Weeks have passed since the holidays which were a fun break but also exhausting and a lot of work. Then we jump into January with all the energy and good intentions we can muster. It’s no wonder February finds us dull and feeling doomed. February is the time we need to be deliberate with our thoughts, because it’s easy to have them spiral down into lethargy if not worse. So this month we’re focusing on mindset. Think of it like … Read More
The first month is in the books, for better or for worse. Just like every other January before, the habits and streaks did not happen. But nevertheless, we persist, killing our perfectionism and not giving up in doing both good and well. #1. Laundry is relentless. Just FYI: laundry waits for no mom. And, recall, that life is like laundry. It just keeps going. It will increase, yet seldom does it decrease. In the last 3 years I’ve tried 5 … Read More
Guess what? Self-centeredness and self-indulgence is never going to make you feel better in the long term, nor will it prepare you for reentering your real life with joy. January’s podcasts are all about self-care: what it is and what it isn’t. In the medical world, self-care refers to those tasks a caregiver must do for someone, whether it’s a caregiver to an injured or ill adult or a mother to an infant. But when the internet tells you that … Read More
We want to be happy. We do need rest. Just remember that the world’s advice for how to become happy or how to rest will be bad advice. Although it’s good for the economy, consumerism is not restorative nor good for our souls. Whatever we need to renew and rest, all humans have had access to for all of history. God’s built it into the system. There’s nothing you need to be a good human that was invented in the … Read More
Ah, the constant struggle to find or create the perfect planning system. How many of us spend more time tweaking and changing our planner than actually using it? A post-it planner has been my personal solution for the last few months, and I want to share how it’s working for me. We spend so much time playing with our planner that we begin to think that is using it. But we’re actually using our planner when what’s written there – … Read More
When terms used to clarify things for a particular group go mainstream, co-opted by hashtags and memes, no one (except the marketers) are served. Self-care is one such term. We ought to be teaching our children to care for themselves and not need permanent nannies. We ought to care in particular ways for those who can’t care for themselves. Both assume the fact that self-care is a thing: it’s tending to your basic needs. Caretakers and those in highly needy … Read More
How many planners have you tried using in your adult life? The number is likely more than one. When you’re trying to figure out how to organize your life, you assume it will take a planner, but why does it never seem to stick or to work? Using a planner to stay organized seems to not work for you. It’s frustrating. The truth is that we tend to focus more on the pages and boxes in our planners or the … Read More
It is true that our selves do need care. We are not invincible. We are not infinite. We are not indefatigable. However, more than our bodies need care because we are more than our bodies. When you feel the need for rest and renewal, remember that both come not by indulgence or through merely physical means. When we forget that we are souls, spiritual beings in need of spiritual things, we go looking in all the wrong places for the … Read More
Moms are told all over social media and advertisements that we need more self-care. It’s true that we become easily wearied, easily overwhelmed, easily frustrated – and a break sounds too good to be true. Self-care for stay at home moms seems like a reasonable solution. But the break we actually need to overcome the weariness, the overwhelm, the frustration might be different from a day out or a day off. If a day out or a day off is … Read More
A new year is upon us and before jumping into the freshness of new plans and new goals, it’s good to stop and reflect. We need to move forward in light of where we’re at. We need to make adjustments and changes based on what we know does and doesn’t work – which we will only know if we stop and reflect. So here goes – here are 5 things I learned about myself, my goals, and working those goals … Read More