"A mom’s satisfaction with her life is more important to a young child’s social and emotional skills than her education, income or job status."
Focusing on the right things
Last week at 26 weeks pregnant my nausea returned, I started to experience extreme headaches, and I felt like all of a sudden I was riding an emotional hormonal rollercoaster. So instead of focusing on what I needed to do to feel better (like taking time to rest, calling my doctor to discuss my feelings of depression, and change my acid reflux medicine), I started obsessing over everything I had been neglecting. I worried about about practicing letters more with my five year old, and colors with my two year old, and how many unanswered emails I'd allowed to build up. One night while lying in bed I read the quote above on Bel & Beau's feed and I realized that no matter how many emails I answered, or how many letters I taught my children, none of that would mean anything if I wasn't first taking care of myself.
Take time to open the mail
One of the strongest memories I have of my mom as a kid is watching her open the mail in the afternoons in our family room. A few times a week after work and carpools and before making dinner she would sit down, put her feet up, turn on her favorite news program and open the mail. I know she had a million things to do, but most days she took time to do something that she really loved. For just 20-30 minutes she relaxed and recharged, something we often feel guilty about doing.
My mom is one of the most accomplished people I know. She's a mother of 5, author and teacher but in the end what really matters to me is that she is completely happy with her life. Her satisfaction even during difficult times for our family was the way she always kept our home filled with love and peace. She believes in taking time to take care of herself, to relax, do things she loves, treat herself, and she is great at letting go when things aren't 100% perfect. She is sincerely satisfied with herself and this made it possible to bring that happiness to the life of those she cared for.
How are you doing? Here are some questions to ask:
So, today during this week of love here is a little self assessment quiz for you to take to see if you are satisfied with the life you are living. I know that as parents of young children we don't always have control over everything in our lives. Our children's challenges, financial situation and so much more are often out of our control. But, I do believe there are a lot of things we can daily incorporate into our lives to add satisfaction even during challenging times. I hope through this self assessment you'll find a vision of how you can better care for yourself so you are more equipped to care for those you love.
- Are you satisfied with your life as a mom?
- What areas of your life do you feel unsatisfied with?
- What are three things you can do to take care of yourself better mentally, physically and emotionally?
- How do you think those three things will help you feel more satisfaction as a mother?
Sending love to you and your little ones! You are doing a GREAT job mama. You are caring for those you love and giving your all, and your family is lucky to have you!
xx
Andrea
P.S. This is one of the many installments in our #tubbytoddsoapbox series. This series is intended to do the exact same thing as our Tubby Todd products — they're meant to help you love and nurture your little ones! Each post focuses on the best way to take care of yourself as a parent because I whole heartedly believe that when we are taking care of ourselves we will be more capable of taking care of our little ones.
Thanks for reading along! Be sure to check out some of the other posts in our series:
#tubbytoddsoapbox Second trimester looks for the growing belly
#tubbytoddsoapbox What to wear when pregnant but barely showing
#tubbytoddsoapbox Get some rest!
Source for quote: http://www.babble.com/kid/what-does-it-take-to-raise-happy-kids/
