I consider myself a Stay-at-home Blogger (SAHB), managing my blog, Make and Takes. My blog is a place where I share ideas and crafty tidbits for home, family, and fun. It started out as a simple way for me to share creative projects, but over time, with its increasing growth and readership, it's become much more involved. With all of this craziness, I've had to find the balance between being a blogger and a mother. Here are three things I do to help me keep a blog and a home.

1. Sticking to a schedule
   If I don’t stick to a regular schedule my house ends up looking like a bomb went off, laundry piling up, inch thick dust, and dishes getting washed on a need only basis! I've had to figure out how to balance blogging with the schedules of my school aged children, new baby, and my husband. I try to map out my day and actually schedule time for blogging, bed making, and carpool. Try to find a blogging schedule that works for you, whether it's early in the morning, late at night, or when kids are napping or at school.
2. Keeping organized
   • Create an Outline – For each post I outline what to write about and note supplies to have on hand if it involves a project.
   • Detailed Calendar – I keep a detailed calendar of what I want to blog about and when. My calendar isn't written in stone, it's important to be flexible.
   • Scheduling Blog Posts – To help me blog daily, I try to schedule my published posts ahead of time (most blogging software provides a function to do this). This way I'm able to blog as much as possible when I've got the time or energy.
   • Gather Ideas – I keep a notepad everywhere, in my car, my purse, and by my bedside. Some of my best ideas come to me at night when I can’t sleep or when I’ve just gotten up with child A, B or C!
3. Having a great support system
   Gratefully, a big part of my blog is crafting for kids, so I spend a lot of time doing fun and crafty projects with my own kids. We have fun cooking, crafting, and reading stories for projects that I later post about. The only tricky part is making sure I have my camera on hand (my kids are getting good at striking a pose and saying "cheese"). I also have a super supportive husband. He gets just as excited about my blog as I do. He’s quite the tech savvy guy, so he’s considered my web manager and has lots of great insight for the blog.
   Even though my schedule seems tight at times, I love being a Mommy Blogger. I'm able to be creative and fulfill my needs, where in turn I'm happier and can be a better mom. I hope these tips help and you're able to better balance your time being a Stay-at-home Blogger.

-Marie LeBaron, MakeAndTakes.com

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