Sanity Savers

Now that I have been a stay-at-home mom for almost two years, I have learned a few things that I thought I would share. Even if you’re a seasoned vet, you might learn a thing or two. Here are my absolute mommy life savers for when I just need a break. 

Preschool—I am embarrassed to admit that my daughter goes to not one, but two different preschools a week. A lot of churches offer them and they are dirt cheap. For only $59 per month, I get up to 22.5 hours of tantrum-free bliss at one preschool that we go to. That’s only $2.62 per hour. I feel like I’m getting ripped off if I don’t send her.

As an added bonus, preschool usually coincides with my son’s morning nap. The only bad thing is they usually don’t take kids until they’re 3 years old. Two churches that take kids younger than 3 years old are Rosemount United Methodist Church and Peace Church in Eagan. Most preschools are once a week and have a 9 or 9:30 a.m. drop-off time and a 12 noon pick-up time. Heaven.

Let’s Dish—Makes me seem like a domestic goddess. Let's Dish is basically meal assembly. Pick a recipe, find your station, assemble your meal, then pop in the freezer for a future ready-to-go meal. Saves the time and hassle of meal planning and grocery shopping. It also really cuts down on dishes since all the prep is done ahead of time! If you have a smaller family, do the extra work to half the portions since each meal is designed to feed six people. Plus, if you've had a baby in the last six months, they'll assemble the meals for you for free. They send a lot of coupons via email, so sign up to receive them.

Gym Membership—It only costs an extra $20 per month to put my kids in the gym daycare at LA Fitness in Apple Valley and they can stay there for up to two hours. Sometimes I drop them off and just sit in the hot tub. Shhh! Oh, and if you belong to a fancy gym like Life Time, you can do things like get a massage, get your hair done or lay out by the pool in the summer while someone watches your kids. I guess an added bonus is that if you actually work out when you go to the gym, you could get your butt in shape, too. Also, a little known tip about Life Time: You don't actually need a membership to put your kids in the daycare if you're paying for spa services. You're welcome!

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse—This is where my less than awesome parenting skills come in. I am not a morning person and my daughter consistently wakes between 6 and 6:30 a.m. Thankfully, this coincides with her favorite show. Thank you, Mickey, for letting me sleep in a little every morning.

Dinner Club—A group of girlfriends get together once a month and we take turns hosting dinner at each other’s houses. The host picks the theme and makes the entree and everyone else has something they are assigned to bring (complete with a nerdy Google documents spreadsheet). We only have two rules: no boys, no babies (unless there is a newborn that we need to ogle).

My MIL—Just kidding. Wanted to see if you were still paying attention. :)

Here’s another mom with a similar sanity saver list. What keeps you from becoming a mental person when you're at home all day with your kids?