Three For Me
You know how you always put everyone else first?
You know… the way that your needs and wants are always shoved to the bottom of the list because making sure everyone else is happy and healthy is more important.
Yeah, sure, you know logically that you need to take care of yourself in order to be able to take care of everyone and everything else, but in reality, there just never seems to be enough time, and your ‘things’ don’t seem quite so important when you stare down that mile long To Do list.
Or is it just me that falls into this pattern again and again?
It’s not that I don’t think I am worthwhile. It is not that I don’t think looking after myself is important. It’s not even that I think I am the only one who can possibly take care of everything in my family. It’s just that when I get busy, I forget all of that and it’s just easier to drop my things off the list rather than try and work out another way.
But it’s not a good thing. I leads to me being stressed, and run down and I know that by not looking after myself I am not setting the example I’d like to for my children.
I have to change things. I want to change things. But change can seem, huge and scary and impossible when you already feel stretched to your limits. So, inspired by some friends on Twitter, I am going to take baby steps and just go with some small changes. Just three, small changes to be exact.
Three For me!
The ‘three for me’ idea is simple. I have written a list of things that I need to do to take care of myself. The things on the list vary from easy to more difficult, from things for my health to things for my well being, and things just for pure enjoyment. Each day I am going to do three things off that list.
Sure, some things on that list are things I should do every day anything, but that’s the idea, I want this to be achievable. I want to be more aware of my own needs, and to value them more. I want to get to the end of the day and feel good about myself, not beat myself up for not managing to do everything on my list. So the idea is that this is simple and easy.
My list looks a little like this:
Three For Me
- drink water
- eat fruit and veg
- read a book
- time alone
- walk and/or run
- spend time outside
- bed by 10pm
- draw/paint/create
- stretch
- be thankful
- shower exercises
- music for me
So who’s with me?
Who needs to take just a little bit of time each day to take care of themselves?
Who can fit in just three things a day, three things just for you?
That’s an awesome idea. And awesome isn’t a word I generally use!
I seem to be at the bottom of the list too!!! It is absolutely a mum-thing. Great idea, I’m not sure what my 3 could be, I’m almost finished my degree, so each uni/prac day could be for me…. but I’d settle with a nice hot cuppa without interruptions first though I think!
Lauren
I think you should ‘quiet moment for a cuppa’ on your list of possible things, that is as important as anything else on my list! :)
LOVE this idea. Not sure I could fit 3 things into each day. I might start by trying 1 ‘me thing’ each day. Walk, bed for 10 and drink water each day would also be on my list!
Try putting really easy things on your list… thinks like ‘drink water’ and ‘eat fruit/veg’ are things I usually do every day anyway. That means I only have to do one more thing and I’ve reached my goal. The aim is not to bog myself down with even more to do, but realise that doing things for myself is important too :)
If I don’t have to shower every day. I might be able to do this. Can I eat fruit in my Sangria? ooohhh… I think I will stretch now. I forget how good that feels ! Thanks for the reminder!
Fruit in your Sangria definitely counts! I reckon just stopping to have a Sangria and breath for a moment should totally be on your list, and look… you’ve just done two items already, with one glass of Sangria!! LOL
Three for me sounds like the best idea I’ve ever seen on the internet. I’m certainly getting tired of all the do-this-for-your-child-or-you-suck-as-a-mom-and-then-make-this-and-that-and-cook-this-and-then-that-and-diy-this that I am finding more and more on blogs, rather than just reality for mothers. Thanks for telling it like it is! I’m with you!
Thank you…. I do tend to put mostly positive things on my blog, but I hope I also manage to keep it fairly ‘real’ as well.
I am also so over this whole ‘balance’ idea that women can ‘have it all’ and ‘do it all’… I can’t, and it just stresses me to try. I can’t find time to exercise away from my kids every day, I just can’t manage that right now, but I can do three small things for me each day and be thankful for that :)
I agree that it is so important, actually everything you said is what I’ve felt recently. I have 5 kids, one of which is a baby, so we still have very disturbed nights. I am tired and emotionally ragged and everyone is feeling the brunt of that. It’s easy to say that I need time to re energise, not necessarily so easy to do. In amongst all the demands of motherhood it’s far too easy to stick myself at the bottom of the list or feel guilty that I’m making myself a priority. I’m so glad to see that I’m not the only one with all of these thoughts and feelings. Thanks for sharing.
You know… when our kids are little I think it is natural for most Mums to put their kids and their family first. I know that is exactly what feels right for me at this time in my life, it is what makes me happy. So I’ve given up this crazy idea of ‘balance’ and of ‘doing it all’ but I’m trying not to give up on myself entirely… I’m hoping that just thinking about doing something for myself each day will be good for me and my family
A lovely idea Kate – I am going to try it too.
That is a lovely idea Kate. Three is achievable!
I wanted to ask what your show exercises are though :)
Hmm let’s see… I hid behind the counter and shoved a handful of chocolate chips into my mouth (oh ok, three), I breathed a few times today, and I read ten chapters of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane to my kids. That may not seem like a “thing for me”, but if I can’t read a book of my own, I may as well read one for them. And it is so wonderful!! I honestly don’t know who likes it more! And the fact that my four year old sits as well as my almost seven year old to read a chapter book kind of speaks volumes. So there are my three things. I guess I’ll have to shower tomorrow, yet again……