Mama in the City

What do you do to make yourself feel taken care of? It's so easy to neglect yourself when life gets going in the day to day grind, but ultimately a little self care can go a long way. Sometimes I'm just satisfied that I get a chance to wash my hair and blow it out, which only happens twice a week. Yes, it's true, I'm a biweekly hair washer and have been known to push 5 days without washing my locks. It's a tiny bit cumbersome to have long hair and be a mother; which is how the biweekly hair wash sort of unfolded over time and the ponytail gets a lot more wear than it did in the years before. When it comes down to it, sometimes I just don't have the time for me.

For me, personal service speaks volumes when it comes to my own self care and subsequent balance. Think hair cuts, pedicures, eyebrow wax, etc. I spend a lot of time taking care of other peoples needs, be it my own children or working 1 on 1 with a labouring mother. So, I really try to make it a priority to carve out a tiny time slot for my own self care and I'm most certain that I'm a better mother/wife/nurse when I'm able to do these little things for myself. I truly feel on top of the game when my hair has a fresh trim and my eyebrows are groomed and there is a little glimmer to my face because I was able to exfoliate.

Early this morning I snuck out of the apartment as the baby had her morning nap and I went to my favourite coffee shop for my morning java. I was able to sit down at a table and drink my latte out of a real cup and saucer at my own pace and it was a total slice. After an extra early morning start the espresso was greatly appreciated and I appreciated being able to have 10 minutes to myself to just sit and be. After that I walked down the street and had a pedicure. Nothing fancy but totally perfect and I was able to do something that takes care of me a bit. Something about freshly painted toes makes me feel on top of things. Of course, life at home carries on and I soon got an urgent text from my husband asking me when I was coming home as Ben was under the weather.


Morning latte at Caffe Artigiano. Pedicure at Pure Nail Bar. Sick boy Ben sleeping on the couch.

This morning couldn't have come at a better time as I'm currently taking care of a sick boy and a sick husband. Two parents sick at the same time would be terrible and a sick baby would really suck big time too, so I'm being very vigilant with my disinfecting! When I'm able to take care of myself I know that I'm better able to take on day to day life just a bit more easily.

What do you do to take care of yourself?