Do you ever find yourself being so exhausted at the end of a long day that you just crawl into bed and call it a night?
Motherhood is exhausting, whether you have a newborn or a teenager. Everyone has different needs and life doesn’t seem to get any easier as the children get older.
Being a mom is TOUGH!. You have so many things to think about and a lot on the go. Your time is valuable and self-care is at the bottom of your list.
I get it. I’m a busy mom too, but I’ve learned something recently and I want to share it with you.
Have you ever taken a flight before? If you haven’t, there is a routine that the flight attendants run through before the plane takes off.
The safety procedure in an emergency states that you must put on your mask before assisting others.
This same concept applies to daily parenting too. If you don’t apply your safety mask (i.e., self-care) first, then how will you be able to properly care for your children without feeling burnt out?
Read on to find out why self-care is so important and get my best tips on self-care for the exhausted mommy:
Why Self Care Is Important
According to a recent study, moms work an average of 98 hours per week. That’s equivalent to 2.5 full-time jobs.
It’s no wonder we are all so exhausted!
Whether you’re a stay at home mom, a work from home mom, or a work outside the home mom – you’re working extra hard around the clock to make sure your family is well taken care of.
Moms take care of midnight bed wetting, dream feeding, nightmare soothing and so much more. Usually in the wee hours of the morning before the sun gets up for the day.
Not to mention the brainpower required to remember all the appointments, hot lunch days, activity dates times and bills, all special occasions, etc.
Does your brain hurt yet? Because moms have so much on the go all the time, we need more sleep than the men in our lives.
To avoid exhaustion and burnout, you can create a self-care plan. It can help ease some of the burdens of motherhood so you can give your full attention to parenting your kids.
Creating a self-care plan can help you become a more patient and positive parent. When you take care of yourself, you’ll have the power and patience to be the parent you want to be.
Creating A Self Care Plan
There are a few different ways you can start to take care of yourself daily. You have physical needs, physiological needs and emotional needs to fill daily.
Physical needs include getting your blood pumping through walking outside, running on the treadmill or doing a fun work-at-home workout in the living room.
Your psychological needs important too. You can fill in the psychological gaps by reflecting in a journal, meditating or reading a good book.
Don’t forget about your emotional needs! You can fulfill those by chatting with a friend over coffee or on the phone or joining a book club.
Whatever your self-care needs may be, make sure that you fill up on activities that are joyful for you. If you’re not a regular runner, then don’t force yourself to run. Do what you love and what makes you happy.
When you take care of your own needs, you’re going to feel so good and be the parent you’ve always dreamed of being.
To keep up with your self-care, write out a plan and keep it in a spot where you can see it daily. Some ideas are on the bathroom mirror on a sticky note, your daily agenda or on the fridge. Place your plan wherever you think you’ll see it every day.
To keep your self-care plan going, make sure you stick to your plan. If you’re having trouble sticking to your self-care plan, then perhaps it’s time to reassess and modify your plan to something that you can stick to.
It doesn’t have to be complicated either! Don’t overthink your self-care plan.
Actions To Add To Your Self Care Plan
Here are some ideas you can use to include in your self-care plan.
- Journalling
- Planning (Writing your to-do list in an agenda)
- Listening to music
- Enjoying a hot drink (Tea, Hot Chocolate, Coffee)
- Coffee with friend
- Brain dump (write down all your thoughts on a piece of paper and get it off your mind)
- Go for a walk
- Volunteer
- Do a small chore that’s been bothering you
- Write down goals
- Write down things you’re grateful for
- Binge watch some TV
- Take a bath
- Cook something new
- Take a painting class
- Play an instrument you’ve been neglecting
- Organize family photographs
- Do something new and exciting once a month (like indoor rock climbing or geocaching)
Self Care Will Lead You To Be The Best Mommy You Can Be
I hope I was able to convince you that self-care is very important. It’s not just a trend.
I know that self-care is super popular, especially if you’re on social media and you see everywhere you look ads for self-care spa days and drinks with friends.
However, self-care isn’t just about just these activities. Self-care starts a lot smaller. It starts with you, thinking about yourself and putting your needs ahead of others.
And if you can put your needs above others, then you’ll be able a happier person in general, which leads to a happier parenting experience.
Parenting when you’re happy and calm is much easier than when you’re exhausted and at the end of your rope.
I’m all about positive parenting and I truly believe that it’s the best way to teach children values that will help them be amazing people when they grow up.
So what are you waiting for? Go make a plan, take care of yourself.
You’ve got this, momma.
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