To Be a Good Mom, you Need to Take Care of YOU First!

Hello everyone,

I hope that when you read this post, you are keeping safe and healthy. 

This morning, I worked out. I have been fortunate to have our personal trainer provide us with online training sessions. It has been a great way to keep fit during this pandemic. It also has been a great blessing to keep me strong and fit.

I remember, when I was not a mom, that I would always tell other moms to take care of themselves. Most often, they would reply that it was hard to find time for themselves. I could imagine that being true, but never fully understood it until I became a mom.

With one kid, it's easy to still find time for yourself. When you start to bring in more - it gets a little more tricky. Kids work on a schedule but they don't work on each other's schedule... so, when you may try to have them both nap at the same time, but that never goes well.

You try to get anytime to yourself - I know of moms who would take up to three showers so they could have time alone...yikes! and it is hard - even more when you have small children. Trust me, there is no horror movie can depict the fear a mom gets when she is finally trying to pee and she sees little hands under the door - just writing it is making the hair on the back of my neck stand up!!

And as difficult as it is to find that time, you just have to. It can be five minutes, it can be fifteen minutes or even an hour (that is a ROYAL TREAT!!), you just need to find it. If you have to put it in your planner, DO IT! If you need to make sure that all children are asleep, DO IT. During that time, no matter the amount of time you have, do something FOR YOU. 

DO NOT USE TIME TO YOURSELF TO DO THE FOLLOWING:

1) laundry

2) dishes

3) cleaning

4) picking-up things

5) meal planning, or any other house chore

Time to yourself is to be used solely on YOURSELF. So, give yourself a face mask, a bath, a shower, painting your toes, reading that book you have wanted to read for the longest time, or anything that gives you a sense of peace and calm.

Moms - if you don't take care of YOU, you will not be able to deal with others. You will not be a good mom, wife, daughter, sister, cousin, aunt - because you will run yourself dry and you will spread yourself so thin that you will become angry, resentful and just wanting to take your car and go...just go! You don't care where you go you just want to go!

Before that happens, give yourself that time to regenerate and refresh. Trust me, when you do, it will be worth it. You will feel like you can take on whatever your kids throw at you. You will also start making it more of a habit to take care of you. 

Is it selfish? no - you take care of everyone else and who takes care of you? Yeah, exactly! I don't care how great your husband is, if you don't take care of you, no one else will. 

Are you overtired? feeling depleted? just wanting to get away - let's share and build our community.

Until my next post, keep safe and healthy. Let's stop the spread of Covid-19, but let's never stop spreading kindness.

SM