Mom life is wonderful……and also exhausting!!!

I remember the first time I heard about self-care I thought, how on earth can I take special time out of my day for myself when I can barely take care of my kids.
Which Is why I am writing to you about 5 Simple Self Care Tips For Busy Moms.

My goal in this post is to offer practical, affordable, ways to take care of yourself as a mom so you can better pour into those around you.

After many years of self-neglect which led to health issues, depression, and resentment, I have come to realize the importance of taking care of yourself.

But it is not easy when you have a husband that works insane hours and three tiny humans under three.

I use to read about self-care and feel overwhelmed because so many people complicate it. 

Self-care is not supposed to be stressful.

But I think it’s important to remember that it looks different for everyone. While I do believe in respecting other mamas view of self-care, I have come to realize that a lot of tasks considered self-care just wouldn’t work for my lifestyle.

As I mentioned before, my husband works insane hours, and I have three small kids that depend on me for everything. Literally EVERYTHING.

There is absolutely NO way I could incorporate a luxurious routine of self-care in my day. 

Simply put, I don’t have time to always have my hair done, nails perfectly manicured, be caught up on the latest show on Netflix, get a facial and massage, and head out on a weekend trip with my girlfriends.

That’s just not real life for me.

When I had my first baby, I was drowning in motherhood and often didn’t have time to brush my teeth let alone shower.

I slowly started to drift into a depression. I felt forgotten by the world and started to resent being a mom.

I recognized my issues and decided to take action of my life.

After all, I was “Living the Dream” but it kind of seemed like a nightmare at the time.

The first step I took to better myself was to start taking care of myself. After all…

“Taking care of yourself is part of taking care of your kids”

I started by identifying 5 Simple Self Care Tips For Busy Moms.

These are tasks that helped me feel better about myself, be healthier, and enabled me to give back more abundantly.

Friend, you cannot pour from an empty glass. 

1. Make sleep a priority

I know this is SO hard for moms especially with little kids. But you cannot expect to operate through life without getting a minimum of 6 hours of sleep. 8 is actually the recommended amount of sleep for most people.

Before I had my first baby, I didn’t even explore the option of having a baby that didn’t sleep.

I had never even heard of babies not sleeping ( apparently I lived under a rock). Low and behold our first baby was the absolute worst sleeper of all my kids and maybe of every baby on earth.

She did not sleep more than 2 hours straight for an entire year. I remember the first time I was able to get a solid amount of sleep.

I woke up I felt like a new person!

EveryDay Health suggests that a person between the ages of 26-64 years of age should be getting 7-8 hours of sleep per night

While the Health Day suggests that new moms lose about 350 hours of sleep at night over her baby’s first year.

2. Drink Water For Pete’s Sake!!

It boggles my mind that so many moms don’t drink enough water. There is literally no excuses not to.

Drinking the right amount of water has so many amazing health benefits and can dramatically improve your overall health. 

It will make you feel so much better, I promise!

They say you should drink half a gallon per day, but I say a full gallon. Give it a try. But you HAVE to be consistent.

Make it a goal to drink a tall glass of water each morning before you put anything else in your body. 

3. Take Supplements

The old me thought that supplements were for old people. The 30-year-old, had three kids in three years me thinks that supplements are the greatest thing of all time!!

I realize this can be incredibly overwhelming because there are so many options on the market. Do your research, and talk to someone you trust.

Like the majority of Americans, you are probably lacking nutrients which can lead to sleep deprivation, depression and many other health issues.

Trust me, it is worth the investment.

I personally take fish oil, a probiotic, and magnesium every day. I find they make a huge difference in how I feel. 

4. Get Dressed EVERY SINGLE DAY.

This is always the first step that goes when I start to get sucked into the stay at home mom black hole of despair.

When you’re home all day with the kids, It’s so much easier to stay in your pajamas or yoga pants all day. DON’T DO IT!!!

Taking 5 minutes for a quick shower, brush your teeth, and put on REAL CLOTHES. It always makes me feel so much better.

Make this a daily practice.

5. Guard your mind.

If you take anything away from this post, please take this point. The Bible talks about the adversary walking about seeking whom he may devour I Peter 5:8.

Stay at home moms are a HUGE target. It’s so tempting to think you don’t matter, everyone has forgotten about you, or you’re doing a terrible job. I’ve been there.

Those thoughts will lead you down a dark path if you allow them to.

The Bible also talks about casting down evil imaginations and bringing every thought into captivity. II Corinthians 10:5.

You need to make it a priority to train your mind to think about what is true, honest, just, and of good report. Phil 4:8.

You are and become your thoughts. I cannot stress the importance of guarding your thought life. Read Proverbs 23:7 “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: ”

I want to be real in saying that there have been times in my life when I couldn’t even do this simple list of tasks to take care of myself.

When I had three kids under the age of three, I was DROWNING in life and desperate.

So if you’re feeling overwhelmed, just start with one task on this list and slowly incorperate the others over time.

But you have to make a commitment to do it every single day.

Long-term consistency beats short term intensity. 

This is not a magical list that will make all your problems go away. But it is a really great step in the right direction to bettering yourself for you and your family.

I hope you found value in this post and would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below! <3

Next, check out…Bedtime Routine Ideas For Toddlers That Won’t Take Hours. 

Because in order to start getting enough sleep, your kids need to as well <3

xoxox

Colleen