Four things I can't live without as a working mom

Hi! Welcome to the moms at work podcast where we are giving life-giving tips, tricks, and conversations for our friends who are working!

Today I wanted to give you 3 things I cannot live without as a working mom!

And then I am going to share a few things that my IG friends shared that THEY can’t live without.

Speaking of social media, are we friends on the gram! It’s my favorite place to hang out on the internet! You can find me on IG Jeanettetapley or on Facebook at @thejeanettetapley. Both are SUPER fun places for us to connect on a deeper level! So I cannot wait to see you there! If you are on Tiktok let me know? I want to be there but I don’t know how to be there.

Ok, now four things that I cannot live without..these four things make my life as a working mom work. Okay, let’s get to work!

The first one that kind of compounded with other ones, it’s kind of silly….

Number 1

I cannot live or work without coffee…hahaha now I’m kind of joking but I do love sipping coffee as I work. ESPECIALLY in that first hour or so of work. When you’re opening up your emails and getting stuff done. It just sets the pace for my workday. If my cup is almost empty or cold when I go to sit down I feel the need to reheat it or fill it up. I just want to start the day with a fresh cup! Am I alone in this?

The other no-brainer thing I cannot live without is my computer or my phone. Because of what I do I can do MOST things from my phone but if I didn’t have my computer…dead. There’s no way to work! But all of those are just duh things! No brainers!

Number 2

The other thing I cannot live without as a working mom is Shipt! This is the grocery delivery service where you can place your order online, or via their app, and then these blessed angels go to the store and grab all the things I have ordered on my list. This has been a LIFESAVER. SO let me say a few things, I am not super picky about the veggies we get, I just need them, and if I need a specific thing or like bananas I can put a note on the product and say we like them green or whatever. But my point is, I am giving up some control in this, if I cared a ton about what I wanted my bell peppers to look like this might not be the best service. If you just need the food and want some help, look into this service or a grocery pick-up service. I know Walmart does curbside and I think they do some delivery too I’m not sure. But my routine or rhythm is this.

On Saturday I go through our fridge and clean and sort it out and then I plan for the week What are we eating? What do we need? And then I order everything on the app to be delivered Sunday afternoon. Then if there is anything I am going to prep for the week I do it Sunday after church and have it ready for the week.

If I get everything in on Sunday then our week is ready, we have meals, and snacks and we are good to go. And even better than that, I didn’t have to go to the grocery store and I probably saved money because the last time I went into the grocery shop I bought 5 boxes of Halloween cereals because those darn end caps got me!

Number 3

If you were to see me now, which is why we should be friends on IG because I am going to share this moment on my stories, you will see a PLETHORA of sticky notes, I was going to count them but then I got shy! SO sticky notes and paper calendars. If you looked in my house you would see my notebook that has my daily to-do list on it, you’d see my weekly planner that has the whole week laid out I have my content planner which is just a smaller/skinnier planner for the content I am putting out my yearly planner which is by my friend Jess Massey at Hustle Sanely and then 2 sticky note pads…don’t forget the coffee and water but ya know right now I am just confessing my need for paper products in which I need to use for all the lists I have! It’s silly but true. SO many lists and so many ways to write them down on!

Number 4

The last thing I cannot survive without!! Is my instant pot. I know some people love their crockpot meals and that’s all well and good. I don’t and here’s why…I FORGET! I can’t remember putting the meal together in the morning! I know you are thinking… well “you work from home Jeanette, why don’t you just put it together whenever you think of it”. Well, here’s the truth. If I have played my week correctly (as I mentioned earlier, groceries are delivered and whatever needs prepping is prepped ) then I don’t have a ton I need to do or plan ahead of time, HOWEVER, I do have the occasional meat in the freezer that I forget to thaw and I don’t think about dinner until ya know…dinner time! Thankfully past Jeanette knows future Jeanette really well and helped a sister out! SO my instant pot is my go-to! I use it probably 4-5 times a week! WE use it for rice, chicken, soup, as a way to pre-cook chicken for meals. My favorite thing we cook in it is hard-boiled eggs!! I mean it’s just my go-to. And I love it and I can live without it! So I need to know are you a team crockpot or instant pot?

And now it’s time to hear from you! What can you not live without! I asked this on my Instagram stories, I mean really are we friends there yet?! And this is what you guys told me….

HEB PICK UP, INSTANT CART, or WALMART ORDERING ONLINE so we can all agree that going into the actual grocery store is the worst right?!

My friend Cassie said she keeps frozen pizzas in the freezer because there’s always that one night you don’t want to cook or know what to make! And to that, I say amen!

A set bedtime! We all need this for ourselves and our kids! It gives us a countdown clock after a hard day and some assurance that we will get a little quiet or unwind time.

Now that we have bigger kids that bedtime is getting later and later and Jesse and I are getting annoyed because our time is getting slimmer and slimmer! I have to remind myself and him that we are the adults here! We can make these calls. BUT here’s the thing, the bigger they get the most things you watch or do together which makes bedtime later and later! It’s a vicious cycle!

Ready meals that grocery stores have prepped for you. HEB does it here ( I live in Texas and HEB is our like Texas grocery store.) I have seen target do this too though it’s like a meal in a bag and you just put it all together! They are LIFE savers! A little spendy but cheaper than Chickfila!

Another thing with the ready meals or meal prepping is prepped breakfasts! This was a lifesaver when my kids were little!! And we would also pack lunches at night before bed to make the morning a little easier. We are not a household of morning people! Anything we can do to make the mornings faster and more quiet we will all do!

One friend said her mom! Her mom helps with the kids because she is a single mom! And to this I want to cheer for her, she has asked for help., she knows where it comes from and that is the best! YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO IT ALL!! ASK FOR HELP!!!

Did you know there’s a service that will do your laundry?! There are just some amazing services out there that support us in our jobs and I love it! 

And because you are my people you all said, coffee and Jesus. Yes and amen!

I would love to hear more from you! you can email me at itstimeforcoffeepodcast@gmail.com. Click here if you want to join the email community!