Mom Panel on Prioritizing Family in a Busy Season of Life

One of the hardest struggles as a parent is finding a way to prioritize family time when life gets busy.

So today, I’m collaborating with 8 super successful bloggers and super intentional moms to talk about the heart of Making Home Here: Prioritizing Family.

This post has me filled with so much gratitude toward the amazing group of moms and bloggers who have given their time to encourage YOU.

It is my heart for this blog that each person who takes the time to read what I write will come away feeling encouraged and have some sort of takeaway that they can apply to their own lives.

So with that in mind, today each of these bloggers is answering the following question: If you could give one piece of advice to parents of young kids on how to prioritize family in a busy season of life, what would it be?

As you read their answers, I hope you find affirmation, encouragement, and new ideas to try within your own families.

And I doubt I even have to introduce many of these bloggers, but if for some crazy reason you are not already following them, be sure to sort that out before the end of this post. 😉

Sina Duvinage // Happy Grey Lucky // Instagram

“What I’ve learned over the past few years of juggling being a mom of two young kids and also trying to start and grow a business is that it’s okay to not always prioritize my family. That might sound a bit backwards, but trying to put our kids first every single moment of the day ends up with us moms carrying so much guilt around because it’s just not possible to do it all. What has worked best for me is to dedicate time to do exactly that: prioritize my family. But, at the same time, to put aside some time to also prioritize my job, my marriage, my own health. Being focused on my family and spending quality time with them is so much easier when I know I’ll have time later on to dedicate to the other areas of my life that are also important to me.” -Sina

Samantha Collins // Samantha Elizabeth Blog // Instagram

“My advice would be to remember how precious time is and how quickly it goes by. That as a family you’ll go through SO many phases and seasons of life that will someday only be a small memory. Take time to rest, recharge, and take in the important things when the busy season ends. Remember it’s ok to speak up and make changes if the busy season starts to last too long or get in the way of what matters most. As a family, hold one another accountable and make the changes necessary to keep one another the priority. Family is everything. <3” -Samantha

Courtney Tracy // With Love, From Courtney // Instagram

For our family, and for myself as a mother, one of the best ways I am able to prioritize my family in a very busy season of life (we have a newborn son + 2 year old daughter + have been in the middle of renovating my husband’s grandparent’s farmhouse!) is by prioritizing my time spent with God- in prayer and in His word. This season of life I’m currently in is very demanding, so when I am feeling overwhelmed, one of the best ways I can stop, check in and adjust my attitude or feelings towards my husband or children, is by stopping and praying + spending time learning more of who our great God is through His word. When I do this daily (and sometimes several times a day!), I’m able to see the big picture clearly, love my husband and children better, offer up grace and forgiveness quicker to them and myself when I fail, and keep Jesus at the forefront of my mind as I minister to my children and husband. Motherhood is certainly a ministry, and I am in the thick of it right now. I hope this provides you with encouragement + grace for whichever season of motherhood you might be in, and a reminder that you and I can’t do it all, all the time, in our own strength. God is quick to provide and carry us through every season of life and motherhood, and I hope you lean into this today!

Elizabeth Chapman // Teaching Sam & Scout // Instagram

Elizabeth Chapman blog, Sam and Scout blog, Elizabeth Chapman family photo

Play to your strengths and give yourself grace for your weaknesses… It is so easy to compare yourself to images of “perfect moms” in today’s world and try to do all.the.things (see my post called “Napkin Mom” for more on this), but the reality is that we all have things we are good at, and things we aren’t. As a working mom, it’s especially hard not to get trapped in mom guilt; but, my kids know I love my job (as a teacher), so they barely bat an eye when I have to miss a field trip or don’t volunteer to be the room mom. Instead of beating myself up over that, I focus on the example I am setting for them of doing something I am passionate about with excellence and making a difference in the world that way. I take them to my school/classroom, talk to them about my students and what I’m teaching, and invite them to “help” grade papers, etc. That attitude has made my job something we can all be proud of and thankful for instead of bitter about.

