Meet Rachel! The Mom Behind Little Rock Moms Network
I was born in Nashville and grew up all over the South in Tennessee, Texas, and South Carolina. After high school I trekked 600 miles to Arkansas to attend Harding University where I met my husband freshman year in an economics study group (the only good thing that came out of that class). After college we moved to Little Rock, the hubby’s hometown, where I’ve worked in retail management.
In 2017 we welcomed our sweet little man Beckham to the Haynes family, and he has turned our world upside down every day since. In all the craziness of this past year we welcomed our second son, Harrison, to the crew who is the biggest blessing we could imagine through all this.
What are your favorite things to do with your kiddos?
I love to do anything creative. We have a blast doing crafts, painting, dance parties, and making up songs. Currently our number 1 activity is creating block towers/cities for our dinosaurs to live in and especially tear down!
What’s your least favorite mom job?
By far it is unloading the dishwasher! Nothing builds up faster than dishes, but putting them in the dishwasher makes the kitchen look shiny and clean… putting them up on the other hand is the bane of my existence.
What is your best mom hack that makes life easier?
Double sheeting the bed. I always put 2 sets of mattress covers and sheets on the bed; it makes for an easy clean up that doesn’t disrupt the night sleep for any accidents.
What’s one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
I don’t sweat. For real, I can’t sweat.
What are your favorite things to do in Little Rock?
With my little guys, we love to get out and do activities whether it’s the zoo, the Museum of Discovery, or the park. Anything that gets us out and moving you’ll find us there. With the hubby, we love to go see a show (theater or movies we love both!) or go out to eat! COVID has really put a damper on those options, but really just being able to spend some one on one time with him that doesn’t revolve around things we have to do is all we look for.
Self-care is so important as momma’s who give so much, what’s something you do just for yourself?
I really take time to try to get my workouts in. It’s a time to focus on my mind/body connection and not have to think about everything. I also take time for a ladies Bible study every week. This allows me a time to really refocus my priorities and connect with other women and discuss how to handle day to day life. Hopefully this will be back up and running soon!
When parenting gets hard, what’s something you tell yourself that gets you through?
To give myself grace. There’s room to mess up and learn and that’s how I become a better parent to my little guy. No one is perfect and that’s okay.
What’s the best piece of advise you’ve gotten from another mom?
My mom always reminds me that nothing is going to look as good/turn out as good as it did in my head. I dream big, and when I want to do things I like to go all out so when the result doesn’t measure up I can be hard on myself. So this always reminds me that just because something doesn’t turn out how I thought doesn’t mean it’s not great!
Name one thing you want your kids to look back on and remember about their childhood and you as their mom.
I want them to always know that I was and am there for them no matter what. I want to be the mom that shows up to all the things, cheers the loudest, and has a shoulder to cry on and an ear to listen.
What are your future plans and goals?
Well in the short term I’m working on implementing a “getting things done” method to help my time management in balancing everything I want to and actually getting it done. Long term I’m really looking forward to growing our momma community here in Little Rock and making great connections with more parents in the city.
That’s me in a nutshell! But if you want to know more, drop a comment and I’d love to connect with you!
