or a fireplace. If you are looking into the latter, it could well be worth looking at stonewoods.co.uk to get some good examples of stylish and standout fireplaces. 

Too much clutter 

The most relaxing and cozy living room spaces tend to be the ones that are not overly cluttered. Therefore, it is certainly worth thinking about the amount of clutter that you have in a space and how you can cut back on this with proper storage space that can contain it as needed. 

All of these are mistakes that are made time and time again. However, they can also be easily corrected or even sidestepped entirely with just a little bit of effort. With this in mind, it is certainly going to be worth decorating your living room with a great deal of care and attention. The more thought that you put into this, the better it is likely to be for you as a whole, so now is the time.

The home should be somewhere that you find calm and relaxing, but this is often not the case (especially when you have little ones tearing around!). If you find it hard to relax in your home, you might find that this takes its toll on your mental health and negatively impacts many different areas of your life. The home should be a refuge from the stresses of the world, so what can you do to make your home a more relaxing place? There are a number of steps that you can take that will make your home a more relaxing place, and this post will look at a few of the most effective methods.

Declutter

The single best step to take is to declutter the home. When you have kids, it is very easy for every room of the house to become cluttered and chaotic. Clutter leads to stress and will make it hard to relax at home, so you should go through each room of the house and get rid of what you do not need. You should also have smart storage solutions for each room so that you can keep the items you need without cluttering the space. 

Add Soft Touches

Obviously, you need to have comfortable furniture in the home, and you can make spaces even more calming and relaxing with the use of soft touches. Things like soft blankets, cushions, and rugs can add texture and make areas of your home feel a more relaxing place to be. 

Use Soothing Colors

The colors you use in the home will greatly impact how you feel, so it is a good idea to learn about the basics of color psychology and apply this to your decorative touches. To create a relaxing feel in the home, it is best to opt for soothing colors, such as whites, creams, blues, greens, and pastel colors. 

Get A Bespoke Bathroom

The bathroom is much more than just a functional space in the home and somewhere that can greatly impact your mental well-being. Having a bespoke bathroom made allows you to create a peaceful, spa-like space that will make it a lot easier for you to relax and unwind. Companies like nonpareilsolutions.co.uk can listen to your needs and use their expert knowledge to design and install a stunning bathroom that will soon become your favorite room in the house. They can work with spaces of all sizes and design spaces in a range of styles to suit your needs. They can also install the bathroom for you and minimize disruption to reduce stress.

Use Plants & Natural Materials

It is proven that spending time in nature is good for your mental health, so incorporating natural elements into the home can create a more relaxing space. Plants in all areas of the home and the use of natural materials can bring the outdoors inside and create a calming and attractive space. 

The home should be somewhere that you can relax and recharge, but this is often not the case. This post should give you a few ideas for improvements that you can make to make your home a more peaceful and tranquil space. 

 Although many of us spend much of our lives raising children and working, there comes a point where most of us start to slow down. Once we finish work, we might have grand plans to travel, to downsize, or to truly relax for a while. But that is only possible when you make some smart financial decisions in the present. 

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So what changes can you make to make sure that you have a little nest egg that will help carry through through retirement, help with paying for assisted living, or your chosen care facility when you age on? 

Budget 

The start of all of your planning will be a budget. Because most of us spend a little more than we should on things that won’t benefit us in the long run, adjusting to a budget can be tricky. And on the flip side, many people, when they start to build a budget, make it too strict and almost impossible to follow. A good budget should set a little aside for savings and a pension. 

Inflation 

There is no getting away from the fact that prices rise, and they will continue to do so. Part of your planning should take into account that there will be an increase in prices. 

Planning for inflation could mean that you need thousands more than you had initially projected. The best thing to do is try to increase your savings and pension pots as you go. Small increments will make a big impact. 

Have Discussions

While some people are firm with what they want their future to look like, maybe you aren’t. Perhaps you and your partner have joked about what you will do in retirement, but nothing is set in stone yet. Talking about what you want with your family will make it easier to forge forward with a plan that adheres to your wishes. 

Physical Health

Taking care of your physical health is something that is important, and where possible, we should make the best choices possible. Healthcare is one of the biggest expenses as we age and can eat into savings quite significantly. Although many illnesses and diseases are unavoidable, keeping healthy in general can help you reduce the costs of many other things. 

Keeping active, with a healthy balanced diet and regular doctor's checkups, are just a few of the ways that we can keep our physical health in good order. Keeping a self-care routine for the duration of your youth and beyond can help you to stay on top of how you feel mentally and emotionally, too: 4 Tips to Look After Your Appearance As You Get Older - Wonderfully Messy Mom. 

Change Retirement Date

We are now in a position where most people will not be retiring as early as in the past. The rates of inflation and cost of living have forced people to work for longer. But part of being prepared is by factoring that into your plan. 

Plan to extend your working years beyond what you first thought; while it might not sound great, in the long term, it will fatten up your retirement posts and give you more peace of mind.

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Whether you’re working on meal plans or trying to inspire your kids to be more adventurous with their palate, you might want to know how to make dinner time more fun for them (and you). While quick oven fries or ready-made meals are easy, they often lack the quality and nutrients of a dinner prepared with love and care, so why not try these ideas to expand your dinner horizons and make things more enjoyable for everyone? 

