You may have JUST figured out your summer routine and how to keep your head above water with your kids at home for the summer… and now it all shifts again.
Pool days, summer practices, VBS, daycare runs, summer school. You find your rhythm and life feels manageable for about five minutes. Then the next week hits and throws you a curveball you didn't see coming and you're starting from scratch all over again.
That is summer in a nutshell for most moms. Just when you find your footing, something shifts. And in the middle of all that juggling, the first thing that quietly disappears is you. Your goals, your workouts, your check-ins, your quiet moments. They keep getting pushed to tomorrow, and tomorrow keeps turning into next week.
And as schedules change, moms tend to throw their own needs and goals to the wayside to accommodate everyone else's. You being busy is probably not just a feeling. It's REAL. But your goals should feel just as real and just as important.
There Is Always Something Else to Do
Let's be honest about what's really getting in the way, because mom guilt is absolutely part of it, but that's not the whole story.
There is always something else that needs to be done. The laundry, the dishes, the mental load of planning tomorrow. And on the rare occasion you actually get a free moment to yourself, the last thing you want to do is spend it being productive. You want to sit down. Breathe. Exist without someone needing something from you. That is not laziness. That is a completely human response to being needed all day long.
But the things that refill you, movement, financial peace, connection with your spouse, intentional time for yourself, those things don't happen by accident. They happen because you decided they were worth protecting. And the only way to protect them is to stop leaving them to chance and start putting them on the calendar.
Schedule It Like You Mean It
This is something Lexi has preached for years, and the more I have lived it, the more I believe it. Schedule an appointment with yourself and hold it just as sacred as any other appointment on your calendar.
You would never no-show your kid's doctor appointment. You would never push it to "whenever I find time." It is on the calendar, it is protected, and you show up. Full stop. Your goals deserve that same energy.
Here is what that actually looks like in real life:
Fitness: Find your window, even if it's small, and block it. For me, that's a 2:00pm block every day. My kids go down for naps at 1:30, I pump for 30 minutes, and then I work out right after. Some days it gets messy, but it is on the calendar and that makes it real. Maybe your window is 5:30pm when the evening settles, early morning before the house wakes up, or during a lunch break. Whatever works for your life, put it there and treat it like a meeting you cannot move. Even 30 minutes counts.
Financial health: A weekly money check-in is a game changer. Whether you use a budgeting app, a notebook, or just pull up your bank account with your morning coffee, schedule one hour a week to review your spending, check your budget, and make sure your finances are moving in the direction you want. One hour. Same time every week. It sounds small, but that consistency adds up in a really meaningful way.
Your relationship: Intentional time with your spouse does not have to mean a full night out, though that is great when it happens. For us, it can look like a phone-free walk after the kids are in bed, making a special dessert together once the house is quiet, or just sitting outside and actually talking without a screen between us. Simple and consistent beats fancy and occasional every single time. Put it on the calendar and show up for your marriage the same way you show up for everything else.
Consider This Your Permission Slip
Sometimes we need someone to tell us it is okay before we actually let ourselves do it. So if that is you, if you have been waiting for permission to make time for yourself and your goals without feeling selfish about it, consider this your permission slip.
Taking care of yourself is not a reward you have to earn at the end of a perfect day. It is part of how you show up for the people you love. A mom who is poured into is a mom who has something left to give. You are allowed to be on your own priority list.
If It's Important to You, You'll Make the Time
The calendar does not lie. What is on it is what actually happens. So look at this week and ask yourself honestly. Are the things that matter most to you on there? Your workout. Your money check-in. Your time with your spouse. Something that is just for you.
If not, open your calendar right now and add one. Just one. Start there.
You clear your calendar for everyone else and you deserve to do the same for yourself. You would never no-show your kid's doctor appointment. Don't no-show yourself, friend. You deserve it.
