Today, I am going to share some practical mama hacks, particularly for mamas who have kids under five.

I was originally just going to do 5 or 10, and then I put it to Instagram, and man, y'all came through. You taught me so much more than I ever could have taught you on my own. So, five or 10 mama hacks for kids under five turned into 40 hacks that I'm going to share today, and I didn't even include all of them.

So get ready, because even if you just take two or three of these and apply them to your home, or they're new to you for the first time, you want to just incorporate them into your life and your routine, I really think your life and your momming is just going to get a little bit easier.

To read the full show notes, click here.

Work & Play Cornerstore

Milk Dispenser

Disposable Chux Pads

Episode 056 - Meal Planning Made Fun with Kate from Naptime Kitchen

Emily Thomas’ blog post on quiet time

Programmable “Wake-up” Clock

Positive Parenting Solutions Course

A Simplified Life, by Emily Ley

Episode about taking a Sabbath

Waterproof Mattress Pad

Washable finger paint

Glow sticks

Episode about my Morning Routine

My coffee maker

Affiliate links have been used in this post! I do receive a commission when you choose to purchase through these links, and that helps me keep this podcast up and running—I truly appreciate when you choose to use them!

**UPDATE**When this was recorded, Kate wasn’t planning to release her new Meal Planning Guide until this fall, but given the current situation, she has released it early! You can purchase this AMAZING resource here ($12 people, honestly a no-brainer!!)

This is the first of an entire month of episodes to celebrate motherhood! We’re calling it ‘May is for Mamas’ here on the Work & Play Podcast. You can expect two episodes per week, and this week we’re kicking off the series with a special guest: Kate, from Naptime Kitchen!

Let me just say, Kate is my cooking mentor and she doesn’t even know it. I always go to her blog and watch her IG stories (she’s SO real and SO funny!), but when I’m in need of some good recipes and some motivation and inspiration, and I don’t know where to go—I go to Kate. She’s practical, she’s funny, and she’s all around just helpful and enjoyable. If you don’t follow her, go now. You will not regret it!

We’re talking all about meal planning today, and I think that’s something we could all use some help (and GRACE) with right now! 

Click here for this episode's show notes.

Follow Kate on Instagram!

Kate’s Blog

Kate’s Honey Butter Chicken Recipe

Naptime Kitchen’s Meal Planning Guide

Kate’s Greekish Chicken

Kate’s One Pan Meal

Kate’s Black Bean Soup

Naptime Kitchen’s Freezer Guide

“All out of” Notepad

Loving the Little Years, by Rachel Jankovic

This Tender Land, by William Krueger

Beautycounter Cleansing Balm

Free Download: Craft Your Own Morning Routine!

Episode 028 - The 3 Priorities Exercise

The Work & Play Cornerstore

It's Nancy Ray Book Club week, which means I'm going to be talking about the book Beginner's Pluck by Liz Forkin Bohannon. Let me just say, this book was so good. Rarely do I read words on a page that make me laugh out loud, but this happened almost every night that I read it before I fell asleep. To the point and that Will started joking with me about it, but I would just say, "No, no wait, you have to listen to this." And much to his delight, I'm sure right before we went to bed, I would proceed to read him two or three pages.

I'm highly recommending this one, friend. If you don't know who Liz is, she's the founder of Sseko Designs, a socially conscious fashion brand, creating educational and economic opportunities for women around the globe. She's a wife and a mom and she's hilarious and delightful and this book will inspire you to build a life of purpose and passion and impact. It's going to be on my, “my daughters have to read this book” list.

I cannot wait to tell you about this book!

For the full transcript, click here.

Work & Play Cornerstore

Beginner’s Pluck, by Liz Forkin Bohannon

Sseko Designs Ribbon Sandals

Nancy Ray Book Club

Episode 003 - The Contentment Challenge

circa 2013 Contentment Challenge Giveaway Post

Affiliate links have been used in this post! I do receive a commission when you choose to purchase through these links, and that helps me keep this podcast up and running—I truly appreciate when you choose to use them!