Make New Dishes 

If your kids seem to lack enthusiasm every time you serve their plates, it could be because you make the same meals over and over again. While there’s nothing wrong with a little consistency in your routine, it could be fun to dedicate one day a week to making something new. If your household follows the same meat and potatoes theme more often than not, expanding your horizons and serving homemade pad kee mao (drunken noodles) could introduce your kids to flavors they’ve never experienced before, which could be the start of something more ambitious. 

Work On Something Together 

You should already be aware that teaching your kids to cook is a vital aspect of raising self-sufficient kids. However, they might not be old enough to be trusted to make dinner for you. Instead, let them help in the kitchen. Depending on how old they are, you can assign different tasks, such as chopping, mixing, or simply handing you various ingredients they take out of the refrigerator. 

Dish The Meal Out In A Fun Way 

Fussy eaters often avoid foods because they don’t like the way they look without even trying them. If this sounds familiar, you can try serving the meal in a more fun way. Decorating the plate in the image of their favorite cartoon character or making it look like something it isn’t can make your fussy kids forget that they’ve never tried it before, essentially tricking them into eating better and with more variety. 

Don’t Force Anyone to Empty Their Plate

Many parents grew up being told they needed to clean their plates before getting up from the table. But, while this ensured that no food went to waste (most of the time), it also forced a weird relationship with food. You don’t want your kids to stuff themselves with food when they are not hungry or even when they legitimately don’t enjoy what you’ve cooked. Encourage them to eat as much as they can, but don’t force anything. 

Keep Devices Away 

No one wants to sit around the table when everyone is tapping away at their devices, so establishing a phone-free zone ensures you can purely focus on each other and encourages conversation. This helps everyone learn more about each other and increases your family bond, which helps you have more fun at dinner time as you chat about your day and more. 

Dinner Time Fun 

Dinner time fun does not involve food fights or your kids playing with their food. Instead, try to mix things up a bit, get them involved, and make it a time for family above anything else. With these approaches, you and your kids will finally look forward to dinnertime. 

 Making dinner for your family is easy. Making dinner for your family every single night is a challenge. Alas, there’s just no getting around it. You need to feed your loved ones, and it’s not as if you can order takeout food every night — even if you wanted to, that’d cause too much damage to your bank balance. 

While it’s unlikely that you’ll ever make dinner time completely automated and easy, it’s certainly within your control to make things easier. In this post, we’ll run through some handy tips that’ll remove many of the headaches that can accompany your evenings when it comes to cooking for your clan. 

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Make a Plan

A little bit of planning can do wonders in all aspects of your life. Coming up with a plan takes next to no time at all, yet it can make a big difference to your ability to prepare food for your family. Each Sunday, write out what you’ll make for dinner on each night of the forthcoming week. That way, you’ll know just what you’re making, and you’ll know what ingredients you need to pick up from the store. 

Look Up Straightforward Recipes

You want your family to eat well, sure, but you don’t want to spend forever in the kitchen. From time to time, you can spend 4+ hours making a world-class meal for your loved ones, but you can’t do that every evening. To ensure you can feed your family healthy dishes and keep your time in the kitchen to a minimum, be sure to look up some easy-to-make recipes. If you know how to make instant pot Korean short ribs, for instance, you’ll always have something delicious to serve your partner and children. There are a bunch of healthy and quick recipes out there online, so make sure you have a few saved. 

Learn How to Use Varied Ingredients

We mentioned earlier how it was a good idea to put together a plan of all the things you will cook throughout the week, so you can make sure you pick up the right ingredients from the store. But there will come a time when, for whatever reason, you just don’t have a couple of the ingredients that you need. It’s at that point that you can begin to feel a little stressed, since you do, of course, have to give your family something to eat. You might use this as an opportunity to order takeout, but if money is tight, then that might not be a welcome option. One good skill to have in the kitchen is knowing how to use ingredients that you do have to create a dish. That way, you’ll always be able to pull something together, even if it’s not a standout meal. 

Recruit Cooking/Cleaning Help

It’s difficult doing everything on your own. As they say, many hands make light work! You can make the task of providing your family with food more straightforward by recruiting help wherever possible. How you do this will depend on the dynamics of your family — if you have teenage children, for example, then they could perhaps help with prepping vegetables, and they can certainly help with cleaning up. You might be in charge of the cooking process as a whole, but that doesn’t mean that you need to do all of it. Plus, this gives you a chance to instill some good lessons/skills in your children. 

Embrace the Process 

Everything’s more challenging if we view it as a chore. If you view cooking dinner as something that you have to do, then it’ll be much more likely that you feel pretty miserable. Instead, reframe the act in your mind. You can view it as something that you get to do. There’ll come a time in the future when you don’t have to cook meals for your kids each night, so learn how to appreciate it now. Plus, there are other ways to embrace the process, too. You could play your favorite music or have a glass of wine when you’re cooking. Anything that’ll help to put you in a fun mood, basically. 

Don’t Strive for Perfection 

Finally, you can make preparing dinner much more straightforward by going easy on yourself. You don’t need to produce the perfect dinner each night. In fact, you don’t need to provide the perfect meal on any night. If you’re giving your family a meal, then you’ve done your job. Everything else, such as an awesome taste, is a bonus.