Make Your Outdoor Maintenance Low Maintenance

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Are you high maintenance?

Given the choice between low maintenance and high maintenance, most busy moms will choose the former every time.

At Grace in the Race, our mantra is “do most of the things, most of the time.”

It’s our version of keeping life as low maintenance as possible. It’s how we ration our energy and our sanity to get through our days with grace.

3 Guiding Principles of Motherhood

Having awareness around the following 3 guiding principles helps us apply that mantra to nearly all aspects of motherhood:

1. Each season requires something different of us. We have to shift, or course-correct, on a seasonal basis.

2. Routines are pivotal. You’re already doing the work. If you’re denying yourself some semblance of routines, you might be making life more high-maintenance than it needs to be. Think about that.

3. Mom life is all about maximizing efficiencies! Motherhood is a rigorous job. Discovering ways to work smarter rather than harder will allow you to spend more time doing the things you love.

This week we have another great lineup of resources that put our guiding principles to the test!

The Great Outdoors

If you’re like me and don’t have a green thumb, these expert tips will save you this spring!

In Michigan, there is an unwritten rule that we don’t plant anything before Mother’s Day; some say not before Memorial Day. This is because there is still a chance we’ll get a frost in May (Ugh! Seriously Michigan!).

My husband takes a combo approach and says that by Mother’s Day we can see the extended forecast through Memorial Day and so we can start planning around Mother’s Day but the long holiday weekend often makes for a good time to get the work done! (He’s ever so practical!)

Skim the list to turn your outdoor maintenance into low maintenance! 

The List

15 new resources for moms, published weekly:

• 6 skimmable articles to offer perspective on this week’s topic
• 8 informative and/or entertaining podcast episodes to make the chores fly by
• 1 insightful video to inspire you to move forward with grace

📖 6 Skimmable Articles

🎗 Awareness   🏡  Home    🗂 Productivity    🥗 Wellness    🧗 Growth    👨‍👩‍👧‍👧  Family

🎗 This is a home maintenance guide for the whole year. Save it for seasonal reference!

“A home operates with the seasons, coming to life in the spring and hunkering down for the winter. Follow this natural arc all year long, and keep on top of the small stuff, and your house will run like a well-oiled machine.” Read The Annual Home Maintenance Checklist

🧗🏽‍♀️  How would you like less work and more play in your yard?

“Take these tips to heart if you’re serious about low-maintenance landscaping. Since watering and mowing the lawn consume a large chunk of yard care time, the biggest step you can take towards minimizing your workload is reducing your watering needs and cutting back on the amount of grass you must mow.” Read Top Tips for Low-Maintenance Landscaping

🏡   This made me drool for summer (and pull out my measuring tape).

“Get your patio looking its best with these simple summer patio decorating ideas.  Outdoor living tips and tricks to make the most out of your space and create the backyard paradise you’re looking for!” Read Outdoor Living – Summer Patio Decorating Ideas

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦   Want to know how to get your kids to beg to help with the outdoor clean-up?

“Working together as a family is always a good idea, whether it’s indoors or outdoors. Not only does it get the family together, but the tasks get done faster when everyone is chipping in. However, getting reluctant children to help isn’t always easy.” Read How to Get the Whole Family Involved in Outdoor Clean-Up

🥗   When it comes to home maintenance, do you wish someone would just tell you what to do?

“To turn a daunting requirement into manageable pieces, we’ve broken down home maintenance tasks into monthly, quarterly, yearly and seasonal checklists.” Read The Ultimate Home Maintenance Checklist for Total Home Wellness

🗂   How does your garden grow?

“Whether your aim is to grow your own cut flowers, have fresh herbs for cooking or create a full-blown backyard mini farm, you have plenty of options to make your garden space a bit more productive, even if it’s just a sunny windowsill.” Read 10 Ways to Make Your Garden More Productive

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🎧 8 Podcast Episodes

📰 Kwik Brain | Effortless Productivity with Greg McKeown (17 min)

“How do you make the things that matter to you happen more effortlessly?If you’ve ever felt like you’re working harder and harder, but you’re not getting the results you’re after, or perhaps even getting less results with more effort, this episode is for you. Listen in as Greg shares how to change your focus in order to accomplish things that are important to you but sometimes feel impossible.”

👸🏻 Smartless | Gwyneth Paltrow (56 min) 💣

“The group goes Goop this week with the one-and-only Gwyneth Paltrow. Academy Award winning actor, mom, author, businesswoman, and lover of bone broth, G.P. gives us a solid hang, a swift education, and a refreshingly delightful vibe.”

💡 Epic Gardening | “Lazy” Gardening: Low Maintenance Crops (7 min)

“Let’s be honest…sometimes we’re lazy gardeners. I know I am. Here are a bunch of different crops you can grow that take very little time and effort once you get them established!”

🤰🏻 What Fresh Hell | Asking For Big Help (And The Best Ways To Give It) (45 min)

“We’ve all been in moments when we have to make a Big Ask. As in: it’s 2 a.m. The baby is throwing up and spiking a high fever. Your partner is out of town. Your other kid is asleep upstairs. Who are you going to call in the middle of the night? Making that ask is never easy.”

😎 Don’t Ask Tig | Will Ferrell (38 min)

“Tig calls on Will Ferrell for advice on romantic proposals, marriage frustrations, and why you should really go to the dentist.”

🧗 The Chalene Show | Is Work-Life Balance a Myth, with Megan Hyatt Miller (48 min)

“Chalene invites Megan Hyatt Miller (author, speaker, podcaster) onto the show to discuss the myths associated with creating work-life balance. Megan has just released a new book — co-authored with her dad, Michael Hyatt — all about this very topic!”

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 99% Invisible | The Yin and Yang of Basketball (20 min)

“In 1891, a physical education teacher in Springfield, Massachusetts invented the game we would come to know as basketball. In setting the height of the baskets, he inadvertently created a design problem that would not be resolved for decades to come.”

⏭ Business Wars | Estée Lauder vs L’Oréal | Lipstick Lockdown | 6 (30 min)

“It’s 2007, and the L’Oréal founding family is thrust into the media spotlight when a scandal erupts. The investigation brings to light Bettencourt’s own unsavory dealings, putting L’Oréal’s future at risk. Meanwhile, both L’Oréal and Estée Lauder attempt to mitigate lagging sales with more acquisitions. But no one is prepared for how a pandemic will affect the beauty industry.”

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🎬 Insightful Video

“Born out of the local first movement, localscaping is a growing idea that takes all the complexities out of landscaping for a challenging climate by offering solutions that are simple, actionable, and creates yards that work, not more yard work.”

Watch Five tips to landscaping in the climate and environment you live in | Cynthia Bee | TEDxSaltLakeCity (10:03) in this week’s Grace in the Race Insightful Video. 

We hope these resources set you on your way to a low maintenance season!

As always, we hope our newsletter inspires you to get your ship together and get through your week with grace.

Have a good one and please reach out if we can be helpful to you in any way!

Love & Grace,

Rachel & Amanda

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