How To Avoid Mommy Burnout

I fell into some serious mommy burnout over the summer. We moved an hour away from the small community of friends we had built in Orange County, to a wonderful new home in Fallbrook. Though the location was just what we'd been waiting for, my mommy life began to suffer.

Our summer began to lack structure as my husband and I struggled to settle into our new home, on our own. No family or friends around to help out and bear, being used to running right out side to meet her friends, for the first time had no one to play with. We were all in a rut, and I kept having melt downs and I didn't know why, I was lonely and burnt out.

It took serious burn out to realize that I wasn't taking good care of myself. Taking care of yourself is a must when it comes to warding off stress and being a good mom. I use to think that letting my personal time slip through the cracks was the best thing for our family. But that's far from the truth; as they say pre-boarding "put your oxygen mask on first, then help those sitting next to you." I was out of oxygen and if you're out of oxygen, you've got nothing left in your tank.

Here are some tips I've learned along the way:

1) Set a specific time of the week when you know you can get away and take 100% personal time for yourself. This doesn't mean folding laundry while watching your favorite TV series on Netflix (which is what I use to think of as "personal time").

2) Learn to let go of the mess! It's not going anywhere, let it go a bit and take a break for yourself. Drink a cup of tea in silence, pick up a book, doodle, write... whatever it is your heart feels like doing, do it! 

3) Take a break from social media! Being glued to Facebook, twitter, etc., can really wreak havoc on your stress. It can even leave you feeling a little down or anxious; and not to mention it keeps you from being present. 

4) Get some fresh air! Even if it's with the kids, or a minute break from your desk, a little fresh air really relaxes your nerves.

5) Exercise! It doesn't have to be a lot or something that you hate, just do something to get your heart rate up. Those wonderful endorphins will put you in a good place.

6) Practice a little gratitude. It helps during those moments when you feel overwhelmed and like things just aren't going right. I list off things that I'm grateful for when I start falling into a rut.

7) Remember that you're not alone. Pick up the phone and reach out to a good friend or family member. A nice phone call from my best friend back in NY always picks me up!


Taking time for yourself will refresh you, it'll recharge your battery. When you return home, or to your office, you'll feel more inspired, you'll enjoy your time more with your kids, and even your daily chores might become a little less mundane.

Do you have any tips for warding off burn out? Please share!

A Butter Pecan Melt Down.

Being a mom is realy hard. In fact some days it's the hardest thing I've ever done. It's draining, repetitive, frustrating and all around tiring. But what I seem to struggle with the most is finding time for myself - how does one find time when there is no time? How does one sit down and relax, read a book, exercise, watch a movie when there's dinner to be made, laundry to be folded, toys to be picked up, pottys to be cleaned...?

Oy!

Yet even in the hardest moments I still find myself loving every minute of it.

Even in the hardest times, I know this too shall pass.


Just two weeks ago I sat out on my parents patio (we're visiting from SoCal) with a bowl full of ice cream. I had intended to eat it as soon as the kids got down for their naps. It seemed feasible this day, roo went down and then I went on to bear.

Made her lunch and prepped her room and pj's for nap time while she ate.

And somewhere between lunch time and bear's final attempt to keep me from leaving her bedroom, roo woke up...

It had been a full hour all ready and I so desperately wanted to sit down and enjoy that ice cream, but it just wasn't in the cards today.

As roo kicked and babbled in her bed I aggressively scooped my butter pecan out of it's box as if every scoop would send the little one back to bed. No such luck.

I was angry, I felt cheated... so cheated I couldn't even eat my ice cream. I just sat there and stared at it, angrily.

The anger just started to boil and before I knew it I was raising my hands up to smash the bowl on to the patio below...

But caught myself just in time.

If anyone had happened to see me just at the moment for sure they would have thought I was crazy.

So I cried and cried and cried.

And sniffed and sobbed...

Until the moment past.

I quickly ate up my ice cream, cleaned up my bowl and sighed.

I just needed that moment. And the moment had passed. I felt better - I moved on. I picked up roo and we spent the next hour together, happily playing and bouncing, until it was time for another nap again.

And just as I said goodnight.

Bear woke up.

:)

Moments at the Zoo

My husband and I were looking for a family fun weekend day trip after a long work week with him out of town. After some discussing, we decided on the San Diego Zoo; and we were even more excited about the trip, when we found out that for about 15 dollars more, per ticket, we could get a full year membership to both parks - The Safari Park and the Zoo. How could we say no to that? There are so many perks that come with the pass, that it almost blows our Disney pass out of the water. But nothing can truly replace Disney - It will always be the happiest place on earth!

Here are some of the special moments we shared during our Saturday at the Zoo!

All of the photos were taken with our iphones.