Motherhood. If you’ve got kids, you know that well…greys happen. Poop happens. Late night glasses of wine happens.
Often times my friends say to me, “Oh Diana I don’t know how you do it.” I really feel like telling them that I have no friggin idea how I do it all: the crafting, the art, the kids, dinner, and keeping the house from looking like a tornado went through it.
When I first had my daughter Dakota, I remember my friend Lisa telling me, “Diana motherhood is sometimes about survival. Just do what you can to not go insane.”
So, herein, are a few tips from yours truly, on how to survive motherhood without losing your mind.
Prioritize
Every person has different priorities in life, weather it be making art, playing sports, or working out. The thing about being a mom, is that you must learn to prioritize. You need to set priorities for yourself. Make the things that matter to you, matter in your life by prioritizing.
Prioritize. Make a list of the things that must absolutely get done throughout the day, and go by that.
Lists are a great way to prioritize and know what it is that needs to be in your life on any given day. So make lists. Put together a list of things that really do need to get done, including that thing that’s important to you weather it be yoga, art, sports or whatever.
Take Out Time
Once you set those priorities, you need to then take out time in your day to do them. Sure you’re going to do the cooking and the cleaning and the caring of children. Of course. But make sure that you take out time for the things that matter to you, besides the household stuff. For me, that means art. I LOVE being creative and I LOVE the process of making art, painting, crocheting, and knitting. I LOVE it. So, I set time side for it. I make sure that it is in my life. It sounds easy enough. And it is actually just as easy as you setting out time for it. “I don’t have time.” Make time. Nap time, bed time, early morning before they wake up…but just make time.
Making time for you is just as important and caring for the ones you love. Why? Because when mommy is taken care of, she’s ready to care for others and put her best foot forward. Because without taking time for yourself, what do you have? You have yourself giving on a daily basis, tired and worn out and burn out quickly ensues. So avoid that, by taking time for yourself.
Making time, means finding the time of day that works best for you, weather it be in the morning before your little ones wake up, or in the evening, at bed time. It’s really up to you. Just make time. Make it a ritualistic thing. Every night when my little ones go to sleep, I go to the kitchen to grab a snack, turn on my spotify music player, and wip out my art supplies. That’s my ritual. I am telling the universe and myself that I’m now going to make art. I make it a routine so that I always stick to it. I do it every day, because taking time for my art is just as important to me as doing yoga or meditating.
Take Good Care
Take care of your body and your health by eating well. It seems like a silly thing, but for me, eating the right foods really affect my mood and my outlook on life, and stuff. So if I eat well, I feel well.
Try to make eating well a daily thing, sort of like the addict. The addict’s mantra is “just for today”. So “just for today” choose to eat the right foods. “Just for today” eat less sugar. If you live by this, you’ll find it easier to eat right, and in eating right, you feel better and you set a positive example for your children and those around you.
Know When to Hand Them Over
Sometimes as a mother and a stay at home mom, it becomes difficult to really know when to hand them over to someone and just walk away for a few minutes. I’m the mommy. I shouldn’t need to right? Wrong. It is SO important that you hand them over to daddy or abuela (grandma) for even a couple hours. Hand them over, then go grab a cup of coffee. Go out with a friend, or just sit and write, knit, or read. You will be amazed what a few hours will do for you. Take out the time to hand them over, and do NOT feel guilty. NO GUILT is ALLOWED. Do you hear me? Hand them over. Go on a date with daddy, while abuela cares for them, or go meet with your knitting group while daddy takes care of them. But you must do this. You must.
Involve them
The one thing that people find interesting about me and my daughter is how much she also loves art. The reason for this is a simple story.
When my daughter was born, she raised in me the need to really pursue my creativity even more. I wanted to show her how far she could go in life, by going far myself. So I started a blog, a bit after she was born.
I started making art more. When she was little it didn’t matter. I would make stuff while she was asleep napping. Then, she got to an age where she didn’t nap that much.
I found her grabbing her little yellow kid’s chair, and pulling it up to my desk, to look at what I was doing. So in order to survive motherhood, and have time for my art, I decided to share my paints with her, and give her some paper. So when I’d be working on a card, or a scrapbook or whatever, she’d be painting next to me. So that way, I was involving her in what I was doing, and taking time out for me.
So involve your kids in the thing you love, wether it be yoga, art, sports, or whatever. Kids love to do the thing that mommy loves to do. It’s also a great way to instill that in them. So in this way, you’re creating positive memories, and also instilling something great in them, that they will carry into adulthood.
So that’s that. Those are my tips for surviving motherhood without going insane. Do you have any tips for motherhood survival?
