"Take Care of You" Tuesday!

I'm going to start a new theme for moms on my Tuesday blog posts - "Take Care of You!" Each week I will post a reminder / suggestion to take care of yourself. Too often as moms (especially those of you who are moms to children with disabilities) we are so busy taking care of other people that we neglect ourselves. This is not good! We are much less beneficial to the people around us, our children included, when we aren't taking good care of ourselves. I see too many moms who are not taking care of their basic needs each day - eating meals, getting sleep, showering regularly - and it takes a toll on how they feel and how they function.

One of the side-effects of treatment I see for the families at our office is that moms begin taking more time to care for themselves. As families progress in treatment, and the crisis fades away, I notice more moms doing their hair regularly, putting on some make-up, allowing themselves to sit in our waiting room and read a gossip or fashion magazine - doing things that make them feel good about themselves and allow them to have some fun!

Some of you may be asking yourselves how I can possibly think this is important when there are so many obstacles you face with your children and so many other things that need to get accomplished in a day. Here's what I know about myself - when I look bad, I feel bad...when I don't take care of my basic needs, I am less effective at taking care of my family's needs...when I don't take at least a little time for myself, I get crabby and resentful...and with all of these things comes a sense of guilt because I know I am not functioning the way I want to for myself or my family.

So - in the spirit of encouraging all of us moms to take some time for ourselves and to do things that makes us feel good about ourselves, I'm going to give a suggestion or idea for you to fit into your schedule on a weekly basis.

This week - FINGER NAILS
When is the last time you really looked at your finger nails? Nails are the kind of thing that we often forget about, but the people we interact with see them all day long...and, let's face it, they can get pretty shabby looking at times! Even if you have a tendency to bite your nails, some routine maintenance can still be beneficial. This week let's all take a look at our hands/nails and spend a few minutes sprucing them up. Give them a good scrub with soap and sugar to get rid of dry skin (and with the winter we have had in Michigan - our hands are DRY!). Pick out a great-smelling lotion and moisturize those freshly-scrubbed hands. Take a nail file and shape your nails however you like them. If you like polish on your nails then go ahead and take the time to do that too! Even if you don't like color polish, a quick coat of clear polish makes them nice and bright and no one will notice when it starts to wear off! When you're done your hands will feel great, your nails will look better, and your outlook on the day will be a little brighter because you took some time to do something good for yourself.

I'm off to take care of my nails...until next week,
Nicole