Why Self-Care Is So Important

We all want to be the best parents we can be. It’s all too easy, though, to get lost along the way, running from one activity to another, cooking dinner, washing laundry, cleaning the house, working, and spending time with your family. We can easily forget who we are as a person and what we need in this daily rush.

I know I fell into this after having kids. I became a mother, and only a mother, for more years than I’d like to admit, and nothing else. Worst of all, forgetting who I was started affecting how I parented. I found myself yelling more and having less patience. I just moved from one thing to the next, going through the motions, and wasn’t able to handle everyday stresses that just seemed to continue to build, until I was having a hard time handling them.

It didn’t help that my husband was going through a similar, although different, experience and wasn’t really present to help me through my own trial. Luckily I had some amazing friends, who exposed me to some amazing healers that helped me realize what had happened and help me start my self-care journey back to balance, healing, and rediscovery. I’m still on the journey, but I am a lot healthier now, and I at least know the things I need to be doing to feed my soul and help me be the best mother and best person that I can be.

Honestly, I think I knew all along, but I just didn’t think it was important enough, that I was important enough, to make time for the things I like to do, that I have realized I NEED to do. I’ve written in a journal for most of my life. I’m a writer at heart. I also love to craft. And I love to read. These things became luxuries to me though once my kids were born. I stopped doing them. I was too tired. I had too many other things to do. I had my kids with me. Heck, I even stopped going to the dentist for more than two years because I just couldn’t figure out how to go without a baby in tow. (This may not seem like a big deal, but I’ve seen a dentist every six months my whole life, so for me to throw my dental care out the window was just another symptom of how bad it got.)

I’ve now realized that caring for myself allows me to be a better person and more present with my family. It allows me to be a better mother, which ironically is why I stopped in the first place. I now know, I’m a creative person and I need to allow myself time to create. I need to remember that being a mother is just a part of who I am, not the whole. And I need to make time to care for my physical and mental well-being. And so do you. 

I’ll be sharing parts of my journey on this blog, in hopes that it helps you on your journey. I’ll share things I do, wisdom I’m learning, products I find along the way that help, and anything else that I think might be helpful. If you would like to tag along, please do. We all need support and I’m happy to help support you on whatever journey you find yourself on. Feel free to leave a comment to let me know about your own journey or share something you do that has helped. I’m always happy to learn a new way to feed my soul.