(Post) Mother’s Day Care
Mothers day has come and passed for the year of 2025. Did you know that one of the most requested gifts by a mother on mothers day is time alone in a hotel room? To any mom reading this, they probably understand completely and may even be able to relate. This is something that got me thinking of the “why” behind this. The answer may be very different to every mother. Maybe this is needing a break or a spot to unwind. Maybe this is needing time to focus on just oneself and no one else. Or maybe this is due to the lack of personal time in the day to day. Regardless of the answer this shares with me that there is a large need for mothers as it relates to individual time as well as self-care. That may sound funny and for some even impossible. As a mother, I can totally relate to this. Let’s look at some realistic ways to put time in place for self-care for mothers.
Self-care has always been something that is incredibly important to me. This has been easy or challenging based on the season of life I am in. I can 100% share that the season of motherhood has made it incredibly challenging for me to partake in self-care. Either plans change which has resulted in me putting my care on the back burner or I finally get to a point to participate in it but there is too much to do around the home to do so. I have made a few rules to follow to assist me with getting self-care weekly and if able, daily.
One boundary I have set up for myself with self-care is to eliminate multi-tasking. I had found that I often partook in time for myself at the end of the day but still felt drained and as if it never happened. But why? The answer was simple. My self-care was being shared with household tasks. Maybe it was folding laundry or doing dishes as I caught up on my show. Or moving my weights to my bedroom so I could organize or clean while attempting a quick workout. Regardless of what it was, it left me feeling more drained compared to filled due to the amounts of stress it caused for me to try and complete everything at once. One thing I quickly learned was the laundry or the dishes will still be there. While hard, it was important for me to take time and focus on myself compared to trying to care for everything else. In doing this, I was not only in a better and more fulfilled mood but I was also able to complete those tasks better due to being filled to do so.
Another thing that has assisted me with getting in self-care is pre-scheduling the time. As a planner, I have noticed I am more likely to follow through on this time if I schedule it out. With this, I have also learned to be flexible with what that time is. Instead of scheduling it as a specific activity for self-care, I plan this as open self-care time. This allows me to be open to what the activity is, read my body and my needs, and respond to what form of selfcare that I need.
Prioritizing time for yourself can be so challenging and at times maybe even feel impossible. My hope for this is to share some personal experiences in my struggles with self-care while also sharing tools or boundaries that have assisted me with prioritizing this time. Next time you are feeling drained or overwhelmed, let's take a quick check in to see what changes or boundaries need to be made to assist.
Written by: Jordan Allen
