It's The Little Things...

Have you noticed how easy it can be to let go of much of our self-care once we become moms? It doesn’t happen right away. During the first pregnancy, everyone keeps telling you to take care of yourself, and most of them will even do a little here and there to help you do that. But, once the baby comes, mom kind of settles into the background a bit as everyone, including her, is focused on baby. It starts to seem selfish to take time out for ourselves, to take time away from the family, to utilize family resources for something that can easily be seen as “pampering”, when in fact, for many of us, it is the essence of self-care. An essential element in maintain our own personal equilibrium. We may hold on to some of them, but slowly, over time, particularly if more children come into our hearts and homes, more and more of those little rituals sort of wander out of our lives, until we almost forget we once had them.

Happy Feet Pool-Side

I haven’t painted my toenails in years. It seems like an inefficiency in a life and household that requires a certain level of efficiency to get everything done, everyone taken care of, and spend some time pursuing my own studies. But, I’m on vacation. So, yesterday afternoon I painted my toenails. And, this morning, I painted my fingernails.

It’s amazing what a little nail polish can do for a tired mommy’s soul…