Tonight, Mason peed from the 2nd floor banister, over my head, onto the stairs, and all over the first level of our house. This was after a particularly stressful day of work and picking up Mason late from daycare for the first time EVER. Not to mention that I’m solo parenting this month since my husband is away for work (Navy wife life…).
Mason is still recovering from his hospital stay (see last week’s blog post about it here!) and on a steroid inhaler and an oral medication twice per day, morning and night. Our dog, Pax, also has an ear infection and needs his ears cleaned twice per day followed by medication in his ear. Both Mason and Pax HATE doing these things, so adding these lovely activities to our morning and evening routine is just lovely. And by lovely, I mean terrible.
Once I get them all taken care of after work and get Mason to bed, it’s time to make dinner for myself, take care of the house, and work on building this beautiful business, Ailana J. Nursing + Pumping Apparel, for you, mama! Then I try to get to bed at a reasonable hour and start this all over again.
I share this anecdote for those of you who feel like crying right now because not one thing went right in your day. I share this for you, mama, who had a string of terrible nights of sleep because baby is going through a leap or a regression. I share this for you who is struggling with their pumping schedule and still trying to be a rock star at work. I share this for you, mama, who is dehydrated and hungry because you’ve been running around all day after your toddler and forgot to drink water or eat enough. I share this because I want you to know that IT IS NOT JUST YOU.
Motherhood is hard. Doing it without a tribe is even harder. Trying to build in self-care and to take some time to recharge feels unrealistic sometimes. No matter how much I KNOW what I need to do to give myself that time, there are times, like now, when it feels absolutely impossible and I feel so incredibly drained that I don’t know how I’m putting one foot in front of the other.
BUT WE DO IT.
If you follow Ailana J. on Instagram, I posted a quote on Monday from @peanut that sums this all up:
Being a mama is wild because you really just wake up every day and do the damn thing. Regardless of how you feel, you just do it and that’s amazing. I’m proud of us.
Sometimes the weight of a bad day can feel really heavy and overwhelming. It’s okay to feel it. But (and I’m saying this just as much to myself right now as I am to you), don’t forget that we are STRONG + AMAZING. And we CAN MAKE TIME to recharge and get that super important self-care in. If we can do all this other crazy stuff in mom life, we can do that too. And that time is really important because it helps make the tough days less tough. It helps us have MORE to give because we can pour from a super full cup instead of an empty one.
Back in October, I shared a blog post all about self-care that I love referring back to from time to time when I need my OWN reminder of the importance of self-care and how to get it done. If you need to go back to it today too, it’s right HERE.
I also hosted a Self-Care Challenge for Mamas back in March. Previously exclusive to challenge participants, I am now sharing the quick guide they received at the end of the challenge with you RIGHT HERE. After the past few days I’ve had, I want any of you mamas to have all the resources you need to TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF if you are struggling!
Now, I’m going to go take some of my own advice and eat some Ben & Jerry’s, while finishing the season finale episode of Bridgerton on Netflix. Washing the dishes, cleaning the bathrooms, and the rest of the never-ending list of things to do in my head can wait while I recharge my batteries a bit.
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