It's been a busy few weeks over here at Cori Stern headquarters. There's so many exciting things happening. I'm starting to lose track of the days (luckily not my kids). I sort of feel like I have baby brain all over again- this is NOT a hint. Just a surge of overwhelm from being an entrepreneur, mom and wife. Balancing it all is hard AF.

Thanks to a good friend....I recently gave in and subscribed to GoodFood. One of these meal delivery subscriptions that nicely portions out fresh meals, packages them and leaves them on your door step. All you literally have to do it cook the meal. I've been hearing about it for years, but it never once appealed to me.

He doesn't work in the industry anymore but... My husband is a trained chef and cooks a lot at home, why the heck would I subscribe (was my thought once upon a time).... I'm the furthest thing from a trained chef and try to avoid the kitchen at all costs.

But in comes life.... so my thought process has changed a bit. Work has exploded for me in the best possible way and my husband has also been busier than ever at work. He's getting home later, which is leaving me as the primary to prepare dinner for us. Given the busy-ness of it all, preparing dinner at the end of the day has become a huge pressure point for me.

I HATE IT!

It takes time away from hanging out with my kids after the school day.

It requires cleaning up a mess (and somehow I end up using every utensil in the kitchen)

It requires planning and thinking a head of time so I have all the ingredients I need, etc. (I have the worst memory EVER so this is really effortful).

It literally creates so much stress for me that by the time we sit down to eat dinner I'm wiped, sometimes irritable, and not present the way I want to be at mealtime with my children.

so... I caved. I subscribed. and I'm thrilled.

It takes the guessing work & grocery shopping out of the process. This alone for me is a HUGE win! Now I get why people do this!

With this system in place, I've been able to sit down with my family at dinner and feel way more calm and relaxed. It's opened up space to have great conversation during dinner and also feel more present and playful with my kids. As a result, my kids are happy little people who eat all their food. It's been a game changer.

Now, I don't see myself doing this as a full time thing BUT.... I will definitely lean on this strategy when we have extremely busy weeks.

Showing up to a mealtime with my children feeling stress is NOT worth it. I've made this firm decision in my own parenting because I truly believe that...

☝bringing stress to the table can negatively impact my children's' behaviours,

☝it takes away from the quality of my time spent with my children,

☝it can inadvertently intercept my children's healthy relationship with food.

That's what I've got for you today. I'd love to know your thoughts. What strategies do you use to show up to mealtime being the best parent you can be.

One last thing…. my kids were also extremely excited about the box delivery. According to my 3 year old it’s a Firetruck, and if you ask my 5 year old it’s a Mermaid’s seashell. Regardless it’s provided hours of entertainment #momwin!

You've got this,

Cori

p.s. If you have a 2015 baby then you check out my upcoming ONLINE event “Transitioning into Kindergarten”. It’s happening May 29th @ 7:45pm (EST). This is your chance to know exactly how to get yourself and your child through this transition. Registration is ONLY $25 until May 3. The price will go up after that. Hope you can make it!