Running on empty...

Rushing to get the kids fed and ready, lucky to have gotten a shower and clean cloths on, driving to therapy after therapy, traffic, bills, tantrums, meltdowns, stress, illness, confusion...sound familiar?  As parents we want whats best for our kids, and would do anything on this planet to provide it, but what happens when you're at the point of being just empty.  Suddenly all of the things you used to handle well, aren't going so well anymore.  You're tired.  It's 3pm and you realize you haven't eaten or had anything to drink (other than coffee) yet today.  Can you function like this?  I know I can, but for how long?

I found myself thinking about this a few weeks ago.  We feed both of our children a healthy, well balanced diet.  We spend hundreds of dollars a month on organic non-GMO food (as well as GFCFSF) to ensure they have a healthy future ahead of them.  We want them to eat these foods so that we don't increase their risk for tumors, cancer, hyperactivity, immunity issues, as well as other conditions.  I was sitting thinking about how little we care for ourselves as parents.  What good am I to my children if I get sick?  Who will take care of them?  Can others care for them like i would?  If I don't take care of myself then I can't take care of them. 

My point is, it is ESSENTIAL that in order to care for our children we HAVE to care for ourselves and stop running on empty.  Fill your tank!  Get plenty of sleep.  Drink plenty of fluids (but obviously still including that coffee of course!).  Make sure you eat meals.  Find an outlet for your stress.  Get exercise.  Make sure you make it to your own appointments! (yearly check-ups, dentist, optometrist)  If you need help ask for it and accept it. There is nothing wrong with that!  You're not super woman and there is no need to be!  Take time to play with your kids and just enjoy them!  (I find I'm so therapy focused that sometimes I forget that when the kids are playing I should be having fun too!)  Take some time to relax and do some reading. 

A few weeks ago I began to work on this.   I started to go to bed earlier.  I began to eat, not just eat but eat organic.  I began drinking more teas.  On Mondays there is a time between running errand and picking up Peanut when Sassy will fall asleep in her car seat and I have 30-45 minutes of time.  I decided I should take that time for me.  Not for paperwork or phone calls, but for me.  I park in the schools parking lot and I just sit.  I may read a book, I may listen to music, or I may just sit and take in the silence.  I have to say I have felt amazing!  It's crazy what a shower, nutrition sleep and quiet can do for a person! 

I mentioned I had been prying more.  Spending time with God will help to melt that stress away.  The more I did this the better I felt.  We need to care for our spiritual lives as well as our physical ones.  I notice a difference on the days when I get caught up in everything that is my life and I am too busy for God (I know that sounds terrible but I know it's true for many of us).  These are my bad days.  These are the days when I feel that tight stressed feeling in my chest.  These are the days when I need God the most, and my kids feel it too.

Psalm 62: 1-2 says, "My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him.  He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken."

God Bless all of you!

Mommy Provost