Latest / Twin Mom Life / Calming the Chaos in Your Home with Amy Motroni Founder of Genius Mom Hacks
Transcript
- Jessielee Sittig: Hello and welcome to the Twin Mom Life podcast. I'm your host, Jess. I created this podcast to help build community, connection, and most importantly, friendships among moms of multiples. Being a twin mom can be amazing and magical. That twin bond is unlike anything I've ever witnessed, but it can also be isolating and overwhelming. I'll be chatting with other twin moms, diving deep into the twin experience. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy twin mom life to listen along. I hope this podcast shed some light on a topic that's been on your heart and gave you more confidence as a twin mama. If you know a twin mom, please send this her way. If you like what you heard today, please subscribe to the podcast and leave a review. Check out the show notes to be connected with today's guest and get discount codes for brands I love. See you next Thursday. Until then. Welcome to the podcast. I'm so excited. So today we have Amy from Genius Mom Hacks. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Amy: Thank you. Sure. So I am Amy Matroni. I am the founder of Genius Mom Hacks. It's an online platform on pretty much all social media as well as a website. I started my journey on social media two years ago. I just passed my two-year mark where I help moms eliminate the stress in their homes caused by the chaos and I do that through effective routines, productivity tools and independent play. Jessielee Sittig: giving advice on what works for us so you don't have to learn the hard way. Juggling two babies at the same time is challenging, but I'm confident we can learn from each other and figure out how to raise these babies together. You are made for this. Amy: and teamwork, just getting your kids involved and everyone being a team in the home. And that's mainly my content on what I focus on. And I've now helped over 17,000 moms. And then in the last year, I wrote a book and it became a number one bestseller on Amazon. And I went to New York because there was a billboard and it's just been a really exciting last year. Jessielee Sittig: Amazing. Amy: The content just resonates with a lot of moms because they think we're all dealing with the mental load and the visible labor and just the stress and the chaos in our homes. We're over-tasked, over-busy, and my strategies and tools are backed in science and just really help moms. So it's a pleasure to be here and it's been an honor to help so many moms in the last couple years. Jessielee Sittig: That is all so exciting and so amazing. And I definitely want you to be able to talk about your book more and your program. And is that audio or is that on Amazon as like a book that you can purchase a hard copy? Amy: Yeah, so I actually started with just the hard copy on Amazon and then my audience really wanted the audio and they really wanted me to record the audio. I actually was looking to hire an actor and then once I started recording it, just was really encouraged by a lot of people to finish the book myself. And so it is an audio book as well now available. And then if you want... even more like hands-on, tangible tools beyond a book. have digital guides that you can download that give video links and product links and just have more things than I can provide in a physical or audio book. Jessielee Sittig: Mm. Sure, I love that. That's great. Audiobooks are so great for busy moms who might not have like the physical time to read a book, but in pickup line or in driving your car on the go, boom, that's awesome. So I know we're already kind of getting started, but before we jump into it too much, I'd love to know how you filled your own cup today. Amy: So one of the ways I fill my cup every day and I actually talk about this a lot just in my content is I wake up before my kids and have a hot cup of coffee in the quiet and peaceful serenity of your home. It's very much become my sanctuary and my just peace that I like to start my day with. I am a mom of four if you didn't know and I'm here because my last two were twins and so I have four children, three with a three year age gap. So they're all very close together in age and it's a very busy season. And whether my home is on autopilot and feels calm, my days can feel very busy and just spread in many different directions. So having that time in the morning to fill my cup is the way love to start my day. And I really encourage all moms to, if you can squeeze in a few minutes for yourself at the beginning of the hour, it's the best way to start your day. Jessielee Sittig: So I love that having coffee in peace. When I start my days like that, it's significantly better. So talking on the podcast always fills my cup. I'm always so excited to talk to twin especially twin moms who have made a ridiculously successful business and we're inspired by having children. But tonight I'm going to dinner with friends. So I'm super excited to fill my cup in that way and be able