Relax

Rule #1 of motherhood: Relax! "Rest when the baby rests." "Take a break." "Make time for yourself and your husband." "Leave the messes." "Don't try to be superwoman." Do you know how many times in my 3 years of being a mom I have heard this advice? Like a million. Do you know how many times I have actually heeded this advice? Maybe a handful of times. Well, that isn't entirely true. My mother in law takes Liam for a few hours every week which gives me a ginormous break. That's pretty much how I keep up with the blog (and my sanity). But, sometimes when I have a bad day Paul will come home from work and volunteer to watch the kids while I relax for a few minutes and I never let him. When I am home with the kids and Brygit is napping and Liam is entertained, I use the opportunity to make dinner or clean house. I have had a hard time being my own boss because I am so much harder on myself than anyone else would ever be. On Paul's days off I am so much more at ease. I have the extra help, yes, but I also choose to rest a bit more. I don't feel like every ounce of energy needs to be poured into the kids and the house. So, this week I did a little experiment. I tried to just relax. Take it a little easier. Don't sweat the small stuff. Let me tell you, my results were amazing! For starters, I felt a lot better. But what I didn't expect to happen was that I actually became more productive. It's kind of weird how it happened. For example, with my reserved energy, I decided to go grocery shopping. That may not sound like a huge challenge for most people but I have been so petrified of taking both kids to the store alone that I still hadn't done it. On a whim, I decided I should go. I had the mindset of, "what's the worse that could happen? If it's a total disaster I will just leave with what is in my cart." And it was so easy. A complete success. When I came home, I didn't rush to put the groceries away or stress about Brygit not staying down for her nap or Liam whining because his lunch wasn't done fast enough. I just relaxed. And breathed. I always knew that I should do it but I honestly never tried. From now on, this is going to be my advice for new moms. Just relax. Young children can make you feel like everything is an emergency. But it's not.