Selfless Selfishness: Taking Care of Myself Too

I feel that as a new-ish/young-ish/stay-at-home mom I get conflicting advice. "Take care of yourself first" "Motherhood is about sacrifice" "Sleep when the baby sleeps"  "Use their nap time to get stuff done around the house" "Make sure you don't skip date nights" "Spend every moment you can with them, they grow up so fast" "Find YOU time" "Join a playgroup" "Get out of the house" "Keep baby on a schedule"... I would like to point out that doing both of the last two is extremely challenging with a kid who conks out as soon as she is buckled into the car seat or decides to scream bloody murder the whole 20min trip across town. Or maybe that's just us?

Ara Conked Out Last Winter

This week I've been trying to take advantage of the times I have to rest. What I hate about doing so is that I feel guilty if I just go to bed instead of "getting something done". I have also taken time to paint my toenails for the first time since last summer and showered every day this week.  It may seem arbitrary but these small yet mighty victories make me feel like I haven't given up on myself.

Painted Toes!

You hear it all the time, or at least I did. Woman has baby then suddenly completely lets herself "go" to become solely a mom. My Mama constantly told me not to let that happen because that's what she did and she regretted not taking care of herself because all of her focus was on me. Now I am very aware that this could be taken completely the wrong way... so let me clarify a bit with a lovely analogy taken from Moms' Night Out:

When flight attendants give the safety spiel regarding air masks they make a point to tell you to put on your own air mask before assisting others. You can't help them if you can't breathe.

Flight Safety

So I'm not saying that I'm trying to be selfish in a negative way, but rather in a way that better enables me to do what I need to do.

This past week I got an awful sunburn because I forgot to put on my own air mask/sunscreen... Ara got covered real good and I was constantly checking that she was shaded, but I however came home with a nasty burn that is now itchy and peeling (grrrr). I COMPLETELY didn't even think about myself AT ALL, and in a way that kind of terrifies me.

The Burn of 2014

So I've showered everyday and painted my tootsies. What are some other ideas of things that you can do for yourself that help you breathe? What are your air masks? Mine currently need to be free... but do you get massages? pedicures? gym memberships? What are some cheap/non time consuming ways to make you feel like you haven't given up?

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