to have time with friends without our kids there. ⁓ Often, yes, ⁓ often during play dates, maybe we for five minutes with broken stories. So looking forward to having uninterrupted. ⁓ Amy: Amen. Jessielee Sittig: girl time. that's going to be great. So what was your inspiration behind Genius MomHack? Amy: Yay. Yeah, great question. So it's multifaceted as I think any choice or big decision you make in life is. The first one was ⁓ identity outside of motherhood. So prior to having twins, I did work. I had a career ⁓ and loved just being able to, ⁓ I two kids before the twins came. They were 18 months apart. ⁓ My one was three when the twins were born ⁓ and was able to, you know, manage, juggle, whatever, all the air quotes there, but it was more feasible to work before having the And then the twins came and not only did that stop me being able to work, shortly after the twins came, the pandemic happened. ⁓ And so my just really ⁓ closed in all me and having an identity outside of motherhood really felt distant in that moment. ⁓ And I was... Jessielee Sittig: Mm-hmm. Amy: wanting to go back to work. And my husband really encouraged me to look inside the home and to find something that I could do while also still being able to do the drop-offs and the pickups and the appointments because he is and was our breadwinner. And just for kids, it's really hard to have them in childcare and manage the drop-offs and the pickups. So that was a motivation. Two I really felt called to this story, to this content. God kind of put it on my heart in the shower one morning ⁓ it is something that I get asked a lot. Like, how do you manage four kids? How are you not crazy? How does your home always look picked up? And you know, ⁓ I wanted to have an identity outside of motherhood and the natural ⁓ was a business, this is the content that I think felt ⁓ calling to me. ⁓ And then third was vacation just having some extra income. We are a large family with being six of us ⁓ even doing well in this economy. It's hard to go on vacations that you want to take your kids on. So I had some extra motivation there knowing that the income that I brought in would go and be designated for really fun vacations for my family. ⁓ so those were the reasons why and ⁓ order to have a successful business, you need to know your why. And so I hold on to those whys I build this business and I'm very thankful that it has been successful and that I did find an identity outside of motherhood and that we have been able to go on fun vacations. ⁓ Jessielee Sittig: Any favorite vacations that you guys have gone on? Amy: Yeah, well, I mentioned that I had a billboard in New York for my book and I was able to take my entire family there. We did a whole week in New York and honestly, we already want to go back. We fell in love with that city. It was so fun and we had my four kids were there. They got to see me, you know, big on the big board and it was a magical week. So yes, we've had lots of fun vacations. Jessielee Sittig: That is so special for your kids to be able to see that. What was their reaction to seeing that billboard? Amy: I think just, you know, really enamored, really cool. Like, yeah, I mean, we all were. It's just it's, you know, it's not like you put that on your vision board. ⁓ Jessielee Sittig: Shock. Absolutely. That's, that's amazing. And I feel like one thing that you said that really resonated with me was kind of like your loss of identity. I feel like that's a big reason that I wanted to start the podcast. My twins are two and a half, so they're still really little, but that first, honestly, year, two years was such a blur. And now that we're kind of getting out of that, we're all sleeping a little bit more. Like, who am I outside of motherhood? And I feel like connecting with twin moms has been I don't know, so helpful and really like healing and finding community in that twin motherhood that's a very different club that we're so lucky to be a part of. So I'd love to hear more about your twins. So how old are your twins now? Amy: I agree. ⁓ So my twins are eight and a half now. They're boy girl twins. They're three and four in the lineup. So they have older siblings ⁓ they're very different as I think most twins are. I am a twin as well. So maybe throw that out there. I'm a twin that had twins. Yeah. I have a fraternal twin sister. And so ⁓ twins are fraternal as well, clearly boy girls Jessielee Sittig: I didn't know that. Amy: I was still not expecting twins because there is this myth that twins don't have twins that it skips a generation and ⁓ yeah it still as a to me. ⁓ Jessielee Sittig: I bet I've actually had two other moms who have twins that are also twins. And I just think that's so interesting because you bring such a unique perspective of maybe what to do differently being a twin yourself. So do you have any, tips for moms as a twin of like maybe what to do or what not to do? Amy: You know, I think that I just am more understanding of the roller coaster ride and emotions and friendships that twins have. Like