Hey Mamas!

So I've got a story about pancakes. A LOT of pancakes. But first, here's what's in this email...

In this Newsletter

• Why I'm changing up my Mama Shark email strategy completely (making a way for you to opt out of all sales emails, and what that's going to look like)
• The Pancake Story (+ my favorite gluten free pancake recipe 🥞)
• How I streamlined my mom life in January (the pancakes are in there too 🥞)
• January Mom Hacks (more pancake related things 🥞)
• Coming Your Way in February (no pancakes here)
• Behind the Scenes (also pancake free)

Changing things up...

If you've been on this list for a while, you probably notice this one is laid out a little different. See, I took a big long look at 2023 for Mama Shark to see what worked, what didn't, and what needed to be done about it. Which, by the way, is a great idea to do for all parts of life periodically. Highly recommend.

One of the things I concluded was that I didn't like how "salesy" a lot of my emails have gotten. I really do love letting you all know about things I think will help streamline your mom life (I mean, that's what Mama Shark is all about after all) but it was sort of taking over my emails and leaving little room for other stuff.

In fact, when I first created my Welcome Email Sequence (which most of you will have gotten when you first signed up) I had the goal of emailing short emails once a week with helpful content- and that's what I said I'd do in that sequence. And quite frankly, I don't think I've lived up to that promise. So it's time to realign my goals and my emails!

So what does this mean for subscribers to this list?

I've got a few things you can do or not do to get only the emails you want! Streamline that inbox, girl.

1) There will be one main monthly email- like this one.

2) If you don't want to get any emails other than this one, you can click here and I'll opt you out of basically ALL email broadcasts from me other than the main monthly email.
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If you do opt out, that means no more emails about sales (both from Mama Shark and not from Mama Shark) unless you opt back into that specific sale (I'll give you that chance in these monthly emails).

3) I've added options for you to be able to Manage Your Profile to choose emails on just the topics you're interested in! The button for that lives at the bottom of every email so you can adjust those at any time.

I hope you all enjoy this new email format and theory. I'd truly love to hear your thoughts about this, so please feel free to reply and let me know what you think at any time! I'm hoping this email format will be a more enjoyable read that you look forward to each month.

Now onto the Pancake Story....

The Pancake Story

Once upon a time, I, Stephanie, decided to make pancakes. Sundays are my meal prepping evening, so I was planning on making a triple batch to last us at least a week or more.
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First, I made the gluten free pancake mix (I am gluten free even though the rest of my family isn't). The batter looked a little weird, but the recipe did say it would look lumpy, so oh well, on the griddle they went.

By this time, btw, I was SO hungry. So I was super looking forward to these pancakes. I pulled off those first few and after a few seconds of cooling, I put a bite in my mouth.

EW. It was like a combination of sucking on a lemon mixed with salt. It was BAD. I started running through the list of ingredients and steps in my head to think about what I had done wrong. I hadn't put in the wrong amount of salt, so why did it taste so salty and so completely NOT sweet?

I'm fine with a little imperfection in my cooking, so I cooked a few more thinking maybe there was just something weird in that one. But no, this one also taste like something rotten had died and then been baked into my pancakes. I couldn't even swallow the bite I took.
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I went into problem solving mode and couldn't think of anything I had missed or that was past it's date, so I decided I'd just have to throw out that triple batch and try again. I hate wasting, so that was so frustrating!

I started making up mix again, using up my last bag of oat flour (the flour called for for these pancakes) and I realized my mistake. I had been so deep in listening to my current favorite podcast, Blurry Creatures, talk about giants in the Caribbean that I had used baking SODA instead of baking POWDER. Whoops.

With a sigh, I mixed in the baking POWDER this time and whisked away at that next triple batch of pancakes. And then, only after it was mixed thoroughly, did I look again at the new measuring spoon I was using and realized that I had grabbed the Tablespoon instead of the Teaspoon.

I had put in TABLESPOONS instead of TEASPOONS of baking powder. So now I was faced with the decision to either throw it all out and forget the pancakes or attempt to improvise.

I knew a tablespoon is 3x a teaspoon, so rather than waste more mix and not have any pancakes to show for it, I decided to improvise.

Since I was now out of oat flour, I used some almond flour and some GF flour and a billion eggs and milk and SO MUCH butter along with some serious creativity with some big pans because apparently when you 9x a recipe it doesn't really fit in the bowl well and getting it mixed can be a challenge.

Then I was up past midnight making eleventy billion pancakes. Thankfully, they freeze well.

The end.

