Knowing Your Worth

Just for fun, this morning I decided to work out how much I am worth as a stay at home mum in terms of money.

 I know many mums sadly can't afford to stay home and must go work, I understand that would be so hard - you're all rockstars!!

I also know that it's difficult to feel like you aren't contributing to the financial struggles of the family if you stay home.
So with that in mind, I decided to add up an average of how much my services would cost if they were performed by someone else, to give me a sense of my financial contribution so to speak.

This is only the things I do during 'work' hours..

If I'm being very conservative, I would say I do one hour of housework a day during work hours. At $25 an hour for 5 days - that's $125

Childcare on average for children 0-3yrs, 5 days a week comes out at $500 each. For for the 'average' family of two, you're providing $1000 of care each week!

So, based on only doing minimal housework, the 'average' stay at home mum of two is earning a whopping $58,500 a year! That's higher than the average single full time salary right there without even looking into all the other things we do!

For me, knowing my salary worth gives me a massive sense of self worth and I feel as though I too am financially valuable to the family even if it isn't coming in to my bank account each week.

Basically, what I want to reinforce is that whether you are a working mum or a stay at home mum, your time is so valuable and you are making a huge contribution to your family financially.
Go you good thing!!

Double Trouble? No. Double Snuggles.

Last night my poor little Miss I was in pain and having trouble falling asleep.
 She is so different to her twin sister, she needs more touches to fill up her 'love bank' and requires a much gentler approach in general. As I sat next to her bed, waiting for her to drift off and I was thinking about just how incredibly lucky I am.
I get double kisses, double cuddles, double love.
I have two beautiful, kind, stubborn, loving, strong-willed and spirited little twin girls.

This morning I was reflecting on how important those moments are.
The quiet moments, the loving cuddles.
They make me really appreciate my girls.
So many strangers unknowingly make hurtful comments about twins - "double trouble", "you've got your hands full!", "better you than me!".
The more you hear these things, the easier it is to think this way.
Remember - Twins are a blessing.
  am so thankful for my girls. Double trouble? No. Double snuggles!!

My Mission in Life - Minimising Housework

My house can look immaculate one minute and like bomb has exploded the next. In order to maintain some degree of sanity, these are the things that I have started doing.. 

Every person is allocated one cup, one plate and one set of cutlery to last each day. After each use, they are quickly rinsed and placed in the dish rack until the next meal or snack. The dishwasher only then gets packed and run each evening. Otherwise, I would need to run the dishwasher 3 times a day. Literally. 

Mini hand held vacuums are extremely handy. I only got one recently and I LOVE IT. It means those little messes that appear after every meal take a mere 20 seconds to clean up, and prevents them from spreading all through the house. 

It also means that the vacuuming at the end of the day takes half the time!

Use your little helpers. As frustrating or stressful as it can be to have 'help' with the housework.. If you give them the right jobs, it can reduce your stress and your work load.

 My kids love cleaning with spray bottles and cloths. This is a job that they can do independantly and is hard to make big messes. They wipe down the tables, clean the windows, cupboard doors and occasionally the floor (if I just need to occupy them for a bit longer!).

All the while they are learning life skills,  burning energy and having fun!!

Have a 'tidy up' time at the end of the day with your kids. Before horror hour hits, put on some music and tidy up together. By the time the kids are two, they are perfectly capable of helping put the toys away. I'm the first to admit that I forget to do this most of the time. But I am going to do my best to make this part of our routine.
I think it is both beneficial and important for my kids to be a part of tidying every day.