my sister and I, we have, you know, we've been all over the place with our friendship and our relationship. There's been highs and there's been lows and that is normal and siblings in general. But I will say it is very magnified and intensified being a twin. Jessielee Sittig: Mm-hmm. Amy: And sometimes you see it in your children and you're like, whoa, like you want to like, rescue that or solve that. And I just was like, yep, that, that I, I, I very familiar with that. I resonate with that. That was my experience too. And so maybe you're just, I'm a little bit more understanding of the relationship, but they will die for each other. Like twins bond is real. They may act like they hate each other, but they love each other. ⁓ more I feel it's a stronger bond than even like a regular sibling bond. Jessielee Sittig: Mm-hmm. Yeah, absolutely. And that's helpful for me to hear since they're two and a half. And I will say like when they love each other, it is the most precious thing ever. And then when they fight, they fight hard, like where it is kind of shocking. So that is helpful for me to hear. So thank you for that. I appreciate that. Yeah. Okay. Good to know. Good to know. I'm not doing anything wrong, you know? Amy: Yeah, all very normal. Nope, I know and it's hard when like I mean I have other children that aren't twins I have singleton so like you get to see a little bit more of a diversity too versus you know your whole dynamic in your home is twins and it's it's all what you know and all what you see so Jessielee Sittig: Right. Well, and you got to see other sibling dynamics because I have an older daughter. She just turned six and then my boys are two and a half. So her first siblings were twins. I never got to see like that one-on-one sibling dynamic. And I'm also an only child. So, so I'm like learning a lot of these sibling dynamics as we go and wanting to cultivate that awesome sibling bond and relationship and then managing those fights without like having to Amy: Yeah. ⁓ wow. Jessielee Sittig: protect and manage everything, like having them learn on their own too. So that's very helpful. And one thing that really sticks out to me from your Instagram and from some of the things that you talk about are how when you had very young kids and you felt overwhelmed and then you really thought about, why am I overwhelmed? It wasn't necessarily that you had young children. mean, having, don't get me wrong, having four under three must've been wild. But when you took a step back, what a big part of it was, was your home. And if it was messy or chaotic, that's what was like, kind of the straw that broke the camel's back. ⁓ yeah, that really resonates with me. And one thing that I have implemented, and you mentioned this in the beginning, was ⁓ laundry every day. And been really huge, especially with a family of five. If you do a laundry day, I don't know how you're ever going to get out of that. So I feel like that was a really helpful tip. And could you talk about each of those tips that you mentioned with like a little bit more detail? Amy: Yeah. Yeah, so my journey did start when I had a two-year-old and a newborn. So even before the twins, I was overwhelmed and stressed with two children, and, they're 18 months apart. And I was putting towels away one day in my linen closet and it was overstuffed because, you know, as we all just manage our day to day, we don't have the most organized closets all the time. And the towels unraveled to the ground and it... It literally broke me and I fell to the ground in the fetal position and was just crying. it wasn't the towels per se, but it was the straw that broke the camels back in the sense that it opened my eyes to the chaos that was around me. And I looked around and saw just a normal home, you know, with shoes by the door and dishes overflowing and mail on the table. Last night's dinner's still out. Toys all over the family room floor, laundry piled on the couch. And I was justified in what I was seeing. That wasn't the problem, but it was what it was doing to me, how my body was reacting and responding to it. It was leaving me feeling very overwhelmed and very stressed trying to focus on these two children. And now so many years later, I know why, right? I've met with, know, stress scientists and I've read the books and I've done the studies. But in that moment, I didn't have anything but what I was feeling. and I knew that I needed to make a change and I started with my home and it was transformational and it really was, ⁓ would say, the point in my life that really turned everything for me ⁓ I started with simple things. I think a lot of people feel that you have to have these huge monumental moments and changes in your life to really feel like anything's gonna change. Jessielee Sittig: Mm-hmm. Amy: And I read a quote from Robin Sharma that said, small changes when done consistently every day have huge results. And that's exactly what it has been for everything in my life, for the changes I made in my home, for the changes I made in