Self Care for the Busy, Tired Momma

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Self care is a pretty hot topic lately, right? It’s on magazine covers, Facebook articles, and Instagram influencers post about it frequently. It’s such a personal thing, though; what looks like self care for you is likely different than what it looks like for me. Whether you’re a mom of one kid or seven, you stay home full time or work a demanding job outside of the house, or are somewhere in the middle of them all, it is important to take care of yourself. After all, you’ve got important people depending on you to help care for them! 

Self Care for the Busy Mom on Albuquerque Moms Blog

You should know that I write this not as an expert in self care, but as a momma in desperate need of reminding. I have a preschooler and a toddler, a husband with a full time job, I do freelance work, and we own our own business as well! Free time is a rare and precious commodity in our life, and I am not always great at being intentional with the time I have. I do not enjoy feeling frantic and like I’m always forgetting something, either, so I’m trying to do better at slowing down. Here are just a few of the things that are helpful to me (when I make an effort to implement them, that is):

Eating and planning to eat. You would think that one of things that is most necessary in this life would not also be something we often forget to do, but it is. For you, being intentional might look like meal planning. It might look like packing your lunch when you know you’ll be out of the house most of the day. Being intentional for me often looks like ordering groceries so that even if I don’t have a great meal plan in motion, we’ll still have staples like fruits and veggies that can be packed for snacks, yogurt and applesauce pouches for my kids for their never-satisfied tummies, and bread, eggs, and milk so that we can always at least whip up breakfast for dinner.

Enjoy hobbies. Before I had kids, I loved to read books, sew, craft, and hang out with my friends. Those things are all challenging now, but not impossible! I don’t read many actual books these days, but I do listen to audiobooks and podcasts whenever I’m in the car by myself, and it is so good for my mental health. I also try to leave the house by myself once a week to do something for me, whether it’s meeting a friend for coffee, heading to the gym, or even to go see a movie by myself. These things are all life-giving for me and give me a mental reset.

Proper rest. This is probably what I struggle with most. I don’t know about you, but those quiet hours after my children go to bed feel so magical sometimes! It’s so easy to stay up way too late working, watching TV, or just scrolling through Instagram. If I stay up too many nights in a row, I’m grouchy and sleepy during the day, and definitely not very productive. By being disciplined enough to get enough rest, I’m likely to be kinder to those around me and feel better about myself; I’ll probably get more accomplished, too!

I hope you’ll join me in taking better care of ourselves, momma. I think that 2019 is going to be our year!