Once you have children and your priorities shift. Before you never had to worry about anybody but yourself, and now virtually every waking thought you have is about your kids. Making sure they are healthy, happy and content is all you ever seem to think about, but what about you?
How often do you stop and think about you, and how often do you look after yourself? A lot of the time women and moms have been conditioned to think that looking after themselves is something bad, when in truth it is not. You need to look after your own mental health! Without taking care of yourself, ultimately it will affect your children. How? Without being at your best, you can’t be the best mother. So start taking action. Put yourself in a positive place where your mental health comes alongside the care of your children. When you value your importance and worth so do others around you. And you are leading by example and teaching your children to take care of themselves.
You Are Super Important
Without you your children would struggle to become well rounded people. Your children need you, and they need you more than you will ever know. Because they need you, it is important that you look after yourself. If your mental health and well-being becomes affected as a result of never focusing on your own needs, then you will not be in the best position to parent your children. Of course we want our children to thrive! Make sure you look after yourself now so you feel better, can parent better, AND set an example of self-care for your children.
How You Feel and Act Will Affect Your Kids
As children get bigger and older you cannot always hide things from them. They will be able to see your emotions and infer your feelings whether you want them to or not. Your children will be able to process what you are going through, and they will be able to see and feel everything that you feel. If your children are anything like my children, they have an incredible sense of empathy. Depending on what you are feeling, that may or may not be a positive thing. You want your children to be strong, courageous and as independent as possible, so do not let your feelings get the better of you. Teach your children to acknowledge and respect their feelings – to handle them in a healthy mature way, by talking to them and showing them what to do. I try this especially when I am upset or stressed. By naming the emotion and talking through regulating it, you are modeling for your children. They can learn healthy ways of emotions, not suppressing their feelings or letting them get out of hand.
Give Yourself Some Time to Refresh and Rejuvenate
When you are rushing around and not looking after yourself you are slowly fading and losing that spark that makes you feel like YOU. Give yourself time to rejuvenate and refresh. Try things to get your stress out. Creative hobbies like crafting, cooking/baking, or exercising, meditating, or reading are wonderful ways to help you complete that stress cycle and uplift your spirits. If those don’t work, you can try using a hemp supplement from Vape CBD World may benefit you or a CBD drink. They can help you attain that sense of calm and rejuvenation. As well as supplements, it is important to look at getting some downtime, so have a long hot bubble bath, watch that movie you have wanted to see for ages or get started on a new book. Do something for yourself that benefits you and leaves you feeling rejuvenated!