my health, for the changes I made in my business. They're all just small daily changes that stack up and you get the domino effect and you get the compound effect. And so what I started with was laundry, actually. I started with just... Jessielee Sittig: Mm. Amy: breaking down the laundry to making it more manageable. So I didn't have piles everywhere and I did what's called O-lad, one load a day. And then I started doing morning routines, right? Where I was like, ⁓ am I gonna do these tasks, right? They're really hard to just ⁓ off of a laundry list all day long. It's So I created routines and ⁓ I more about effective routines and why they're so helpful. Jessielee Sittig: Love that. Amy: And it's the idea of, you know, your brain constantly wants to close the loop on things. And if you have all of these unfinished tasks everywhere, your brain constantly wears on that in the back of your mind. And so I started creating routines to close the loops on things. So I would get up and I would make my bed. Now that bed is made, loop closed. making a bed, studies have shown that you have better sleep and your brain ⁓ has completed a task already first thing in the morning. So it tells your brain to have a productive day. And so I started to learn the science behind why these things matter. And then the next thing was to unload the clean dishes, which meant I had to load the dirty dishes the night before. And so you start getting this domino effect, right? Well, if you're loading the dishes the night before in your evening routine to help you have a better morning routine, then you're going to bed with a cleaner picked up home. know last night's dinner is getting put away the dishes are getting started less steps on the countertop The next morning putting the dishes away is faster making that breakfast is easier Getting kids out the door is faster like that's the domino effect and it's it's not all of these big things that I'm doing It's really small things that are done inside of routines that feel easier and and then you add in like cleaning hacks like one of the cleaning hacks that I love to talk about is ⁓ hiding Clorox wipes or baby wipes everywhere so that cleaning is faster and easier. Because lot of times we'll wait till like Saturday in the weekend and we'll do what we call deep clean, right? Like we overhaul the whole house and we think like that's gonna keep your house clean all week long. ⁓ I have a kid watch a kid for 30 seconds via tornado in your house. Like you can't manage, ⁓ you just leave it to one day. That's very stressful and overwhelming. Jessielee Sittig: Mm. Yes. Amy: I to learn some of these cleaning hacks and these productivity tools to get done faster. And next thing I knew, managing my home, even with the twins came and now I have four children, three and under, ⁓ and it not my home that was stressing me out anymore. And I was really eliminating my stress. The chaos was more minimal, managing children felt easier. I to learn some of these cleaning hacks and these productivity tools to get done faster. And next thing I knew, managing my home, even with the twins came and now I have four children, three and under, ⁓ and it not my home that was stressing me out anymore. And I was really eliminating my stress. The chaos was more minimal, managing children felt easier. You like you had more time in your day. And ⁓ it ⁓ really... took off and had a whole movement there in my home just by starting with something as small as ⁓ load of laundry a day. Jessielee Sittig: It's amazing. Absolutely. So life changing. And I know one thing that you talk about a lot, which I absolutely love is the aspect of teamwork. Could you talk a little bit more about that? Amy: Yeah. So that actually didn't come until later. And I always tell moms like start as early as you can. Again, when my oldest was three and I had the twins, so I really wasn't in a position to bring in that much teamwork. But one thing that I did realize was to set your home up to be functional so that down the road, they can be team players. I think a lot of times, Jessielee Sittig: Sure. Amy: children show resistance and we think it's disobedience or laziness, but a lot of times it just feels overwhelming and hard for them. If you think it's hard to go into a chaotic linen closet that's not organized to try to find something, imagine a child trying to do that. So I always tell moms, ⁓ expect your children to help you until you have an easy to clean home on autopilot, which is why I want them to start with my genius home hacks guide first. Jessielee Sittig: Yeah. Mm. Amy: before they try to ask responsibilities of their kids because you wanna make it as easy as possible. And I learned that when the twins were born and I asked my oldest who was three at the time to go get baby wipes, because I was changing the twins in the family room and I had run out of baby wipes and I thought they were really accessible and easy to grab in the closet of the baby's room in the nursery. But when I sent my three-year-old to go get them, he