Remember to Take Care of Yourself, Too...

The most important lesson of motherhood is learning that you must make yourself a priority. It is imperative that you take care of yourself in order to be able to care for those around you. This is often difficult to do when those around you demand 25 hours out of a 24 hour day. How does a mom manage to take a shower, eat or even enjoy a moment of reading when there are small people who fail to understand the concept of personal space? Even going to the bathroom alone can be a real challenge when there are small children around. Those few times when you actually do manage to sneak into the bathroom alone, you find yourself being accosted the moment you walk out the door by accusatory glares claiming that you are neglectful for daring to enter the bathroom alone.

In order to take care of yourself, you need to identify what you need and then arrange to have those needs fulfilled.

Start by finding a way to shower or bathe daily. (Okay, at least every other day...) This is important because when you are clean you feel refreshed and ready to tackle the world (or maybe just two needy toddlers).

Mange to eat at least one meal per day. Granted, you will probably be sharing that meal with random small people, but at least you will have fed yourself. Of course, you could opt to eat those things which children absolutely insist will surely cause them to die a painful death if eaten. After all, what child do you know that will eat anything with vegetables in it, and many good pasta dishes are just FILLED with vegetables.

Find an hour a day to do something that you enjoy. Maybe a bit of reading or enjoying a hobby for that hour (or maybe just ten minutes if you can manage) will remind you that there is more to your life than diapers and demanding demons - I mean children!

Cultivate you friendships. Talk with your friends about something other than children. Remember when you did not have children and you could talk with your friends for hours about nothing. It is important to continue having those conversations.

Cultivate your romance. Your partnership is just as important to your children as your attention. Take time to remind your partner why you chose him. Make time for dates and connecting with each other.

Remember that there was a life before kids.