The baby is crying. The house is a mess. The laundry has been sitting in the wash for a week now and needs to be re-washed. The dishes are building up. Your hair is dirty and you’re wearing milk stained shirts. Exercise? What’s that?
This was me.
I felt so overwhelmed by everything my day brought and it left me EMPTY. After so many days that turned into weeks and months of an empty tank, I completely lost myself. I no longer had a sense of personal identity because I wasn’t giving any time to ME. Mama, don’t fall into this vicious cycle!
While being a mama is the best job ever and I know you wouldn’t trade it for the world, you still need balance in your life. You still need your identity aside from motherhood. You still need to care for yourself!
The best thing you can do to find time for yourself is to get your daily routine on a schedule and schedule time for YOU.
My favorite ME time is the 2 hours I have before my babies wake up. If you’re looking to improve your life, I strongly suggest waking up before your babies. It will completely rock your world in all of the best ways. I promise. Try it for a week and tell me you don’t feel good waking up and having time for just you before your babies wake up. Even if you just sit on the couch and drink coffee in silence, do it.
I also know that getting outside in the fresh air is an amazing way to make time for yourself.
Load those babies up in the stroller, get outside, and go for a walk. Bring your headphones and listen to some worship music, a podcast, or an audiobook, and ground yourself in nature and fresh air. Walks alone with my babies are some of my favorite times!
An extra fun way to get some time for yourself is to make a play date pact with other mamas you trust!
This is an amazing way to get away from your babies so you can go out and get your nails done, make that return to Target you’ve been needing to do, go through the Starbucks drive through, whatever it may be, this is a great option. Find 2-3 mamas you trust and you each take a day and time that you rotate watching each other's kids. So for example you take Lauren and Jenn’s kids Monday’s from 10am-12pm. During that time Lauren and Jenn have the freedom to run out and have some time to themselves while you have a fun playdate at your house. Then it rotates! Lauren takes everyone’s babies Wednesdays 10am-12pm and then you get your turn to go out alone to spoil yourself. It’s AMAZING. I also do this with friends for date nights with hubby!
Lastly, put your phone down.
Unless you work a job that requires you to be on your phone, stop the scroll and put it down. The time you spend scrolling is precious time you could be taking a shower (bring your babies into the bathroom and let them watch a show on a computer), getting a workout in, putting some makeup on or getting dressed for the day. When you’re sitting in front of a screen, you are most likely wasting time. Use this time to your advantage, mama!
I know it’s hard putting yourself first, but you are worth it! Haven’t you heard, happy wife, happy life? If mama is happy, everyone is happy. It’s ok to make time for yourself. No, you are not selfish. You are actually putting your baby's best interest in mind when you care for yourself. Take the time to do it, mama! Schedule it in!