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Get free access to everything below and more inside The Vault area. No need for links or remembering to save your emails. Print worksheets out as many times as you want, listen to audio lessons, watch videos, take a few free courses and more. 

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Why should kids have all the fun? Come join the mamas of the Mother Like a Boss Playground Facebook group. Why a playground? Well, aside from the obvious link to motherhood and kids, I find playgrounds to be some of the most enjoyable places on earth. You can swing, climb, run, jump, dig, chase, balance and slide, just like all moms do everyday. You can make friends, bring the ones you have or do both. You can feel free and unjudged, because everyone around you is enjoying the same place at the same time.

If you're looking for a fun, supportive and encouraging group of mothers helping one another and asking great questions, come to the playground. Plus, you'll receive tons of homemakerish help from yours truly.

Oh, and unlike most other playgrounds, a little adult conversation isn't frowned upon.

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Last night on our way home from dinner, my kids and I saw the sky illuminated with pinks and purples. The photo doesn’t do it justice. It truly looked like a watercolor painting. . . We pulled over just to watch it and it was a real slap in the face to how often we miss things like this. We miss the sunset nearly everyday in the midst of life. We wait for the weekends without truly enjoying the gift of every weekday sunset and sunrise. We’re so focused on the outcome that we’re missing the journey. . . This sunset was the slap upside the head I needed yesterday. With my head down in my business and home so often, rushing to the next thing, the next event, the next feeling, I’m missing this. God refused to let me miss this. It was so grandiose and beautiful, I couldn’t keep my head down. . . What can you do today in recognition of the beauty in this world? Maybe it’s not outside, but right inside your own home. Share with me below the beauty you find throughout the day, mamas. 🙌🏼
“Why don’t I get a picture of the 3 of you?” my stepfather said as I was snapping photos of my kids. . . “No that’s ok.” I murmured, without even thinking. In a split second, I thought of all the reasons I didn’t want to be a picture. It was 90,000 degrees that day and I was sweaty. I was wearing shorts and my legs would look fat. My hair was matted from the humidity. My makeup was running. I had a headache. I don’t want to see a picture of me today. . . In that split second (it was a long second...) I also came to my senses and realized those reasons were complete and total nonsense. As the person always taking the picture, it is rare that anyone ever offers to take a photos of me with the kids, or my parents, or my husband. John must have known in that moment how valuable it would be to have a picture with my kids, hot and sweaty and all. . . This wasn’t super posed. I wasn’t dolled up. The sun was shining in our faces. My knees look chubby. I’m not “at my best” and still, I don’t think I’ve ever been more grateful for a photo in my life. . . If I have the good fortune and blessing to make it to old age, I hope my kids and grandkids love to look back at our photos together the same way I do with my own mother. I’m sure she doesn’t love how she looks in some of them, but all I see is a gorgeous, hard-working, loving mom who embraced the moment with her kids in a timeless snapshot. . . We’re better than our worst feelings about ourselves. We’re better than the message we send to our kids every time we say “Nah, I don’t want to be in a picture today.” We’re better than the memories lost when we’re at our most self-conscious. Say yes to the photo op. Your kids will thankful for it later.
I’ve never been a helicopter mom. Instead, I consider myself what @allie_thatsme and I lovingly refer to as a submarine mom. I sit below the surface and only pop my head up once in a while to make sure no one’s bleeding. It’s mine and my husband’s parenting style and it suits us just fine. . . I never had parents that hovered. I never felt smothered. I always felt the exact right amount of space, the exact right amount of involvement. I aim to give my kids the same. My children don’t need someone to micromanage their every move. They need someone to raise them, nurture them, love them and teach them. . . Whether it’s at the park with other kids or at home doing their chores, I want to keep a watchful eye from a distance, enough so that they feel independent and empowered, but close enough to lend a hand when they need it. I want their childhood to feel full, and sometimes that means full of mistakes. . . It isn’t always easy to step back and watch them do something inefficiently when I know there’s a “better” way, but I don’t want them to feel ineffective as human beings. I’m trying hard to train them and guide them while also allowing them to navigate their own way (even if that means their underwear is folded inside out and put away like that. Cringe!) . . Ultimately, I want to afford my kids the same respect I desire as a mom: to not be hovered over and constantly critiqued. And in the end, no matter what kind of mom you choose to be for your sweet babies, we all end up staring up into a nostril that has just had a Cheerio shoved into it.
