Can we talk about something real quick?
I want to talk about self-care and the well being of our mental health during this pandemic or the lack thereof.
I don’t think any of us could have prepared ourselves or even imagined what this would be like. But, as we all know it’s been a struggle. And in ways, I didn’t think either.
Like I’ve experienced really high highs. Like my kids bonding in a way they haven’t before. They spend the day adventuring together or torturing one another. I hear their giggles from the other room and normally it’s because they are doing something they shouldn’t be, but still. It’s music to my ears. I’m getting to witness something I wouldn’t have otherwise.
But, with those high highs come the low lows.
Like at the end of the day when the kids are finally in bed and I sit down to do something, and I literally have nothing inside me because I’m touched out and I’m talked out and I don’t know how to implement enough self-care to offset the loss of sanity.
And I’m just talking about the day to day issues. I’m not even referring to the deeper stuff we all have going on.
The days are either long or short and you can’t look at them in advance like the weather to prepare whether you’ll need a coke to spice it up or a box of wine to make it through ( I kid. Kinda)
I do know, however, that as a mom and a wife I’m being stretched in so many ways. I’m forced to grow whether I want to or not and that can be a good thing if I allow it.
I’m not the mom that gets off on crafts or projects or even play-doh, but what does get me going is when my daughter pretends to be a baby and lets me rock her all day or when I play a card game with my son for his schoolwork which then leads into a real game of UNO and we just get to be and have fun.
And I try to use that to carry me through the times where I feel like I can’t get away from anyone in my family.
My husband and I are used to working from home, but this is completely different. I love him and I love spending time with him, but having to remind myself that I need to have alone time is something I’m not used to doing yet.
I had a Zoom cocktail hour with a friend the other night and she reminded me that I could still make time for us, we just have to be intentional about it.
So, I asked him out on a date. He picked sushi up, and we ate at the table just the two of us and talked about our relationship. Not the pandemic, not the kids, but us. And it was nice.
So, I suppose the only real thing I can do for now is to allow myself to feel the high highs and the low lows. To give myself the space and permission to just be. Extend the compassion that I give to my kids to myself as well.
And to remember to schedule more cocktail hours!
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