These 3 Things Improved My Life Dramatically

Hey hey, readers. 

How has Spring been treating you? How’s work? How’s parenthood? How’s your love life with yourself and others? Have you been establishing those healthy boundaries?

I have to admit that May has felt pretty pre-covid “normal”. We’ve been dining out here and there, spending time outdoors at parks and trails, and we even hosted a celebration for Avianna’s first birthday! Check out the birthday girl.

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I’ve been wanting to publish a blog for a few weeks now but the days get away from me. Sometimes I want more hours in a day but I know that would mean more things I would have to do. In my last blog, I mentioned how stressed I was with such a busy schedule and transitioning to toddler life. After discussing with other moms, I find the common theme of our conversations is centered around how in the hell we do it. Lately, I’ve been thinking about what keeps me going and mentally prepared for everyday chaos. If I had to pick, here are my top three things that keep me doing it. 

1. Look good and feel great

I’ve gotten so much better about taking “me” time and prioritizing self-care. Each week, it’s a priority that I work out, spend time outside, do something fun and stop feeling guilty for it. When I prioritize these things, I notice that I handle life better and am not feeling like I’m ran into the ground. Self-care looks different for everyone so don’t feel like you need to exercise hardcore and call it self-care. You can also read an online magazine, drink coffee on the porch while making your to-do list, don’t do laundry for a couple of days, or make chocolate chip cookies late at night (one of my favorites). 

2. Try new things..as a family

This has been difficult with the pandemic but as the temperature gets warmer and restrictions lessen, there are more opportunities for family adventures. We visited our local circus recently and had a blast! If you aren’t ready to be in large crowds, try a new smoothie place and go for a walk at a park. If there are two things we all love, it’s sunshine and food so picnics will be our thing this summer. I get a lot of family ideas from subscribing to local parent magazines. My favorite at the moment is Indy’s Child Parenting Magazine: https://indyschild.com. 

3. Don’t be so hard on yourself

When you’re finished reading this blog, the number one thing I want you to remember is to practice self-compassion. I used to create this wheel of stress and anxiety because I would wake up and set these ridiculous goals for the day and feel like crap when nothing went as planned. Instead, I started realizing that I was doing a pretty damn good job balancing everything and that I needed to stop being cruel to myself. If you struggle with the same, try to interrupt those negative thoughts you have throughout the day with encouraging, celebratory thoughts and see how dramatic your day changes. Here’s an example… cruel looks like being bummed out because you couldn’t complete 15 items off your work to-do list, took a nap instead of cooking dinner so you ordered takeout, and forgot to put the clothes in the dryer. Kindness to yourself looks like acknowledging you focused on emails and two items from work so that you have more time to complete other items the next day, rested and have a better mood vs cooking and being cranky, and knowing that the clothes will be fine as long as you put them on a rinse cycle. See how completely different those days are with a change of mindset?

As we move into June, I’ll be taking these three things into account and enjoying my birthday month :).  You’ll hear from me in a couple of weeks. Don’t forget to leave a comment and alike.