I’m a wife and a mom of 3 kids. I can honestly say that being a mom can be overwhelming regardless of the age of your kids. If you don’t practice self-care as a mom, you could jeopardize your efforts to become the mom you want to be.
Interestingly, according to a recent survey, being a mom is not a full-time job; it’s equal to 2.5 full-time jobs! Take a moment to internalize that. This further emphasizes the importance of self-care for moms – you need it.
Let’s face it, as a mom, there’s a long list of kids’ activities, housework, errands, and tasks to do daily. If you don’t create time for self-care, you could suffer from the following:
- Burnout
- Fatigue
- Stress
- Headaches
- Tension
- Aches and pains
- Ill health
Self-care for moms simply means caring for your happiness, well-being, and health. You do so for your own sake and for your family’s sake.
As a mom, sometimes you may feel like self-care is selfish and indulgent. But that’s not true. With proper self-care, you can become the mom you want to be.
Let me give you 10 awesome self-care tips for moms without further ado.
1. Create a Daily Schedule
If you want to succeed as a mom, it’s essential to create a daily schedule. Remember to include a few minutes to rest between chores.
Resting even for a few minutes between chores is an awesome self-care tip for moms.
The other advantages of having a daily schedule are:
- It helps you get organized and to do more by the end of the day.
- You can prioritize tasks and thus not feel overwhelmed, harassed, or frustrated.
- You don’t forget important tasks or upcoming appointments for your kids or yourself.
Creating a daily schedule and following it are two different things. You need discipline to follow a schedule.
If you’re disciplined enough to follow the daily schedule, you’ll be on your way to giving yourself the self-care you deserve as a mom.
2. Delegate Some Chores To Reduce Your Workload
One of the awesome self-care tips for moms is to delegate some chores. If you delegate, you’ll not be very exhausted by the end of the day. You can delegate some chores to your partner or kids.
Do you know that kids can do chores from the age of 2 years? Now you know.
I’m not suggesting that you overwork the kids. No. I’m suggesting that you give them some light duties depending on their age.
When the family helps you to do some chores, your burden becomes lighter, and that’s part of self-care. Besides, doing little chores makes the kids responsible humans.
Some of the chores you can delegate to reduce your workload and thus give yourself some self-care include:
- Putting away toys
- Feeding pets
- Setting the table
- Clearing the table after meals
- Making beds
- Washing dishes
- Watering plants
- Walking the dog
- Help with meal preparation
- Doing yard work
- Washing the car
- Running errands
3. Pay for Help to Give Yourself Some Self-Care
Another way moms can give themselves some self-care is by hiring someone to do some chores. This is a great idea if you have some cash to spare. For instance, you can hire someone to do the following:
- Babysit
- Clean the house thoroughly
- Mow the grass
- Do laundry
It makes a huge difference when you spend some money to free up some of your time and make your work lighter.
So, don’t kill yourself with work. If you can afford to hire help every now and then, go ahead.
4. Live a Healthy Lifestyle
The other awesome self-care tip for moms is to live a healthy lifestyle. When you’re healthy mentally and physically, you become a happier and more efficient mom. As a result, your family becomes healthy and happy.
Here are some things you can do to live a healthy lifestyle:
- Eat a balanced diet daily.
- Drink at least 8 glasses of water daily.
- Do some daily exercises.
- Get enough sleep daily – you can create time to nap during the day.
- Avoid alcohol and cigarettes, as they can be detrimental to your health.
- Meditate or pray.
5. Train Your Kids to Sleep Early
If you train your kids to sleep early from an early age, you can get some time for self-care in the evenings. Kids can sleep from as early as 7:00 p.m., depending on their age.
When kids sleep early, they get enough rest and aren’t grumpy in the morning. It’s also good for you as you get some “me time”. It’s a win-win for everyone.
I trained my kids to sleep by 8:00 p.m. at the latest. I always looked forward to that time of the day. I would have time to catch up with my partner, watch the news, or just relax. This is part of self-care for moms. It can do wonders for you.
6. Try To Be A Good Enough Mom Not A Super Mom
In another article, I said you should try to be a good enough mom, not a super mom. Trying to be a super mom can be draining and isn’t part of self-care for moms. Trying to be a good enough mom is part of self-care for moms.
As a good enough mom, you care and love your kids deeply but you don’t try to create a perfect life for them. For instance, you sometimes allow them to do the following things:
- Make the house untidy by throwing their toys around, etc. You allow this because you aren’t obsessed with the idea of a tidy house.
