Take a Break!
Hi there!
If you’re anything like me, you probably get exhausted pretty quickly. I know I do! Parenting can be incredibly draining. That’s why self-care and wellness are absolutely essential to keeping your sanity and peace within the home!
Parenting (and life itself) is a journey. As hard as it is to hear, it’s ultimately up to you whether your journey is one of peace or one of struggle and stress. I’m not saying you can magically change your circumstances, but your mindset will be the key to setting the tone of your journey.
You might be asking yourself if I’m “full of it” at this point. But the truth is, I have come dangerously close to a breaking point before I slowly realized this truth. Like all the cliches out there, I found that peace does come from within. No one can bring you to it, or make you find it. It’s something you have to figure out and find all on your own.
That might sound daunting, but in my case, it made me realize that I really never knew who I was before I had kids and certainly didn’t know who I was now. I’m not going to lie, it took a few years for me to feel like I wasn’t clinging to the edge of a sheer cliff. It took me giving myself the time to sit quietly and ask myself “who am I?” I know it sounds easy, but it wasn’t. Not when I really got down to it. If I stripped away all of my roles: wife, mother, daughter, sister, etc. What was left? What made me……me? I couldn’t even write down what I liked to do for fun. I had been so busy with work and my kids, I couldn’t even remember the last time I had any fun.
If you’re at that point, then you have already found the first thing you need to do….FIND TIME FOR FUN!
Going to the grocery store or running errands doesn’t count! Some of you may be thinking you can’t afford to have any fun (as I have been super broke and didn’t have any money to spare). If this is you, write down a list of fun things you could do that are free. If you have plenty of cash laying around, pick something that you would enjoy. I will say, try not to have your activity include buying things. In my experience, retail therapy has always filled me with a bigger void after I get home and the excitement of new things has disappeared.
I would suggest doing some kind of activity that would create a fun memory. This can be alone, with a friend, or family. However, a word of advice…..if you REALLY need a break and want to try this out, I would suggest finding a trustworthy babysitter so you can relax and let your “parent” job take a breather.
Find something you like to do and enjoy it again!
Why do I suggest this? Because I did this! I wanted to do something fun, so I would take along my kids. Then 95% of the time, one of the kids would go belligerent and the entire outing would turn into a stress factory which only made things worse. So please, learn from my experience and plan something with someone who is easy going or just go by yourself!
Find a space that “calls to you” and creates a sense of peace and go there often!