couldn't find them. And so that opened my eyes to, whoa, okay. well, I have to make things a lot easier in this house if I'm gonna expect anyone to be able to function in it. And so then fast forward a couple of years, I did start to bring my children on board with doing their laundry, cleaning the room, doing the dishes, then starting to learn to cook. I bought some kid friendly knives and I would start bringing one child into the kitchen at time and having them be a sous chef with me to help me with dinner. ⁓ Jessielee Sittig: Sure. Amy: I really started to open my eyes to the fact that I don't want to be Cinderella in this home. I want team players. I want all of us to work together. And then when the kids all got into school, I started a routine called my reset routine. And it's one to two hours. I do mine on Sunday. So I actually call mine my Sunday reset routine, but you can really take the concept and apply it to any day that works best for you. And it's to get a jumpstart in your week. Instead of starting your week behind, I like to start it ahead. So I mapped out, wrote down about eight things that I like to do before the week starts. And majority of them involve my kids helping and being team players. that's really just shifted how our week unfolds. So instead of feeling like I'm chasing my tail the whole week long, I'm ahead of the game and I'm going into the week prepared with meals, prepared with a clean home, prepared with laundry and kids clothes ready to go for the week and their outfits picked up. Jessielee Sittig: Mm. Amy: so that at seven o'clock in the morning, I don't have a child screaming his favorite shirt's not clean. Like how stressful can that be? Because those are real life scenarios and a lot of moms, live in that in the daily. And I'm like, that's all preventable if we just spent one hour of intentional time at some point before the week starts. so that's where teamwork kind of really ⁓ but it really does start with having an easy to clean functional home first so that your children can rise to the occasion of being team players. Jessielee Sittig: Hmm. Mm-hmm. I love all of that. And I feel like a couple of things that you said, I was like, yes, absolutely. Like with my daughter, so my daughter is six now. I feel like I really didn't, I don't know, I guess since she was my only one at the time, didn't have a need for her to help, so to speak. And when I had the twins, I'm like, ⁓ man, we got to, this has got to change. Like I can't do everything for everyone. Like I only have two hands. I'm like constantly saying that to my kids. I only have two hands. I'm not an octopus. So my two year olds, you know, they do very minimal things, but for example, like you can put your plate in the sink or you can put your trash, your little granola bar trash, you can put that in the trash can, little things like that. And one routine that we've gotten into, so my daughter just started kindergarten. And when she gets home from school, we do like our afterschool chores. And that includes her taking out her lunch pail, putting that in the sink and then packing her snack for the next day. So that's very minimal. Like I pack her lunch and stuff, which we know will change as she gets older. But all of those little things are so helpful. Like our bodies can only handle so much stress. So I love, everything that you're talking about with these routines ahead of time. So that in the moment, it's, it doesn't need to be ⁓ more chaotic. Amy: Yeah, I think all of that is great too. And I think what people realize is it doesn't have to be a lot on kids for them to start building those muscles. So I tell a lot of moms, all of this stuff is muscle. It's just skills that they're learning. No one inherently knows this stuff. You have to teach it. You're part of your role as a mom is to be a coach. You're your kid's coach and they're only gonna know what you train them and teach them. Jessielee Sittig: Mm-hmm. Amy: only basic things that they're intimately know to do is hygiene stuff which is related going to the bathroom and eating and drinking water those are the things that intuitively come out of people knowingly that they need to do these things but otherwise everything else is all taught through observation or taught by intentionality so and all just skills and muscles that children get to you know learn along the way Jessielee Sittig: and kids want to help. They love it. I love that you brought up like getting kid friendly knives. My sons haven't really done that yet, but my daughter will love to like cut up strawberries and are they the prettiest slices? No. But she's so happy and you know, it was an activity for her to do and a good skill for her to start to learn. So all of those tips were so helpful. Amy: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yep. Nope. Yeah, my kids have been in the kitchen since very young ages. One that they wanted to, my older showed interest and I think that just kind of was a domino effect to the other one showing interest. So I got lucky in that