When Mom Life Takes Over You
There are a lot of things I have given up on since becoming a parent. Things that just slip away because I don’t have time anymore. As much as I want to look like I just walked out of an Instagram filter and my home to look like everything I find on Pinterest, I don’t have the energy to do so. My kids have drained that from me. I’ve lived life more simple since I’ve had children because they don’t need me to wear makeup or have their house looking fancy. They don’t purposely take all these things away, but we as moms just don’t put in as much effort because the ending result is usually your hair being a mess anyway or your freshly decorated wall having fuckin crayon marks up and down them or if you have kids like mine they go big and use permanent marker. However, I try little things here and there to not make myself look like I’ve given up on life just because I’ve had children. We as moms still want to feel beautiful and we want to feel good about our homes. Realistically, we have to feel good in some ways to accomplish anything. So I made a list of a few things we can do to just give us some life back in our own lives. Use a Face Mask
I just recently started doing this. I try to at least once a week and it isn’t anything special. I go to Kroger and buy the single packs for $1.49 and they make me feel like I am getting rid of the stress from my life. Some masks make my skin feel so much better. It’s like a mini spa in my bathroom. I know my kids don’t give a shit about the wrinkles they have given me or the gray hair, but I care. The $1.49 masks make me feel like I’m accomplishing something for me and it’s the little things.
Decorate your Room
I also just recently did this. Our rooms are where we hide and relax away from our kids. Why not have the room look the way we want it? I feel better when my room looks the way that I want it. We decorate our houses depending on our kids behavior. We don’t put pictures on walls they run into, we don’t put flowers on end tables, and we keep books high so we aren’t constantly picking up books off the floor when our kids turn into tyrants and throw them all off. But our room is just that OURS. I have a tapestry hung up over my window and pictures of things hung up on the walls. I have a wall decal over my bed and I’m way more relaxed in my room. Nobody wants to fall asleep looking at blank walls. In my opinion it just feels so much better to have your room reflecting yourself. The real you. The you before you had kids. The real you buried under Mom life.
Put something together
My husband and I recently went to Ikea and bought furniture for the house. He put together the bunk beds and we bought two mini coffee tables. Well I decided to put one together and I did it all on my own. I felt extremely accomplished. Now when I look at that table I think “yeah I did that shit” it’s the little things and the little achievements in life.
Make Dinner for One
Dinner time with the kids is stressful. You always feel like you’re shoveling food down your throat, constantly up and down from the table getting drinks or seconds for the kids, saying “eat your food” a billion times, and it’s just really stressful. Have you ever just decided to make dinner for the kids, wait for them to go to sleep, then make what you want and eat in peace? I did this recently and it was so relaxing. Nobody to yell at, nobody eating off my plate, and my food was actually hot while I ate it. I’m not saying to do this every dinner or to leave your significant other out of the mix, but you should try it. I promise it will just make you feel good.
Get Yourself Together
Pick out an outfit that isn’t sweatpants, do your hair, have your nails and eyebrows done, and go along with your day. Your kids will not care what you look like, but you will. By the end of the day your outfit will probably have snot on it, your hair will end up in a messy bun, but your eyebrows and nails will still be looking good.
I’m not saying to do these things every day, but I am saying to do these things once in a while for yourself. Just because you’ve become a mother doesn’t mean that you have to give up on yourself. You shouldn’t. I’m guilty of letting myself go. Sleep deprivation has gotten the best of me, crayons on the wall has taken my motivation from me, and most days you won’t see me with a bra or clothes that match. And that’s ok. Sometimes you just need a pick me up, a sense of accomplishment, or a feel good moment to make it through the week.