How do you feel about self care?
When you hear “self care” does it sound self indulgent? Does it make you feel guilty when you think about it because you were raised to give to others and not worry about yourself or your own needs? Maybe you had experiences as a child that prevented you from being able to take care of yourself because you had to take care of others and had no one around to help you do anything else. Or maybe you think heck yeah, I love taking care of myself!
Our world is full of chaos and we know you face your own challenges, including parenting ones, each and every day. It is critical that you let go of anything holding you back from taking care of yourself. As we have mentioned each week this can be big or small. If you don’t, in your own life and in the larger world, nothing will change. You will be drained and will not experience anything different than the experience you are already having.
Being a role model for a child is so important and this includes both giving to others and being okay with receiving and enjoying self care. The ADHD and anxious brain can move fast, get stuck, and never even realize self care can help.
There is a reason why flight attendants tell parents to affix their oxygen masks first before helping their children. We can’t be helpful to anyone if we are not at our best.
Weave into conversations with family each day these two questions.
What did you do for yourself today?
What did you do for someone else today?
Ask at dinner or in the car driving to all the places you go! We would love to hear what you did for yourself so share a comment!
We will continue this conversation next week so stay tuned!