I’ll be the first to admit when I became a mother, my “self” was the first thing to go. There was this new life I had to take care of and she consumed me. I even tried to find my natural shade of hair color so I would no longer need to go waste time and money getting highlights every 3 months again. Bayalage has since then saved my life requiring a touch up usually every 4-6 months for me depending on the time of year and events coming up. I did however start bootcamp classes after having Wylie but that was no where near enough.
After having Josiah, I was a mom of two and I had it in my mind I needed to take care of myself by taking supplements and keeping my regular hair appointments i was already having. I was doing online yoga also and trying to get as much sleep as possible. After my onset of post partum anxiety, I had some major decisions to make. I could just pop a pill everyday and go about my business, or I could pour more into self care and beat it, without drugs. I chose the latter, the expensive, all about me, time consuming latter. Why???? Because I love my children. I wanted them to have the BEST version of their mama around for a very long time. So while self care seems about me, it’s really not. See what I mean?
Here is a list of some types of self care ideas that range from being done daily, weekly, monthly and some that are free to costly to mix and match as your life allows.
- MOVE DAILY! A stroller walk, a solo walk, a jog, a dance party in the kitchen, yoga in your basement, hit the gym, hit the track. Find a way to fit it in, somewhere every single day. Having an apple watch (also self care IMO), can hold you accountable to fill those green rings every single day.
- Regular hair appointments. I would never schedule them ahead of time and I would eventually just be so sick of looking at my split ends or horrible coloring that I would scramble to last minutely make an appointment with anyone who fit into my schedule. I make my appointments every 3 months, 6 months in advance now and keep them. I schedule first thing on Saturday mornings. If something arises, I reschedule as soon as I know the conflict.
- Get plenty of sleep. Go to bed early! The dishes can wait or eventually your husband may get sick of looking at them and do them himself like mine did! Sleep train those babies, read the books, or use a sleep training service. I will never regret the sleep schedules I have done with my kids because when they are in their own beds by 8pm nightly, that gives me “ME TIME” or I just go to bed myself and wake up so rested. I also take naps on the weekend if I feel like I need one.
- Read a book, blog, take up a hobby. Find something that interests YOU and do it. Don’t forget to have interests outside of family/home/work.
- Regular vacations. Get away from it! Budget for it. Start gifting experiences and memories versus toys that end up in the donation pile next year.
- Regular date nights. This one took a while. I hate leaving my kids on the weekends. I usually pick weekends with a holiday on one end of it so I don’t feel so rushed to cram it all in. Finding a good babysitter is key to make it easier on yourself. Even if it’s just 2 hours away for dinner, movie, errands, do it.
- Massage/floating/acupuncture/facials: I maybe do this one once a year, but I think it’s crucial. You work hard mama! You deserve it.
- Good quality shoes. If you are hurting on your feet, that can be miserable. Invest in good shoes.
- A good soak. I love our jacuzzi bathtub. Usually on Sunday nights, I will draw a bath with epsom salt and essential oils and try to relax versus dreading the long week ahead.
- Grocery pick up, or even better DELIVERY via insta cart! I cannot recommend this one enough. I save so much time not driving to the store, shopping, checking out, bagging at aldi, loading, driving home, unloading then putting it all away. If you add kids into that mix, then oh boy. Worth every penny. I don’t impulse buy and again, time is priceless for a busy working mama. Unless you live right next to the store, this one is a no brainer to me. If you need an instacart code, send me a message!
- Wellness: good nutrient dense foods, vitamins, supplements, essential oils, etc. I will do a separate post on what all I take soon, but I definitely think these are on that list. Yes, the good stuff can add up, but it’s vital to your health. You can have more energy, sleep, and feel better all in all which makes you more efficient in your roles at home and work, missing less time at work, and not having to run to the doc in the box, take prescriptions etc. This goes for getting them for your children too, because taking care of sick kids is not fun. At all.
So there are a few ways you can maybe start to implement some self care into your life. There are probably way more that I could touch on, but these are the big ones for me. If you don’t take care of yourself, you cannot take care of anyone else. Read that again.
Love your guts,
April
The Gut Gospel 