The Mom Flow: 5 Things I Don’t Care About As A Mom

Welcome to The Mom Flow, where I share things that are on my mind in the hopes of helping you connect to your Mom Flow. Thanks for being here! —Erin Sousa

Here we are on another Friday Five and this one is a bit different! I don’t know if you have seen this, but on social there’s been this trend of moms showing what they don’t care about as it relates to raising their kids. I find this kind of content soooo refreshing! I have found that being a mom in 2024 might be uniquely hard bc of the pressure we feel – we have to be and do all the things, often forgetting what the basis of being a mom actually is bc you’re so focused on being perfect. So, I want to share with you the 5 things I don’t care about as a mom.

And before we get started, a reminder that no way is the right way and none of this is about judging how other moms do what they do! I love that for you, just not for me is a saying I often revert to. So, let’s get into it?!

P.S: don’t forget to listen to this like a podcast using the article voiceover feature at the top of this post.

Screen time

I see screen time as a break for all of us. I don’t keep track of it or limit it, and she oftentimes will turn it down when offered. At the end of a long and busy day, I know she has had her cup filled and I’m fine with her watching Disney for however long she wants. We only use the iPad for plane trips or overnights at grandparents, and no YouTube because I don’t want her absorbed into it. Sure, she can watch Peppa on my phone at dinner out… because mom and dad would like to enjoy a few bites of food. That said, if we are having dinner at home together, no screens, thanks.

Eating McDonalds

Quick and easy lunch or dinner? Sure she can have McDonalds! I never make it a big deal and no food is off limits (but obviously, and she might not feel this, I make sure it’s only very occasionally). I love surprising her hitting up the drive thru for a cone but am careful to not make it a big WE’RE GETTING ICE CREAM. It’s a simple “mom is going to get a drink, would you like ice cream?”. It’s a food. No biggie.

Dressing herself

Lola has zero opinions about what she wears and I am certainly not going to solicit them. She has lots of opinions about other things, don’t you worry! Will she care about what she wears when she’s older? Oh of course so imma hang onto my sad beige baby moments for as long as I can. I love choosing clothes for her and skipping sparkles and light up running shoes.

Being over scheduled 

I am all about exposing her to new things, unique situations, and socializing a ton, but I’m not about to put her in every single activity to keep her (and us!) too busy and over scheduled. I want her to have lots of downtime and I stick to a max of two organized classes a week so we aren’t always rushing from one thing to the next. She’s 4, we don’t need to overdo it!

Putting herself to sleep independently 

We have always stayed with Lola until she was sleeping (rocking her to sleep for every nap and bedtime until she was over two years old!) with the exception of trying to leave after 5 mins a few months ago which totally worked… but we kinda went back to just laying with her until she’s asleep. We love our snuggle time after books and it feels like some extra quality time together. I’ll never regret doing this and she’s a superb sleeper!

 BONUS

I do not care to follow a ton of parenting accounts. Sure, I might dip into some specific topics if I’m struggling with something but hot take I find motherhood content  from “experts” to be way too overwhelming and at the end of the day, it’s monetizing off our insecurities. It can get in your head way too much making you overthink everything and at the end of the day, we can tune into our maternal instinct to usually dig deeper. That gives me a lot more confidence about being the mom I want to be (and strengthens my gut instinct and resilience, too!)

There’s more! Keep reading this week’s edition of The Mom Flow by Erin Sousa for some of her fave things for Lola right now; subscribe for free to receive new posts and support her work, here!