Finding Balance in Motherhood
It can’t always be about “mommy and me” time. Francisca Dennis says sometimes it has to be all about you.
Embracing Motherhood’s Questions and Uncertainties
There aren’t many times in life where you experience the pure joy and anticipation of bringing a new life into this world. Pregnancy can also bring with it fears, doubts, and worries. Will I be a good parent? How will I balance my schedule? Private school or public school? Will my body ever go back to what it once was? And the very important question, How do I breastfeed when my baby has teeth?
Questions and uncertainties are common. As a mother of six, I’ve asked myself these questions many times (except for the breastfeeding one — I figured that out first out of the gate).
Navigating the New Normal
Once a little love bundle arrives, moms soon get settled into the cycle of feedings, diapers, laundry, sleep, and zombie-walking. It can be exhausting, to put it mildly, as our bodies and hormones regulate and our minds and daily routines adjust to the “new normal.”
Prioritizing Our Self Care Package Amidst Motherhood
Finding time for ourselves in the midst of all of this can be challenging — but so very important. It can feel altruistic to put everyone else’s needs before our own. Our partners, parents, other children, family, friends, and colleagues all want our time and attention, but we need to be sure that we are finding time in our busy new schedule to do things for our own mental, physical, and spiritual well-being. Taking a walk alone in nature, a workout at the gym, reading a book, meditating, taking a bubble bath — whatever it is that balances you, do it!
Embracing Your Post-Pregnancy Body
Now is the time to take in every precious moment with our newest family member and cherish it. Now is also the time to be gentle with ourselves, as well as with our words, thoughts, and expectations of ourselves. We just spent close to a year growing a human inside of us. Bouncing back into our pre-pregnancy jeans shouldn’t be a thought tormenting any of us.
Appreciating each moment as it is, adjusting to circumstances as they come, and being gentle with ourselves is truly the way to being joyfully content in this magical, beautiful time in our lives.