ALSO, if you only have time to do one thing (on any given day/week/season), I recommend READING to and with your kids. It’s awesome bonding to fall into a story together, PLUS it’s great for teaching them skills (comprehension, vocabulary, sentence structure) AND developing traits like empathy, creativity, and curiosity. Really, it is multitasking at its finest, and I’m all about killing multiple birds with one stone these days. 🙂

Shay Shull // Mix & Match Mama // Instagram

Growing up, my parents placed a very high value on “family time”, and it’s something my husband and I focus on every single day. My two pieces of advice for capturing as many family moments as you can during this busy season of raising kiddos is first of all, to eat dinner together every night. Even if we have to eat really early or really late, we always eat dinner together. It’s such a wonderful way to connect with each other after our busy days. Second of all, we love to make “every day” moments special. Whether it’s celebrating milestones at school, a trip to the pumpkin patch, looking at Christmas lights together or getting cozy and watching a favorite movie, we really try and make little moments extra special in our family. Every day, you can find something to celebrate together.

Mel Larson // The Larson Lingo // Instagram

Mel Larson, Mel Larson blog, Mel Larson family, Mel Larson mom panel

My advice is simple….Include your kids in your day to day routines. You don’t need to have grand outings in order to spend quality time as a family. Things that are part of your everyday routine can easily be a part of quality family time. Some things that I enjoy doing with my kids are watering the garden & picking the vegetables in the garden. We also love making dinner together. Sometimes these things seem like chores to me, but my 3 kids love being a part of gardening and they love being a part of cooking dinner together. As moms, we can sometimes feel like cooking dinner each night is a chore, but for my kids it’s a treat & something they ask to help with and enjoy doing with me. The past few years our kids have loved going on “bike runs” as a family. My husband and I run while our kids ride their bikes next to us on our neighborhood bike trail. It is a great way for us to have conversations together and be active at the same time Our kids love being involved with our day to day activities…whether it’s making dinner, doing chores or getting exercise.

Laura Godfrey // Reese & Rowe Life Styled // Instagram

Reese and Rowe Blog, Laura Ward Godfrey, Laura Godfrey, Laura Godfrey blog pannel

My one piece of advice for prioritizing family in the crazy busy season of having young kids would be to pick a night of the week that is your “family fun night”. For us, it’s Friday night. We keep it as our sacred night to hang as a family and we always know that nothing gets planned on that night. It could be something as simple as watching a movie with your kiddos and letting them pick a special candy. For our family fun night, we pick up Moe’s and then watch wheel of fortune with our girls. It sounds so silly but now that we’ve established this tradition, every Friday morning they wake up so excited about our night ahead. The key to having something prioritized is to have something consistent! We don’t want time to get away from us so having special things that we do every single week make special family time so much easier to attain!

Brittany Price Brooker // Brittany Price Blog // Instagram

Brittany Price Brooker Family, Brittany Price Brooker mom panel, Brittany Price Brooker blog

I would say schedule your family time just like you schedule anything else in your life, have it on the schedule, put a time and know that is an appointment you can’t miss. Put down the phones, look into your kids eyes, take them in and cherish the moments. Having fun takes planning and intentionality but you can also build in fun and sweet moments in the everyday mundane just by choosing to be present with your kids.

Erika Slaughter // A Little Bit of Everything // Instagram

The Slaughter family, slaughter family photo, erika slaughter blog

As a mom of four my days are often pure crazy and full of chaos, but I’m constantly reminding myself these are the most precious days {even though they’re crazy}. I know I’ll look back one day and long for what I have now once again. So squeeze those babies extra tight, read that book one more time, and play a few more rounds of that game. Enjoy it mama! XO

Again, a big thanks again to each of these amazing mamas for sharing their time and advice with us!

I’d love to hear from YOU. What do you do to prioritize family in a busy season of life? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts.

And don’t forget to check out our Instagram tomorrow. There is a HUGE launch-week giveaway you don’t want to miss!