Life isn’t always about making sure that the kids are fed a balanced meal and that everyone has shoes on before leaving the house. It is mostly about preparing yourself when that isn’t an option. Here at Pink Stork, we pride ourselves on making sure that you as a mom, and a woman, are taken care of so you can take care of everyone else. So today we wanted to break it down for you on the ways that women around our office make sure that they have it pulled together before it all hits the fan.

1. Hair Accessories In A Go To Bag: Simple and yet sooo effective. Amy Upchurch, Pink Stork CEO and founder, has found a lifesaver for doing her girl’s hair. She has made a go-to plastic baggy that stays under the kitchen sink. This includes a hairbrush, hair ties, hair spray, bows, and pretty much anything sparkly that they can stuff in there. That baggy goes under the kitchen sink, so every morning when the girls are ready for their hair, they pull that out, bring it to mom and she is good to go. No need to hunt around the house for the bag or the brush.
2. Junk Basket For The Car: If you haven’t done this yet, stop reading and go do it. Whether you're a mom or not, this is a lifesaver. A lot of women in our office use this for everything from extra shoes for the kids (and themselves) when they “forgot”, a spare towel for the beach, snacks for when everyone gets hungry at the worst possible time, rain jackets, and much more. Get one that is durable and can live in your trunk!
3. Tin Wrap Entertainment: This is probably one of the most ingenious ideas yet. Travel can be hard. On a plane, train or car, entertaining your kids can be a problem you don’t always have a solution to. Take either a coloring book, crayons, playdoh, or really any travel treat and wrap it in tin foil before you give it to your kid (supervised of course). Unwrapping the tin foil is great because it adds an extra level of amusement to the toy, makes the joy last a little bit longer, and the finagling can be good for hand-eye coordination.
4. Not Your Normal Meal Prep: At some point or another we have all taken a Sunday afternoon with the enthusiastic intentions to meal prep for your work or kid’s lunches for the week. Well, what about breakfast. Amy has made it a habit of precooking one of her kid's faves, sausage balls. She’ll make a huge batch and freeze so the kids, her, or Thomas can grab, microwave, and go. Its an easy way to make the hectic mornings a little smoother
5. Set Expectations For Everyone To Hear & Incentivize: Here’s our last but probably most important one for your overall sanity. We all have a tendency to internally set a clock for how the morning should run, but if you aren’t sharing that clock with the others in your house, then the odds of sticking to it are slim to none. Whether it’s leaving in the morning or stopping at the store, make sure your kids know what the game plan is ahead of time. And to ensure that it happens, throw in an incentive. First one to be ready in the car gets to ride in the front, or gets an extra cookie for dessert. Whatever it is that gets your kids moving, give it a shot. Without keeping your expectations known, no one knows how to meet them (use that in every aspect of your life!)

We hope these tidbits make your day-to-day a little bit easier. Preparation and a game plan can be your best friend. We would love to know what other advice you have for women getting through the busy days below!