It’s mid-December and we’re full-swing into Christmas mode – planning, parties and presents are happening every other day as I check things off my list! But one thing that often happens in the extreme busyness of this time of year is that our own self-care can take the back seat: so today I am here to remind you to make sure to add self-care to your Christmas list!
In your role as mum, you are probably managing a few extra tasks at this time of year: Planning for family events, thinking about preparing food and presents, maybe planning a holiday or travel, plus decorations, end-of-year events, and fitting all of the above into your household budget.
And the constant time spent in planning and execution of these tasks takes all our spare time (not to mention space as we stash away presents and food in various rooms of the house to avoid being discovered!). So often, we keep going and keep pushing ourselves harder and harder, but what can happen is that the pressure and stress become too much and we end up snapping!
So, back to the priority of self-care over the holidays: spend a minute with a cup of tea to think about what you need to do to take care of yourself during the chaos. Here are some ideas:
Practical self-care:
Some of the ideas might be practical: you need to get your hair done, or you would love to find time to go shopping and buy a new top or necklace to wear at Christmas so that you can look good and feel great. Or maybe it’s about making time to keep up with your exercise routine so that you can stay on top of your health goals.
Look at your calendar and daily commitments, and book in a time to get these things done.
Personality self-care:
Some might be personality-driven: you need to feel prepared, and so you would love to set aside a shopping morning where you can go without children to knock all the errands off your list. Or, if you are like me, you need to be aware that your introverted-self might need a little space sometime during the Christmas week that you are staying with family.
Anticipating how you are going to cope with the coming joys and stresses of the season will help you to be prepared and also give you a chance to communicate with people who will be able to support you. (My husband is cued up on the signs that I need to go and have some time out to refresh my head-space!)
Priority self-care:
With so many ‘extras’ landing in our laps, we also need to keep up with the general stuff of life – working, caring for our family, keeping up with daily tasks. When it comes down to it, we might need to ask for help or let a few things go.
Have a look at your to-do list and make sure that your top priorities are the things you work on first: this will help you to keep some elements of balance in your over-full days. If you want some more hints about this, check out my blog post on keeping Christmas simple.
So there you go, I hope that you have taken the time to figure out a few priorities and strategies to take care of yourself during the Christmas season! Remember that your mood and wellbeing can often set the tone for your home and family, and so self-care is vital and can’t be put to the bottom of the list!
I’d love to hear about one thing you are going to do for your own self-care! Leave a comment below.
Tanya x
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