Are you here because you are feeling guilty about taking care of yourself?  But you know you need to right?  When we talk about mom self care, suddenly it’s “me-centered”.   Taking time for yourself, is not selfish!  We are talking about mental, physical, and spiritual health.

There is so much pressure on mom to perform. Depending on the number of children you have, there could be 4, 5 or more people depending on you every day. Plus we put pressure on ourselves. Feelings of guilt to keep pushing through, many times neglecting our own needs. If anyone else, singles, newlyweds, men with their mancaves, older folks taking cruises; anyone taking time for themselves is okay, but not moms?  What?

Why You Need to Care For Yourself

Plainly, when you take care of yourself, you are better able to take care of your loved ones. Those that matter most won’t benefit from a mama who is half-dead because she didn’t sleep enough (when she actually could’ve!). When your kids want to play with you outside but you skipped lunch, well, you won’t last very long.

It is many times the simple things that we just skip out on because “We’re the mom and we’re supposed to”.

That excuse just won’t do anymore.  Stop telling yourself, you are mom and you are supposed to – allow your health and mind to degrade.

I walked much of my #momlife with that kind of attitude. And it took me a long time to change my thinking; to know that it is okay to accept help. It is okay if I need to take time for myself every week. I learned a lot of things that it really is okay to do or be in motherhood.  Learning how to take care of myself, as a mom, wasn’t evil. It was nourishing. It was uplifting and refreshing.

Even just today I stayed home and rested instead of going grocery shopping *gasp* which may leave my husband to do it *double gasp*!

When you take a shower, don’t you feel fresher than if you don’t? Sometimes it’s literally a shower that’s missing, especially if you are in the early days of motherhood. But even as time wears on, children get older, many times we are still in that mindset of, I’m supposed to drive myself into the ground for my family’s sake.

Someone show we where that is in the Bible?

Yes, we are to work hard. But even Jesus took time away from His work here on the earth and He had the hardest job.

Think of how burnt out Jesus, in his equally God but also humanness, had to have been with thousands of His children seeking His attention daily, with all their various needs.

There were definitely times where He stepped away from them.

We also need to seek our Father, daily, and have those quiet hours to ourselves. In order for you to truly understand your purpose and priorities in motherhood, you and I need to seek Him.

We need to read His Wisdom.

We need to shed ourselves of a self-focused attitude in motherhood. It twists our priorities, slave-like mentality towards our daily tasks. When you get away with Him, we can see clearly how to care for those around us, and in effect, take care of yourself.

Let Go of Guilt

So when I share these ideas of simple mom self care, I want you to let go of the guilt surrounding it. Also let go of the pressure to be all, all the time.

As long as you are trying to be pleasing to Him, no one else matters. As you reach to be like Him, you will reach out, share, develop virtues of gentleness, kindness, etc. towards others.

Self care begins here, with God.

You will feel a calmness inside, a knowing that everything is okay even when you don’t please everyone.

These self care tips will enable you to weave in balance and purpose to your everyday choices. You will be able to step back and access your life goals and choices. This happens because you are giving your brain and body room to break down the events of your life and get back the part of you that is a person, not a machine.

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20 Simple Mom Self Care Ideas

1. Exercise (or at least create an exercise routine that will work for you)
2. Take a bath and use some bubbles (amazon bubble bath)
3. Journal  – See ones I recommend
4. Gratitude List (or Journal) – This will really improve your state of mind. When God commands us to be thankful and not to complain, it really is a good thing. We start seeing the positive and my experience has been to see God at work in my situation.
5. Read, just start with 5 minutes. You cannot tell me you don’t have 5 minutes
6. Pray everyday
7. Sleep – Us moms have so many issues here. Little children and babies just don’t sleep the way we’d like. But sometimes we don’t sleep because of a mishandled way of taking self care. If that’s you then read Love-Hate Relationship with Sleep.
8. Eat Well on time, with the right foods. Y’know what I mean 🙂
9. Have a Cup of Tea  – I buy this to help my kids sleep, I like it too.  Just make sure you don’t get the chamomile-lavender (yuck) unless you really like lavender taste.
10. Schedule a day to get the kids to bed early (using the above tea) so you can escape with a tv show, movie or book without sacrificing your sleep
11. Color! – I used to think this was a stupid idea but as I’ve gone back to learning how to draw, I end up coloring too.  It’s really relaxing, focus without focusing on anything in particular.  If you like to sew or knit, it’s a similiar mental activity.  I really like this Elegant Tea Party book.
12. Dance
13. Light a candle
14. Talk to a friend – Talk, not text
15. When you take your kids to the park (or even go by yourself) get on the swing and swing!
16. Ride your bike
17. Paint your nails – My Favorite brand!
18. Do your hair in a special style just because (or to practice for date night)
19. Give yourself a pedicure
20. Listen to a podcast

Mom Self Care is Needed

Everyone needs to and CAN find time for self care. I believe even busy moms can.

Don’t believe me? See what Kristin has to say after she decided to skip self-care just for one week. Read it at Just a Simple Home.

Brand new mom? First year of motherhood? Rebekah breaks your excuses too in her post 15 Self Care Tips for the First Year of Motherhood. Rebekah has so much insight,

15+ Self-Care Tips for your First Year of Motherhood (from Moms Who have Been There!)

I’m sure you’ll wanna check out her new book as well, Lies Moms Believe