Make it a luxury lunch.
Field Guide for Moms Lesson 4
I’m fortunate (verdict’s out some days) that my husband comes home from work at lunch most of the time. The other day he walked in and I was sitting at the dining room table, eating a salad I made at home, reading a book, with a wraparound heating pad on my back. He quickly observed these things and said, “Oh look at you, a luxury lunch.” I laughed so hard I could have cried. Luxury. A word previously used to describe sun-soaked honeymoon resorts and the fanciest of cars, now used for my homemade salad and my heating pad.
But the truth is, while I wouldn’t have called it luxury, it was a nicer lunch than I usually provide myself. The location was different, I often quickly eat lunch at a bar top in our kitchen and I’d taken other measures to show myself some care and love that day, the heating pad and the book. It maybe took one to two more minutes to go find my book, to move into the dining room and to wrap a heating pad around my current back injury. They were all simple, nourishing things that I don’t always partake in, but so easily could.
This has had me thinking about how hard it is to treat yourself as a Mom, whether you are home with your kids during the day, at work or some combination of both, it seems there is never time to do the things you want or need to do to properly care for your mind and body. Moms have to make time where there is none, or as I learned in this situation, make luxury where there is none. You don’t get a lot of time to yourself as a Mom, so when you do have the time, actually take care of you. Make the more satisfying, fulfilling and luxurious (if you will) option.
What are some ways to optimize your rest or the little bit of “you” time you might have? These examples are small tweaks, but it turns out they can make big differences in your mood and day. Don’t just make basic coffee during naptime, take the extra 45 seconds to heat and froth milk to make it a treat. Don’t just take a few minutes to eat lunch at your desk, actually take the break, take your lunch outside to a sunny bench. Buy the nice body scrub and elevate your shower experience, it might not be the spa, but it’s something nice to do for yourself during time you are already using. Don’t scarf down your at-home lunch hunched over your phone scrolling Instagram, grab your book and a heating pad. Add a little treat for yourself to something you are already doing, make it a luxury lunch.
Keep going and be good to yourself!
Love, Michelle