It's Nancy Ray Book Club week, which means I'm going to be talking about the book Beginner's Pluck by Liz Forkin Bohannon. Let me just say, this book was so good. Rarely do I read words on a page that make me laugh out loud, but this happened almost every night that I read it before I fell asleep. To the point and that Will started joking with me about it, but I would just say, "No, no wait, you have to listen to this." And much to his delight, I'm sure right before we went to bed, I would proceed to read him two or three pages.

I'm highly recommending this one, friend. If you don't know who Liz is, she's the founder of Sseko Designs, a socially conscious fashion brand, creating educational and economic opportunities for women around the globe. She's a wife and a mom and she's hilarious and delightful and this book will inspire you to build a life of purpose and passion and impact. It's going to be on my, “my daughters have to read this book” list.

I cannot wait to tell you about this book!

For the full transcript, click here.

Work & Play Cornerstore

Beginner’s Pluck, by Liz Forkin Bohannon

Sseko Designs Ribbon Sandals

Nancy Ray Book Club

Episode 003 - The Contentment Challenge

circa 2013 Contentment Challenge Giveaway Post

Affiliate links have been used in this post! I do receive a commission when you choose to purchase through these links, and that helps me keep this podcast up and running—I truly appreciate when you choose to use them!

Before I dive into this topic I'm really passionate about, I want to let you know that my brand new course, The Legacy Photo System, is now available at nancyray.com/organizeyourphotos.

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Today, let's chat about three of my favorite ways to really make your images more beautiful. Whether it's of your kids, your travels, for Instagram, for your scrapbook. Whether you're taking it with your phone or your nice camera, these strategies are just simple and they're good. It's something I've learned after years and years of doing this and I still apply it every day when I'm taking pictures. I'm excited to help change your thoughts a little bit when taking your photos.

For the full transcript, click here!

NEW COURSE: The Legacy Photo System!

The Work & Play Cornerstore

Before I dive into this topic I'm really passionate about, I want to let you know that my brand new course, The Legacy Photo System, is now available at nancyray.com/organizeyourphotos.

----------------

Today, let's chat about three of my favorite ways to really make your images more beautiful. Whether it's of your kids, your travels, for Instagram, for your scrapbook. Whether you're taking it with your phone or your nice camera, these strategies are just simple and they're good. It's something I've learned after years and years of doing this and I still apply it every day when I'm taking pictures. I'm excited to help change your thoughts a little bit when taking your photos.

For the full transcript, click here!

NEW COURSE: The Legacy Photo System!

The Work & Play Cornerstore

A lot of us have some extra free time that we don't know what to do with right now and we're losing help because we can't plan our summer. We're canceling everything that's been on our calendars and it's just a weird, weird time.

So, I’m inviting you to take on a project that will give you some purpose and hope, that you've been needing to do for years, I guarantee, during this weird season. The project is learning to organize and enjoy your personal photos. I'll teach you all about it. I'll lead you through it.

The game plan is to start on April 15th at 2:00 PM where I'm going to teach you in a free online class: How to Organize and Enjoy your Personal Photos.

Okay—to this week’s episode. My first thought when I started recording this episode about our evening routine was that this is going to be so boring. Who would want to listen to a random night in the Ray household? But I decided I'm going to power on through and share it anyway, and as I did, I realized, first of all, there may have been little things we've implemented through the years have been really helpful for us that might be helpful for you and, second of all, that I began to grow curious about other people's evening routines too. So maybe this will be interesting to you after all. So without further ado, I'm going to share with you what a typical evening in the Ray household looks like: the three small kids edition.

For the full transcript, head here!

FREE CLASS: ORGANIZE YOUR FAMILY PHOTOS

Work & Play Cornerstore

Time timer

Positive Parenting Solutions Course

Nancy’s coffee maker

Episode 031 - My #1 Parenting Tip

Episode 013 - Morning Routine

Free Download: Craft your own morning routine

Nancy Ray Book Club

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day

Quip toothbrush

Affiliate links have been used in this post! I do receive a commission when you choose to purchase through these links, and that helps me keep this podcast up and running—I truly appreciate when you choose to use them!

