Becoming a first time mom at 34 years old was not what I had expected. When I envisioned myself as a mom, I was in my mid-twenties, I had the energy to run around with my kid and even considered having a second kid. Why not try for one of each gender? Sadly after a few years of trying to conceive, my exhusband was tested and found to be sterile. Talk about throwing a wrench in the grand Mommy plan.
Now I'm here, 36 years old, with a 2 year old who is driving me crazy as well as wearing me down! I have a hard time keeping up with her. I'm struggling to find myself again. I always seem to have a laundry list of things to do every day (sometimes laundry is literally on that list) and barely get half the list complete.
Waking up between 5am and 5:30am is the only way I can accomplish a lot of my daily to-dos but what happens when I oversleep (per usual)? I have to find the balance of working my online coaching business and mom mode. I tell myself the following regularly:
I'll workout when she naps (she doesn't nap during the day anymore).
I'll meal prep before she wakes up in the morning (oops I overslept).
I'll get all my work done in less than 2 hours (oops...again...I overslept).
So how do I find the balance? Get up to my alarm for starters right? How do I do that? I go to bed at a decent time to get closer to 7-8 hours of sleep instead of 5.5-6 hours. When I get enough sleep, I can get up to the 5:30am alarm, get all my work done in less than 2 hours, do meal prep and have plenty of time to work on other training before I swap places with my husband so he can do his grad school work and I can go into mom mode.
Lets dive more into balance though. I get those things done but then I'm still struggling to find myself. I need to find time for me. I can lock myself in the bathroom, take a bath, put on a face mask, listen to my daughter scream at the door because she can't get in. That's not relaxing. Going to get a pedicure is out of the question for now. Going for a walk alone gives me a chance to clear my head but it never seems to be long enough. Massages have to be done with a mask. This pandemic has put a huge damper in the ways that women view self care.
Turning your house into a spa with a crazy little rugrat running around isn't ideal. I would love to hear some recommendations on what you're doing at home to create a calming environment that allows you to temporarily escape. Please let them in the comments below!
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