Tuesday, March 22, 2011

taking care of... you

Any mother of young children will tell you it is hard to take care of the one person that needs care desperately. It has been so challenging for me to learn this lesson - that I need to care for ME. I knew it in my head, but practically speaking, it just didn't happen. So I had to be intentional. Here are a few of the steps I have taken recently to invest in myself.

  • painted my toenails bright pink... summer is coming, right?
  • organized my closet (see previous post)
  • worked on enjoying the activities that I actually enjoy (reading, writing) rather than ones I wish I enjoyed (baking, shopping).
  • fresh air time, walking the dog, outside play with the girls
  • make sure that I feed myself breakfast first thing in the morning in order to have energy for nursing and everything else in the day.
  • get a shower every morning
  • get out by myself once a week
  • keeping date night a priority

Getting out by myself has been the most difficult. Tim is amazing, and has been supportive of the changes I've made for myself, but Lila is demanding. She often gets herself into fits of crying (especially when I am not readily available). So we've made it work, and it's not been easy. Last time, he took the girls out in the stroller and they had a long walk in the fresh air. It was good for everyone, including Ava! (Or especially for Ava, she is now getting some exercise and attention.)

These things may seem pretty obvious, but when you have demanding children and a busy household often the person that does not get proper care is the mama. It's okay to take care of yourself. It's important to care for yourself.

What do you do to take care of YOU? Let's share some ideas!

1 comment:

  1. This is a fantastic reminder! Thank you, Pamela...I don't have any "me" time, except for my afternoon cup of tea, but I'm definetly going to put some thought into this.

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