There are already a lot of articles out there about taking care of yourself, but they don’t seem to me to get very deep into why we need to set aside time to focus on caring for ourselves. There are plenty of options offered on self care, but they often seem superficial leaving me to wonder “how is wearing mascara more often than I did before having kids supposed to help me feel more in tune with my true self?” So, rather than rattling off the same old list that practically every women’s magazine has put out repeatedly, I’ve come up with my favorite reasons to pamper myself. Later, I will list out my current & old favorite ways to pamper myself in order to resolve my reasons.

If I’m yelling at my children, it’s usually because I’m too exhausted to speak rationally with them about why leaving a metal fork on a plate placed in the microwave is still not a good idea or why jackets shouldn’t double as rugs. If my children are eating too much sugar and running around the house like maniacs, it’s usually because I’m not paying much attention to what I’m eating, either. If my kids are cranky and constantly arguing, it’s usually because I forgot to force them to drink enough water over the past 24 hours &/or ignored the fact that they stayed up an extra hour goofing off when they were supposed to be in bed already. If anything is going wrong with my children, it’s usually due to some lack of focus, patience, attention, anticipation, sleep, water, food, general energy &/or supernatural ability on my part. Besides, if we continue ignoring our bed times & nutritional needs, eventually our health will fail us for lack of proper care. At the ages of 10 3/4 and 8 11/12 they hate taking responsibility for their own actions so it still falls to me, because I’m Mom.

Nothing is one-size-fits-all, not even the amount of water people should drink each day to maintain healthy hydration. So, please know that what works for me won’t necessarily work for you, but it can be fun trying something different for a few days. Here are my favorite reasons to take a break for self care:

1. Yelling, by any or all of us
2. Unkind name-calling
3. General grumbling
4. Whining
5. Forgetfulness
6. Time is too fast for me
7. Nothing I say is making a dent
8. Nothing really makes sense to me
9. I just feel like crying
10. I’m too anxious &/or filled with dread to sleep well

Any two of the above issues converging may cause an intense urge to strangle the precious babies we worked so hard to make or adopt. Taking proper care of ourselves removes an astonishing amount of stress, anxiety, fear and even guilt. Being good to ourselves reminds us to keep an eye on how we treat people around us. Stay tuned for the list of self care strategies I’ve found helpful against these common difficult situations. Have a glass of water, take some calming breaths, do your best to get to sleep on time, and check out our older posts while you wait, this may take a few days.

Self Care: How

Mama, You Have Earned That Tired