To Moms: Self-Care is an Awesome Way to Take Care of Your Whole Family

(Inside: Moms self-care matters. It doesn’t just benefit moms, it benefits the whole family. Be brave enough to take care of yourself.)

I decided to actually practice self-care

This is hard for me.

My type-A brain urges me to go, go, go, and always do just a little bit more.

Freight speed style.

I had a day when I was home from work and my boys were in school. I could’ve filled the whole day doing all the things, but I didn’t. At least not like usual. I switched laundry and put some freezer meals together, but when that clock hit noon, I’d pre-decided it was me-time.

Without guilt.

I did what I wanted to do at that exact moment which was read a book for a while and write for a little more.

It felt amazing. 

You see last year, I struggled. Could-barely-breathe struggled because I was over-committed.

But, I did it to myself. I didn’t want to miss out. So many great ways to spend our family’s time. So I added. And added some more. With every new responsibility I precariously stacked on my plate, it happened – I lost a little of my sanity. I chased the elusive perfectionism…then reminded myself to stop…briefly did…then picked up the chase again.

Then in a conversation, my husband shared this article with me. As I read about this college football coach, I saw a piece of myself in his story.

In the article about a college football coach, it says, “He’s talking about how, from 2005-2010, his Florida teams won two national championships and he was as successful in every American way a man could imagine. But he was miserable.”

He pushed and pushed himself, never giving any time or self-care. His wife continually talked to him about it, but he bulldozed on until one day he felt like he was having a heart attack. As they looked into it, they uncovered it was more OCD giving him chest pains. (OCD in always being the best as a football coach, among other things.)

His health told him loud and clear that he started paying attention to self-care.

So he did.

Exercise.
Time away.
Focusing on things that refuel him.
And what’s important. 

He worked really hard to realize that he can’t be perfect.

The article goes on to say, “To that end, Urban is obsessed not with being perfect, but with preparing himself for the fact that he never can be.”

My personal takeaway was: The frantic chase of perfectionism negatively affects your health. By the end of the read, I felt even more determined to include regular rest into my life this year.

So, I’ve followed suit and added me-time to my schedule.

I probably won’t always prioritize like this. There might be seasons when it makes sense even not to; the busy is giving me life, and I love it. But not right now. Instead, I feel called to create margin in my schedule, and I’m so happy that’s what I’m doing.

I feel brave.

And like a good mom for taking care of myself.

I feel my racing-brain slowing and my patience level rising. I see myself better enjoying the present.

And I see my family benefitting from it. 

I hope I’m always courageous enough to realize when, in this do-more culture, I actually need to do less.  I hope you are too.

Because taking care of ourselves as moms is one way we take care of our family.

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Your brain bounces between your day at work, what time(s) your kids need to be at practice, your teen’s missing school assignments, that you haven’t called your mom lately, the load of the laundry to be switched, “What’s for dinner?” and “Why are 3 of my brain-tabs frozen?” 

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