Warning: The following post is filled with truth. . Time management is a hot button issue these days, especially in the mommy niche. I'm more about time ownership. Inevitably, every time I mention this in a class or a video, there are a few grumbles from the peanut gallery from people who are still playing the victim in their own life. . "Ya, must be nice. I don't OWN my time." "I'm not in control of my schedule. I can't just change everything in my life to fit into it." "We have way too much to do and I never have any time. I didn't choose that." . We are living in a blame-happy society, where everything is someone else's fault. Moms take it a step further and blame themselves worse than anyone. We're so guilt-ridden that we stay in that blame state, paralyzed and refusing to move. We try to control as much as we can. . In reality, time ownership isn't about control, it's about responsibility. There are so many things outside of our control in this world. We can't control the weather, or the babysitter that called in sick, or the 3 year old who sat too close to the kid with a stomach bug and is up at 3am barfing. But it is our responsibility to choose how we react, to choose how we prioritize our lives and schedules, to choose what's most important to us. . Owning your time means being responsible for what you choose to allow into your life and your calendar. Owning your time means not having to control every single minute for the rest of your life. Owning your time means you can clean your house, make a meal (or order one) enjoy a game night with your kids and chat with your bestie all in the same day. . Responsibility feels scary, but it can feel just as freeing. Your life is yours, your home is yours, your motherhood is YOURS. Own it!
Good friends are hard to find. Best friends are even harder. . . We spent the last 4 days with @allie_thatsme and her family, lounging, laughing, playing, giggling, eating, drinking and enjoying each other’s company, 6 kids and all. . . Having friends, true friends, is the best form of self-care you can practice. True friends don’t just lift you up, they inspire you. They challenge you. They tell you when you’re wrong, even when you don’t want to hear it. They won’t nod their head in agreement of everything you do. True friends don’t allow you to be mediocre. . . Seek out true friends, not many friends. Quality beats all with relationships. A handful of people who will call you on your nonsense while also wiping your tears dry is worth heaps more than a room full of people who don’t even notice you’re crying. . . And luckily, our husbands and kids love each other, too, or this trip would have been super awkward.
People: Have you heard the baby shark song? Me:
Confession: I didn’t want to create Homemakerish U. My signature course, that now has almost 1200 mamas enrolled in it, almost didn’t happen. . . I knew when I started Mother Like a Boss that I wanted to serve moms in a big way. I wasn’t just after a business, I was looking to start a movement. But as more and more people asked me to help them with home management and homemaking, I pulled away. I didn’t want to be know for that. I didn’t want to sell a course like that. . . The reason? Fear. I was scared that no one would buy it. Scared that moms who did would hate it. Scared that I wasn’t good enough. Scared that I wasn’t expert enough. Mostly I was scared to be the guru when I was living a perfectly imperfect life myself. . . My house isn’t always immaculate. My laundry is sometimes piled up waiting for 2 days for me to put it away. My kids eat cereal for dinner some nights. I’m not a guru. I’m a positive motherhood and homemaking ambassador. . . Homemakerish U isn’t about teaching you to be a better homemaker. It’s about equipping you with the tools to make homemaking better. You’re worthy of a better life, a more joyful life, an uncomplicated home. “I’m drowning” shouldn’t be the answer to the question, “How are you feeling today?” I created this course for moms, by moms. Real motherhood and real homemaking, for moms who are tired of riding the hot mess express aimlessly. . . Homemakerish U was created for modern homemakers. The only thing missing is you. We’re open for enrollment and ready to see you inside. Bit.ly/hulive
Let me be very clear and open with you. Homemaking isn't about " a woman's work." It isn't about setting the women's movement back or falling into antiquated, often harmful roles in society. Homemaking is just that: making a home. The best way to make your home is to be the delegator, the manager. Not the one doing it all. But pretending that because we live in a modern world things like homemaking don't exist is ludicrous. I'm a rockstar modern business CEO running a company and a team, and homemaking is still at the top of my priority list. ..When my house is clean, I feel good. ..When we have clean towels instead of moldy, wet ones to use after a shower, I feel good. ..When my kids put their own laundry away, I feel good. ..When my husband pitches in each day, I feel good. ..When I make dinner for my family and they love it, I feel good. ..When we're all settled for the day, sprawled out on the sectional, a family of 4 that feels safe, comfortable and peaceful in our home, I feel good. Homemaking is something I do, it isn't who I am. I am Kendra Hennessy. Homemaker is a role I take on, just like wife, mom, sister, daughter, granddaughter, niece, friend and leader. But I also won't feel guilty about it. I won't pretend that my house doesn't need attention and love just because it's 2018 and our traditional roles have changed. I'm proud to be a homemaker. I'm proud to be a mom who cares about her home and her children, and is guiding them to see the value of helping in the house no matter what their gender is. I'm proud to spread the message to other moms and help them 1 by 1 become less afraid of asking for help. When we make blanket statements like, "It's not that hard. Just get it together." or "Ugh, I'm so sick of hearing about homemaking. Get your husband to help!" we push some mom, somewhere back to square one, where she feels guilty and judged for needing help. We throw a blanket of shame over her and cause her to retreat back to her corner of motherhood, lonely and still just as lost. . It’s not always easy, but it CAN be uncomplicated. Join the workshop and learn how to finally uncomplicate your homemaker-ish. Link in bio.
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