This one is a special post for all the Mommy-ographers who read Go{4}Pro. So we’ve all admitted that it’s a little harder than we anticipated. There is a lot more to a photography business than just picking up a camera. Turns out that with that camera came workload… and a need for education… and blog stalking (you know we all do it) and ordering appointments (I hope)… and Marketing…. and Development….. and Blogging…. And Profit & Loss Statements  ….  and ….. and…. AND.

But Oh Heck! If I’m doing all of that who’s cleaning the bathroom? Who’s helping with homework? Who’s reading Stories and Volunteering in classrooms? Who’s cuddling with my husband? Who’s making dinner – heck who’s going to the grocery store so we have dinner? WHO?

This really isn’t just the photographers, this is for all the moms who have to work outside the home in so many different fields. The word Balance become a dirty awful word that might as well be 4 letters because that’s sure how it feels.

Well we’ve talked about this stuff a lot here, and I really love that I can say ‘we’ because I really do feel like it’s been a conversation and I so appreciate that! First I admitted how I was feeling, next I told you what I’m doing to try to find my balance and now I’d like to elaborate on that for you and try to share with you some ideas from this mommy-ographer’s point of view.

So I wanted to tell you a few things that make me really happy and help my family stay connected!

1. FHE. Family Home Evening. Every Monday night (always) is dedicated as our special family night. I seriously encourage everyone to try it out. It’s our night, the kids look forward to it and we all know that everyone will be home! We start ours with a prayer, next we sing some silly songs. After that we just enjoy each other, sometimes we play games, other times we have a little lesson. It can be about anything from learning our phone number and talking about stranger-danger to a family service project or a special scripture story. We end every FHE with a treat. Sometimes we go get ice-cream, other times we make treats at home… I love having this time to just enjoy my little family!

2. Date Nights. What would I ever do without date nights? I crave them and look forward to them in between each time! We’ve done some creative stuff to make sure they happen too! We of course do the normal hiring and paying a babysitter but we like to go out a lot so that get’s really expensive fast. So we created a date night swap. We and 3 other families committed to each take a different Friday night. So for example Taylor and I were the 2nd Friday of the month and on that Friday we had 8+ kids running all over our house for a few hours but the other 3 nights… You guessed it! Our cute little monsters were running around someone else’s house! [insert wickedly happy laugh here]

3. Volunteer Swap. I have a friend who is the editor of a magazine and a stay at home mom so she get’s busy the way I do! We create a schedule each month where we trade off. One day a week I add her kids to my day for several hours and one day a week she take mine on… Leaving each of us with a few solid work hours of peace and quiet to tackle the to-do list!

4. Dinner Plans under 30 minutes. I’m not very good at it but if I have a week’s menu it really helps. I also notice that for me if I purchase one weeks worth of food at a time and keep it in the fridge I do much better! As soon as it hits the freezer, I’m always in trouble because I never remember to pull it out until I’m hungry because it should be dinner time! So than all I have is an ice-block of meet, three kiddos acting like I forgot to feed them that day and a husband on his way home who’s probably really hungry because I forgot to pack his lunch. Hmmmm, when this happens it is not a hot mom moment. Now I really enjoy cooking so I like being creative and have found that when you have fresh ingredients it’s actually very easy to have a good dinner ready in 30 minutes or at least prepped in 10 and in the oven for an hour! I can have seared lamb with a mint pan sauce, caramelized brussels sprouts (oh don’t you dare knock them till you try mine – yes I heard what you were thinking) and sweet potato mash on the table in 30 minutes as long as it’s all fresh and ready to go – amazing food can be fast!

5. A Clean House. So I told you that I created a mini cleaning kit for each  bathroom and made sure anything I might need would be super easy to get to! I also started throwing a load of laundry in first thing in the morning (learned that from Alicia Caine) and that way I worry about one load a day – not a version of Mt Vesuvius. I’m also not ashamed to admit that I hired a high schooler to come and do the deep cleaning usually about once a week. If I had to give something up… I was happy to let the mop go!

6. Timers. I’ve started using my phone to remind me when it’s time to switch gears. It goes off when it’s time to pick up my daughter, when I should start thinking about making dinner and of course when I need to wake up in the morning. Timers can be wonderful time-waster eliminators!

7. Turn it off when it’s off! I’ve recently become obsessed with Dr. Laura. If you’ve never heard of her you should get her book, The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands – your man will thank you! (I get all my books on audio and put them on my iPhone, I listen to them when I’m driving in between ordering appointments and sessions.) Anyhow – recently she was talking to a caller and she said when you turn it off, turn it off! In other words… When you’re working. Great! Work. But when you walk away from your computer or your camera or whatever… WALK AWAY! Not just with your feet but with your mind. It’s okay to turn off photography sometimes! No one will think you less passionate, only more properly devoted.

So there you go… A few ideas dedicated especially to the mommy-ographers. Tell me what you think, questions you have. What else would you like to hear about?