The Basic Ranch Mom

  Alright y’all, unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard at least once or twice about the cold water exposure hype. That, or my algorithm is extremely tailored to health and wellness and I’m the one living under a rock. A crunchy-ish health rock. Either one is extremely possible. Either way, if you haven’t heard about it before now, you’re about to. I’ve been taking a three minute cold shower every day for the last six weeks and I’m ready to give you my thoughts on the trend. First things first though - what’s the process and what do the experts say? Because I don’t have access to an actual cold plunge (YET), I’ve taken the advice of bio hacker Gary Brecka and started with cold showers instead. I turn the water on as cold as it goes, start my timer, take a deep breath, and then step under the water. I spend ten deep breaths per side and continue this spin until my timer goes off three minutes later. The key is to get as much of your skin exposed to the cold wa...

You ever heard the phrase, "it's never too late to start over?" It’s a romantic idea, to start fresh. It gives us hope that tomorrow will be different, and that all the baggage we are carrying around can somehow just fall away with the simple flip of a calendar or the start of new day. In reality, that’s not how it works. The baggage is still there, the problems still need to be solved, and the changes are still waiting to be made. Which is why I tend not to subscribe to the idea of resolutions during any part of the year. BUT, I do believe every day can be a new beginning if we want it to be. That being said, here is my list of resolutions you can and should make during any part of the year: 1) Find your discipline (NOT your motivation) Too many people focus on motivation as the key factor in making goals and sticking with them. But the truth is, motivation is temporary. Nobody wakes up every day feeling motivated to accomplish their goals. It’s simply not in our nature...

S hortly after baby Merp arrived, I started doing a little thing I liked to call “Nap Time Chats” with all of you on my social media channels. I had mamas submit pieces of advice - about motherhood and life in general - and at each chat I would share one. Well Princess Merp now gives me the stink eye if I make even the smallest noise while she’s settling down for nap time, so I decided I would share my fave pieces of advice here in a blog post for everyone to use! An extra big thank you to everyone who submitted their advice. I never really understood what the phrase “it takes a village” meant until I had kids of my own, and the Basic Ranch Mom community sure has helped me find the best village of fellow ranch moms there is. So without further ado, here’s your list! 1) When you pick up kids from daycare or the babysitter, always greet the older children first. Samantha’s mom was a daycare provider, and she said that whenever parents would greet their baby before their older kids, she ...