Have you seen the previews for that new movie with Sarah Jessica Parker…. I Don’t Know How She Does It? Yeah, that’s kinda how I feel a lot of the time. People say, “I don’t know how you do it.” As moms, though, I think we just do it because we really don’t have a choice, do we? We get married, start our careers, have children, and life just gets crazy, out of control busy sometimes…. and as moms, we can’t just drop everything for the day. 
It just doesn’t work that way. Hubbies need us, kids need us, work needs us, and even if we do go away, we have to find a way to schedule our time, schedule a babysitter, and everything else that goes along with taking care of our responsibilities, and even more importantly, the big and little loves of our lives.
Stephanie O’Dea has written a book, Totally Together: Shortcuts to an Organized Life, that is meant to help moms who are trying to juggle it all. This book is a weekly planner of sorts, but it also gives a few chapters of helpful tips in the beginning of the book. The very first sentence of her book is “There is just too much to do and nowhere near enough time to do it!” Exactly….
Stephanie implements a “clean less, play more” philosophy for her readers. She also gives steps to achieve this balance, although she advises that every woman has to find her own individual definition of balance. Comparing ourselves to one another does absolutely no good; we have to find what works for us, even if it’s way different than what works for our closest friends. She suggests implementing 7 steps each day to help give an organized plan to each day….things like making the beds right away, doing one load of laundry, wiping down the bathroom, etc.
The PROM method for organization is also explained…. Purge, Remove, Organize, Maintain. She also suggests planning to stay organized, as in planning family meals. Provided in the back of the book is a basic meal planner and even a grocery list. Planning for the holidays also takes up a small section of the planner. The best part of this book by far? The planner pages. Each page has the 7 steps for the week with checkboxes. Weekly chores are listed, as well as challenges and ideas for family meetings, along with the Remember the WoMom, a section dedicated to helping us take care of ourselves, since we women are guilty of putting ourselves completely last. Look at it this way…. if we don’t take care of ourselves, we may not be around for our kids. That’s a grim way to look at it, but it’s also very true.
You can purchase Totally Together for $10.20 on Amazon. You can also find Stephanie O’Dea on Facebook and @stephanieodea on Twitter.
(Disclosure: I received a copy of this book, free of charge, from Penguin, for the purposes of review. All views/opinions remain solely my own.)
