What Makes You a Steady Mom :: Jessica Fisher of Life as Mom

Time to meet another steady mom this week, and I'm so happy today to introduce you to Jessica Fisher, writer of the popular blogs Life as Mom and Good Cheap Eats.

Jessica is mom to six beautiful children and I've enjoyed getting to know her recently as a new contributor on Simple Homeschool.

Let's find out what helps Jessica stay steady:

1. What is one important, practical step you take that helps you maintain a steady rhythm in your home and how does it make a difference to your days? (For me, taking my showers at night helps to get our mornings off on the right foot.)

The shower is a great idea--I think I need to use that one! I'm not saying that I always do this, but I know that if I go to bed with the kitchen cleaned and breakfast planned or even laid out, the morning goes much more smoothly.

It makes a big difference to the flow of the morning and all the multi-tasking that goes on around here.

2. What is a personality weakness that motherhood has made more obvious to you and how have you tried to overcome that weakness for the sake of your children?

I think one of the things that I am having to overcome is schedules and routines. I never was very good at either before I had kids. When my oldest ones were little, it was really helpful.

Now that I have children ranging from toddler to teen, it's become a little more harried. It's not that we are traipsing all over for sports and lessons, but our kids' interests lie in different realms and that seems to make it harder to maintain an even keel.

3. We all have those days--where all our good plans and intentions crumble around us, the children are miserable, and we are exhausted. On a really rough day, what techniques do you use to try and turn the mood around and redeem the day in your home?

Well, we love to eat out.

So even if it's a quick trip through Del Taco for $0.39 tacos or an outing to Costco, getting out of the house, changing our view, and filling our tummies tends to help.

4. I know in my household with three children I am sometimes discouraged by the amount of bickering that occurs, and you have six! How do you approach the task of avoiding bickering and encouraging siblings to get along?

Oh boy! And to think I once thought my children would never fight!

We have weekly, if not daily discussions about how we're a team. It helps the disgruntled one to know that we're on his side. We talk about how we can encourage one another and what we can do to resolve conflict.

We don't have it figured out. But, it helps to talk about it and really listen to our kids' perspectives.

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Thanks so much to Jessica for giving us a peek into her world. Make sure you visit her corners of the blogosphere over at Life as Mom and Good Cheap Eats.

Come back next Monday for the final installment of our interview series--I look forward to introducing you to a homemaker with a "radical" perspective to share with us. See you then!

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Jamie is founder of this spot called Steady Mom, editor of the blog Simple Homeschool, mama to three cute kids born on three different continents, and author of Steady Days: A Journey Toward Intentional, Professional Motherhood.