Our business - The Seashack - started as a result of me having my first child and Mum coming away from her stressful teaching job. We both wanted to work around our other interests and commitments and wanted to take back that balance. And I realised that it was important I had something for ME.
I love being at home to look after the children and I feel lucky that I can fit our work around this. When you put everything in to perspective my experience of becoming a Mum really is amazing. I used to feel guilty on tough days, that I wasn't appreciating or enjoying the chance to be at home with the kids when many parents would love to be. I saw myself as ungrateful and tried to stop feeling that way. But I've learnt over time that no situation is ever ideal. Any struggle is a real struggle and shouldn't be compared to what's going on in other people's lives. And I don't think any of us women need yet another thing to be feeling guilty about! There's absolutely nothing wrong with finding the situation you're in, hard work.
On a challenging day - and sometimes in general - finding that balance and putting yourself first at all can be impossible. We lead busy lives and we feel restricted and tied to things sometimes that we'd rather not be doing. But I believe in all our days there are small ways we can make time to remember ourselves and look after who we are. Here's my best tips:
- Make sure that you eat and drink. It's something - particularly drinking enough water - that is so easy to do yet makes such a big difference. Yet somehow I'm always too busy answering someone's requests or focusing my time on something else or 'just finishing' something first. I find that my mood drops hugely when I'm not eating regularly and because kids shout the loudest, they always get to eat first! I'm putting in to practice some meal planning here while I'll share on another blog. I believe being organised and spending time preparing food in advance is probably the way to go. Take some time today to look at where you could make any changes; are you eating regularly enough? Do you need to prepare healthy things to snack on-the-go? Could you batch make some meals to freeze such as soup or any of your favourites?
- Focus on the positives. Try to notice the moments that are actually yours. Ok they may appear mundane - such as driving or unloading the dishwasher. But your arms are free and you are free to take a deep breath or think. Sometimes it's not always about finding an hour to sip a tea and read a magazine (although that is definitely one to fit in!), but it's about looking for the other times of the day where you weren't feeling completely overwhelmed by other stuff/people.
- Be realistic to avoid frustrations. For example I'm sitting here now trying to write this while the kids play but it is unrealistic (knowing my children) for me to think I'll be able to write it all while they just do their own thing. By presuming that, when they interrupt me or it's clear I can't carry on, I'll then feel resentful of the fact I've not managed to have 'any time for me'. But by expecting that I'll only be able to do a little bit, when they interrupt me (which they are just about to - I can hear tears), I can feel grateful that I've got as far as I have in the time I've got. The mindset is completely different and actually something to apply in many other areas of life too.
- Finish that tea! We've all been there...you've made yourself a tea and then you've been distracted or pulled away from a situation by someone else. Depending on what is happening obviously you may have to walk away from your tea and attend to it. But this is where boundaries come in and saying 'no'. It's very easy to get distracted and move on to the next thing and forget that the tea you made represented a break for you or a moment of self care. If you can, put that moment first and continue with the next thing after you've finished this first one!
- Give yourself space. And if you have children give them the opportunity to have space too. Having time to breathe - and even to be bored (ha - I wish!) - is really important. Cramming stuff in, back to back, gives little time to think about your needs.
- Learn to say no - this also connects with much of the above. It's not selfish to make the decision that you aren't going to do something. Sometimes it's for the 'greater good' (i.e. you can see a disaster happening if whatever this is goes ahead!) and sometimes it's just because it isn't good for YOU. By respecting your own needs you also show others how to respect you too.
- Grounding. This one might appear a bit 'woo' to some of you but I hope not. A personal favourite for me is to, in those moments of overwhelm and 'there is no time for me', keep myself grounded. Mum taught me years ago how to ground myself. I know I need grounding when my head is all over the place, I'm starting to feel like I'm panicking or overwhelmed and almost a bit floaty. It's hard to describe it but I imagine I'm a tree and I've got roots running through my feet in to the ground. It really does work and brings me back 'down', and to a position where I can then deal with everything again.
Gemma xx