regard that my oldest one was interested. two... I think it really does just set it up for, you know, being team players. I love that the kitchen is the first place, like because they're, they are naturally more interested and curious in that regard. So I love that. I love that for families that do that. And then you mentioned how it's not perfect. I think I have to say often that you lower your standards and your expectations of your kids. If you really want. Jessielee Sittig: Mm-hmm. Amy: to not be Cinderella in your home, then you really have to lower the bar and be okay with it. Because if you're not okay with it, then just keep doing it and then don't feel resentment or be mad. Like you can't have it both ways. You either lower your expectations and be grateful for the effort that they give, because they're children, or you continue doing it and don't play the martyr card of being Cinderella in your home. ⁓ Jessielee Sittig: Amen. ⁓ Yes, that is such a good point. And I feel like probably so many moms struggle with some level of being a perfectionist. And I feel like with my daughter, I was like that. Oh my goodness, like everything had to be perfect. And then once I had twins, was like, you had to not give up, but I had to change my expectations. My expectations had to change in order to manage my plate. So that's such a good point. Amy: Yeah. I do think twin moms get there faster. I mean, I have some mom friends who have multiple kids, but they don't have multiples. And so they're still trying to control and have perfection and do everything. And I'm like, that's because you feel like you can. But when you have twins, you're like, nope, it quickly, it more quickly goes out the window than I think with singletons. You hold on a little longer with singletons. Jessielee Sittig: Mm-hmm. Yes. That's such a good point. Yeah, absolutely. It's a different ball game. Okay, so you said that your twins are eight. So, so far, I know there are still little, but what do you think the hardest age was so far? Amy: Yeah, for sure. For mine was 18 months. I'm not a fan of twins at 18 months. Jessielee Sittig: Okay. running in opposite directions. Amy: Yeah, they're just, you know, they're still solid on their feet, but their personality is very bold at that time because they think they're more capable than they are and they are going in opposite directions and their tantrums are at, I feel, one of the highest tantrum points in child rearing and having two of them and they're crying usually feeds off each other and they usually get into trouble at the same time and I don't know. Jessielee Sittig: Mm-hmm. Amy: I was not, and I think it was also COVID for me too. So I was just not a fan of any of it. Jessielee Sittig: Yeah, that's yeah, that's I had my daughter in 2020. So she was a newborn during COVID. And it was awful. Just so awful. COVID man. there anything else about the program that you would like to talk about? Amy: Yeah, yeah, I know. I think it's a great resource if you want a step-by-step ⁓ a place on where to start to start making changes in your home to reduce that stress and have an easier to clean home. Love thousands and it's just a great place to start. And I'm so thankful that I've been able to help so many moms with it. no, ⁓ it's there ⁓ whoever ⁓ to action in their home. Jessielee Sittig: Great. And you've already given so many wonderful pieces of advice and things that people can implement. But if you were to have a heart to heart with a twin mom or give her a piece of advice, what would you tell her? Amy: So I actually would give, I mean, I actually am not a sleep consultant, but I feel like with twins, like sleep is really high up there. I have four really good sleepers. ⁓ let me tell you, ⁓ did do sleep schedules and sleep training. I got lucky, I don't know if I should say I got lucky, but my twins were NICU. ⁓ And a lot of twins are, not all of them are, but a lot started the NICU and... Jessielee Sittig: Mm-hmm. Amy: our NICU where my children were born did a great job getting my babies on feeding and sleeping schedules. So it was really easy to bring that home and to continue that. And I'm just forever grateful for that because by four months, I mean, they were preemie so everything was a little later, but by four months I was getting at least eight hours of sleep ⁓ and. Jessielee Sittig: Mm. Mm-hmm. That's incredible. Amy: I know, and still to this day, I have four really great sleepers and I just like, don't, that's what I focused on. I like didn't focus on like milestones or like, you know, how I'm feeding that. I'm like, literally like we're focusing on sleep. So that's specific to babies. Now, as a mom in general, like for your livelihood, I would say focus on routines. So I have two different, you know, pieces of advice I would give. one is for the baby which ultimately helps your sanity because you can't function if you're not sleeping and the only way you're going to sleep is if your babies are sleeping otherwise you're waiting it out for a really long time for