- Mess themselves up as they play with soil, cover themselves with paint, etc. You allow this because you aren’t obsessed with the idea of perfect kids.
Trying to be a super mom is draining and unrealistic. Self-care for moms includes quitting trying to be a super mom and concentrating on being a good enough mom.
7. Say No to Mom Guilt
One of the reasons why some moms don’t practice self-care is because of mom guilt. You feel guilty for creating time for yourself. You can also feel guilty for spending some money on self-care.
The best way to say no to mom guilt is by realizing that you are important and deserve a chance to practice self-care. By taking care of yourself, you can take care of your family better.
Once you say no to mom guilt, you can do the following as part of self-care:
- Soak in the bath.
- Visit the beauty parlor.
- Have lunch with a friend.
- Read a book as you sip some hot coffee.
- Call your family members or best friend.
- Watch your favorite soap opera.
If you apply any of the above self-care tips, you’ll feel rejuvenated, happy, and ready to carry on with your life as a mom.
8. Make Simple Meals on Some Days
If you calculate the amount of time you spend in the kitchen daily, you might be amazed. You see, a good enough mom wants to feed her family with delicious and nutritious home-cooked food daily. That can be time-consuming and very tiring, especially if you want to make every meal from scratch.
Cooking meals daily from scratch can be exhausting. It can also eat into your “me time”. When it comes to meals, a great self-care tip for moms is to make simple meals on some days.
I’m not suggesting you compromise the quality of your family’s meals. I’m saying that you can still make quality meals quickly and easily to save time and energy.
Here are examples of quick, simple, and nutritious meals you can make for your family on some days to save time and energy:
Breakfast
Instant pot oatmeal: You make it using water, milk, and oats. You can top it with frozen or fresh fruit. This kind of breakfast takes about 5 minutes to prepare.
Lunch
Pasta and cherry tomatoes: It’s a delicious and juicy meal that your kids will love. This meal takes about 15 minutes to make.
Dinner
One-pot rice and peas: This is a nutritious and delicious meal. The beauty of one-pot cooking is that you not only save time and energy but also the washing-up time. This meal takes about 30 minutes to cook.
Suppose you make simple meals on some days. In that case, you’ll save time and use it for “me time”. You’ll also not spend a lot of energy. That’s part of self-care for moms.
9. Budget Some Cash for Self-reward
This is one of my favorite self-care tips for moms. Many of us moms don’t budget money for ourselves. We allocate everything to the kids and the home. We avoid allocating anything to reward ourselves. We even feel guilty when we give ourselves a well-deserved treat.
You know what? Spending some money on self-reward is part of self-care for moms. You deserve to reward yourself – after all, you put in a lot of hard work!
So, go on and budget some cash for self-reward. When you reward yourself, you feel happy and fulfilled. That definitely counts for self-care for moms.
Here are some things you can do or buy for yourself:
- Go to the beauty parlor for a hairdo, pedicure, manicure, etc.
- Buy yourself some fancy coffee when out running errands.
- Buy yourself some new outfits, shoes, or accessories.
- Treat your best friend to a movie.
10. Start Journaling
The final self-care tip for moms is to journal daily or a few times a week. Journaling simply means writing down your thoughts, feelings, plans, etc.
I know you’re wondering where you can get time to journal. If you apply these self-care tips for moms, you’ll get a few minutes to spare daily.
Journaling is essential for self-care as it helps in the following ways:
- It can help to reduce your stress levels.
- It’s refreshing and thus helps to boost your productivity.
- It helps to improve your mental health.
- When you journal your achievements and plans, you stay focused and grounded.
You can journal while relaxing between chores as you sip tea or coffee. As you journal, remember you’re not wasting time. You’re doing something for your body and mind, and that’s part of self-care for moms.
Conclusion
Being a mom can be demanding. If you’re not careful you can get overwhelmed. This could affect your physical and mental health.
If you want to be a healthy, good enough mom, these self-care tips for moms will come in handy. Give yourself some TLC because you really deserve it. Cheers!
What self-care tips for moms do you use to keep yourself healthy and motivated? Kindly share with the other readers in the comments section below.
3 Comments
Great tips. This is mom's survival guide
It is so important to make time for self care as to look after others successfully we need to be looking after ourselves.
These are such great self-care tips for moms. We so often get caught up in caring for others that we forget to take care of ourselves. Thanks for sharing