I'm sure I could draw out some deep parallels and life lessons about perseverance and creative problem solving and how it relates to mom life....but really I just wanted to tell you this story for a laugh and because you've probably been there too at some point- hope you enjoyed it. :)

How I Streamlined My Mom Life in January

And speaking of pancakes, here are some of the ways I streamlined my mom life this month:

• Batch cooking- yes, including the pancakes. I almost always make more than is needed for a meal when I cook. Sometimes it's to use as meals later in the week (yay less cooking), but I've also taken to freezing basically anything I can in our deep freezer so I can pull out some for later. In the case of the pancakes, I've now got pancakes I can pull out for breakfasts for a long, long time! And while I didn't intend to make quite that many at once, the principle of it is saving Future Stephanie time by not having to cook as often.
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• Practicing Patience- gonna be honest, my house is a disaster right now. We had a pipe bust in the wall and the way to access the pipe was through our closet, which means the closet in our bedroom has exploded into the rest of the house. And we don't have a ton of space, so let's just say I have a LOT packed into that closet and now...it's not in the closet. It's driving me bonkers. BUT being driven bonkers is not really very productive or a great mom skill, so I'm attempting to practice patience while we wait for the dehumidifier and my amazing fix-it-man husband to get it all repaired and put back together.
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• Better Sleep Schedule- not just how much but *when* you sleep has a lot to do with your ability to streamline your mom life (or at least it does mine). I find the key is not so much the time I get up as much as making sure I'm up before the kids and have some time to be quiet before the chattering and sibling fights start up for the day. It's so hard though- if anyone has tips or tricks on making getting up easier, please send them my way!

January Mom Hacks

I'm going to attempt putting three hacks, tips, or tricks in each of the monthly emails I send. So here's this month's!

1. Make a bunch of breakfast items at the beginning of the week (or whenever it works for you- but the point is make a bunch) so you can reheat and stick on a plate and be done to get the kids started for the day. Pancakes is a good one. :P
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2. When packing an extra set of kids' clothes, pack them in a large ziplock bag. That way if you've got dirty clothes they're changing out of, there's a place to put them that doesn't get other things messy.
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3. I love dry erase markers for so many things. Did you know you can write on a lot more than just dry erase boards with these? Think windows, the fridge, the dishwasher, the washing machine, even the bathtub! Just make sure you check on a small part before drawing all over it to make sure it doesn’t leave a stain behind on your particular appliance. Read more of what I do with dry erase in this article!

Coming Your Way

Here's the section where I'll let you know what sales and such I have coming up! I'll also include a little note if it's something you can opt in to learn more about.

• The Epic Mom Skills Collection- I've partnered with 22 other women to put together a bundle of 39 products (total value almost $1500) and we're offering it divided into 3 packages- one FREE and two at 97% off! It's got so much fun stuff in it, I hope you'll check it out! And if you join the Early Bird List you'll even get some bonus content emailed to you in the days before the sale opens on February 14th! This info will go out to the whole newsletter list, even if you opt out of sales emails (but with an opt out option in those emails). Then after if you've opted out of sales emails, you won't get any unless you opt in for that sale.

• The Kids Eat Real Food Picky Eating Challenge is coming up February 21st-28th and tickets are available now! This has been a really popular event that you all have said you liked a lot. Here's what to expect: ​
  ​You’ll never feel like saying, “I hate dinnertime,” again, and if you stick with us for 5 days and commit to making tiny changes, you’ll never say (or feel!) like you JUST want your kids to EAT what you make!
  • Go from frustrated to empowered in just 5 days
  • Invest 30 minutes a day to attend live (or catch the replay) and make ONE TINY CHANGE every day
  • Watch in amazement as power struggles at the table dissipate
  • Expect that your children -- even highly selective eaters -- will make at least one measurable improvement during the week, one step (or 17!) closer to expanding the number of foods they’re open to
  • Feel confident in HOW you serve foods and the words to use to create more safety feelings in your kids’ brains
  • Dial in snacktime so it serves everyone in the family, no complaining
  • Feel like your family is uniting around food at the dinner table, instead of fighting
  • The magic of setting the right HABITS around eating and food that make ALL the difference

Behind the Scenes at Mama Shark

• I'm creating a way for you to be able to see past monthly emails as they come out- stayed tuned!
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• I'm planning out the new Collections for Mama Shark for 2024!​

I hope you all have enjoyed this new (long but good???) email format. Let me know what you think- do you like it? Should it be shorter? More often? Take out a section? I want to hear!

P.S. Did you know that you can make money with Mama Shark? Become an affiliate for Collections by Mama Shark today and get paid to share about things like the Epic Mom Skills Collection, no matter what size your audience!