If there is one thing that 10 years of being a mom has taught me it’s the importance of self-care. Like most lessons in life this one didn’t necessarily come easy.
Whether you are in the early days postpartum or years into motherhood there is no question that while being a mom is amazing…it is also pretty full-on and at times exhausting!
No one could have really prepared me for the sleepless nights, breastfeeding challenges, postpartum anxiety, relationship tensions, loss of identity, body changes, overwhelming love, etc. Those early months of motherhood were intense and like many mom’s I put all of my focus into taking care of my baby.
I’d love to tell you that this emphasis shifted as she grew…but it didn’t.
I returned to work and then I was pregnant again…and then there were two children and another return to work and so it goes with us mom’s.
The busyness of life takes over and there we are taking care of everyone else but ourselves.
They say you can’t give from an empty cup and as mine approached empty I knew something had to change. I was burning out and just not showing up as the mom I wanted to be.
There are 5 things that I chose to focus on.
I’m calling it a “framework” but really it’s an acronym. Commonly talked about postpartum when mom’s are given way more support…but really it applies to all mom’s…at any stage.