A lot of us have some extra free time that we don't know what to do with right now and we're losing help because we can't plan our summer. We're canceling everything that's been on our calendars and it's just a weird, weird time.

So, I’m inviting you to take on a project that will give you some purpose and hope, that you've been needing to do for years, I guarantee, during this weird season. The project is learning to organize and enjoy your personal photos. I'll teach you all about it. I'll lead you through it.

The game plan is to start on April 15th at 2:00 PM where I'm going to teach you in a free online class: How to Organize and Enjoy your Personal Photos.

Okay—to this week’s episode. My first thought when I started recording this episode about our evening routine was that this is going to be so boring. Who would want to listen to a random night in the Ray household? But I decided I'm going to power on through and share it anyway, and as I did, I realized, first of all, there may have been little things we've implemented through the years have been really helpful for us that might be helpful for you and, second of all, that I began to grow curious about other people's evening routines too. So maybe this will be interesting to you after all. So without further ado, I'm going to share with you what a typical evening in the Ray household looks like: the three small kids edition.

For the full transcript, head here!

FREE CLASS: ORGANIZE YOUR FAMILY PHOTOS

Work & Play Cornerstore

Time timer

Positive Parenting Solutions Course

Nancy’s coffee maker

Episode 031 - My #1 Parenting Tip

Episode 013 - Morning Routine

Free Download: Craft your own morning routine

Nancy Ray Book Club

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Day by Day

Quip toothbrush

Affiliate links have been used in this post! I do receive a commission when you choose to purchase through these links, and that helps me keep this podcast up and running—I truly appreciate when you choose to use them!

The title of this podcast is Work and Play with Nancy Ray, which you already know. Today, I'm excited to jump into the topic of play, because during this strange season of our lives when many of us are quarantined or under some kind of order to shelter in place for at least six weeks, I realize life is not totally clear cut in Work and Play. Right now, there’s a lot of mixing of the two.

Our co-workers are our children, and we are pulling weird hours. Also, trying to be present and play with our kids and maintain a healthy relationship with our spouses while also supporting them in their work. It's just a lot. Even when it's not kind of a weird season like it is right now, a lot of times there's play in our work and work in our play, too. They do get mixed, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Today, we're going to exclusively be talking about play, pure play—all different kinds of play, and why it's so incredibly important for you to prioritize it in your life and in the lives of your kids.

You might be working a normal schedule right now. Maybe nothing has changed for you depending on the industry you're in, or you might be home right now with a lot more free time. No matter where you are now and moving forward, I hope this episode encourages you to truly prioritize your play and the play in your kids' lives.

FREE CLASS: Organize Your Family Photos!

Work & Play Cornerstore

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett

Frisbee

The title of this podcast is Work and Play with Nancy Ray, which you already know. Today, I'm excited to jump into the topic of play, because during this strange season of our lives when many of us are quarantined or under some kind of order to shelter in place for at least six weeks, I realize life is not totally clear cut in Work and Play. Right now, there’s a lot of mixing of the two.

Our co-workers are our children, and we are pulling weird hours. Also, trying to be present and play with our kids and maintain a healthy relationship with our spouses while also supporting them in their work. It's just a lot. Even when it's not kind of a weird season like it is right now, a lot of times there's play in our work and work in our play, too. They do get mixed, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Today, we're going to exclusively be talking about play, pure play—all different kinds of play, and why it's so incredibly important for you to prioritize it in your life and in the lives of your kids.

You might be working a normal schedule right now. Maybe nothing has changed for you depending on the industry you're in, or you might be home right now with a lot more free time. No matter where you are now and moving forward, I hope this episode encourages you to truly prioritize your play and the play in your kids' lives.

FREE CLASS: Organize Your Family Photos!

Work & Play Cornerstore

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett

Frisbee