them to get older and it just is so long so I just felt like I was more capable mom because my baby slept longer, sooner. And then the other thing was starting a morning routine. And as we started this conversation off, it does not have to be hours getting up before your kids, but I recommend, you know, I don't recommend it before three months old with a baby, but as soon as you're getting that regular four, five, six, seven hours of sleep, which we all know, like you go from not sleeping to getting four hours, you feel like a new person. So as soon as you start feeling like a new person as a, know, where you feel like you have a little bit of that fog. you know, relief. Wake up 10, 15 minutes before your kids, before your babies, before you hear that crying, before you hear that screaming, before you hear that tantrum, before you hear that, I'm hungry. Just give yourself 10 minutes. It'll change your day. feel getting up before kids gets a bad rap because people really think that I'm telling people to get up at 5 a.m. in the morning. ⁓ No, ⁓ no. ⁓ Jessielee Sittig: You Mm. Sure. Amy: And you know, just give yourself that moment to wake up and quiet and have, you know, that few minutes in that morning routine. I like to start my day quiet and then a few minutes of productivity so that if my day goes array and many times it will when I had four children, three and under, there's no predictability in your day when you have young babies and toddlers. So the only thing that you can control is that few minutes before they get up. And so I really like to try to get as much as I can get ahead in my day with my home, with my with myself, making myself a priority. That's really how I feel like I thrived during the trench season versus drowning. Jessielee Sittig: Mm-hmm. Yeah, absolutely. I think that's so key. Like waking up to chaos, the whole day is gonna be chaotic then. So. Amy: Yeah. It really feels that way. I mean, it doesn't have to but for whatever reason it's just like your mood can really dictate your day. Jessielee Sittig: Yeah, absolutely. Well, and the sleep part that you were talking about for babies is so huge. Like, I don't remember the first, I don't know, eight months of the twins lives because I was so sleep deprived. you can handle a lot more things if you've slept better. So once they started sleeping through the night and longer stretches, I was like a different person. I was a much happier mom. So yeah. Amy: It's so true. Yeah, I always was like, I don't know how how you function without sleep. I'm a big sleep person. Jessielee Sittig: Yeah, well that's good that your kids are too or that you have taught them or guided them to be able to do that also. Amy: Yeah, I think good sleepers is also a training and a skill. Like, I think it's not something that they naturally learn to do on their own either. I think it's something that's trained as well. Jessielee Sittig: Mm-hmm. Mm Yeah, you got to teach those kids all these all of these things. I know. I know. Well, and there's not a manual on how to be a mom, but at least there is a manual on how to keep your house tidy so that that part isn't chaotic. So thank you for making that. So can you tell us where people can find you on Instagram to connect with you and then where people can find your book? Amy: I don't. They should come out knowing more, to be honest. Yeah, totally. Yes, so I'm on GeniusMomHacks ⁓ Instagram ⁓ my book is GeniusMomHacks on Amazon. I made it really easy. ⁓ Jessielee Sittig: Great. Yes, that's awesome. Well, perfect. And I will tag that in the show notes so people can check it out if they haven't already. And thank you so much for all of your information and super helpful tips. bet a twin mom is really going to benefit from hearing all of this. So thank you so much, Amy. Amy: Oh, you're very welcome. And I hope so. I hope that they also just, if you're a twin mom and you find me on social media, get in my DMs and say hi. I absolutely love it when, I don't know, it feels more special. I have a lot of twin moms that actually follow me, believe it or not. And it feels more special when they say hi. I'm like, oh, you're my people. Jessielee Sittig: I will say, yes, like I found your page and then finding out you were a twin mom, it was like more special to me. I'm like, if she's a twin mom and she's done this, like I can do it too. Amy: Aww. Good, I know, but I really do help that way. feel my whole goal for my platform is that moms feel empowered that they can do it too, that I'm no one special. I'm not perfect. I'm not living a perfect life over here. There's ups and downs, there's failures, there's moments of success, we're all just trying. And that's what my page is grounded on is just tools that I know that I've tried that have worked that I would. Really like for you to try and see if they can work for you. Jessielee Sittig: Awesome. Well, thank you so much, Amy. Thanks for coming on today. I really appreciate it. Amy: I'm so happy I'm here. You guys have a great day. Jessielee Sittig: Awesome. Thank you.