Listen up, mamas…this year I need for you to do more for yourself. Yes, I know you’re looking at this post like, “She doesn’t know me. She doesn’t know my life.” You’re right, I don’t. But I do know that 9 out of 10 moms don’t do enough for themselves.
I totally made those statistics up but something tells me that they may be true. I’m so not here to judge you, mama, because I totally get this. Motherhood is so incredibly consuming and oftentimes we forget about ourselves. Our babies and our significant others, our jobs and our homes require so much and we don’t mind giving it all up but at the end of the day what’s left for us?
Very little.
This is what needs to change. Let’s change that this year. Let’s make it so that we matter. Let’s invest more time into doing things for ourselves. Doing more for us doesn’t mean that everything else suffers. It simply means that the most important person in your life (YOU) matters. Plus, you can’t be your greatest to everyone else if you aren’t actively caring for and loving yourself.
But you knew this, right? So here are some ways you can do more for yourself.
- Spend 20 minutes a day reading a book in the car.
- Wake up 10 minutes earlier and thoroughly cleanse and massage your skin.
- Find a therapist and see them monthly.
- Take a walk before the kids wake up or do yoga after they’ve gone to bed.
- Take yourself on a weekly or monthly date.
- Start journaling and write a few sentences every night.
- Write positive affirmations on your mirror so that you can be reminded of how great you are.
- Treat yourself to something new EVERY month.
- For every one item you buy your kids, buy something for yourself.
- Dance when no one is around. Every day. Shoot, dance while they’re watching.
- Take a nap. Shut it all down and take a nap.
- Hire a photographer and go on a photoshoot where the subject is you. And just you.
- Schedule “Mom’s Time” on the calendar. Do whatever you want during that time but let your family know how important it is.
- Hang out with or talk to at least one girlfriend at least once a week. Maintaining good friendships can do so much for you as they can for said friend.
- Say “no” more often. You may hurt feelings but sometimes doing more for yourself may mean doing less for others.
- Take up a new hobby or skill.
Promise me that you’ll at least try to do one thing from that list. You deserve it, mama. Let’s start 2016 off with a bang and work on not only being even more dynamic parents but also loving and celebrating us more often. Who’s with me?
Most realistic self help list I’ve ever read! Going to do at least some of these this year. Love
I’ll be checking in with you monthly to ensure that you’re doing some of the things on this list, missy. 😉