Mamas as a rule are always busy! It's pretty much unavoidable with little ones running around the place all the time and all the supervision and care they need to thrive. However always being available and 'on' can be a pretty stressful situation, especially long term. Luckily though, there are a few ways that you can get a grip on the burdens of life that can help ease the stress a little. Read on to find out what they are.
Take some mama 'me time'
Me time is not a dirty word when it comes to being a mama. Yes, it normal to feel like you have to be engaged with the family at all times, and doing something for their greater good, but guess what? If you aren't getting enough time to rest and recuperate it will have an adverse effect on the rest of the family unit. Self care is NOT selfish.
It's crucial to take regular time outs for yourself when you get the chance. You may choose to use this time for catching up on much-needed rest, scratching that creative itch or meeting up with friends outside of the home. Just be sure to choose something that will give you an emotional boost, so you can return to your mama responsibilities refreshed and raring to go.
Get some help with caring for family members
When one of your primary roles in life is to care for others, it can be incredibly stressful and draining, especially when you don't get a break. A lot of mamas feel this in relation to the kids, but some Mums have to deal with caring for elderly relatives as well as their own offspring and this can be really tricky to juggle all at once. Although we feel we need to be at times, we're not superhuman and although it can be very hard to brave asking for help, sometimes we just have to lessen the load. By getting help, ultimately we can give better care in the long run as our time can be less spread out.
This is a lot to put on anyone's plate, and it can be very difficult to make the decision to take some of their care out of your own hands. We can't be in twelve places at once and sometimes, somethings gotta give. However, before you make the financial choice in this situation, it can help helpful to read things like this Guide to Elderly Care online. After all, if there are some strategies for making things a little easier, while still providing the best for ageing relatives, it is essential to consider them. We're no good to anyone if we are over worked and run down, so share the load and utilise your time wisely.
Sleep and diet
Read any health article and you are bound to hear the mention of getting enough sleep and eating the right foods as being a step in the right direction. Of course that's super easy when you don't have kids waking you up halfway through the night because they have had a bad dream, or that you are so busy that their leftovers are the only meal you get in a day.
However, there are some easy things we can do to improve in both of these areas. The first is to make our bed and bedroom as comfortable and conducive to sleep as possible. The second is to aim to get a little balance into our diets and include as much fresh fruit and veg as possible. Both things that will boost our mood and increase our stress tolerance, making them useful tactics for when being a mama is particularly stressful.
Finding ways to divide our time between everyone we have to care for, including ourselves is a big deal, but sitting down and realising you're stressed, needing help or struggling means you can move on and get those stresses minimised.
Finding ways to divide our time between everyone we have to care for, including ourselves is a big deal, but sitting down and realising you're stressed, needing help or struggling means you can move on and get those stresses minimised.
How do you cope with the stresses of the day to day?
*Collaborative post
