Becoming a mom has come with its unique set of challenges. I am definitely grateful but suddenly not having time to yourself can be trying. That’s why self care has become extremely important to me because let’s face it, without self care, I would 100% lose my shit.

Given that I am a millenial (* do I hear you cringe?*), when I decided that I needed to incorporate some intentional self care in my daily routine, I youtube-d it. And lo and behold, every other person, who was talking about self care, wanted me to take several hours to myself EVERY DAY to do nothing. HAHAHAHAH ok. -_-

1. That’s not possible with a newborn
2. Let’s be realistic, is this ever possible even without a newborn? I am lucky if I get 20 minutes of peace and quiet these days. Yes, newborns sleep a lot but if you are a functioning adult who needs food or wants to take a shower or a shit (you do you boo!) then you are basically doing something when they are sleeping. Or, if you are me, you are napping and catching up on sleep.

However, this doesn’t mean that you can’t get some time to yourself. Here are 9 things I have been doing to make myself feel better each day.

1.  Spending time chatting with my baby

I know, I know, I am talking about getting time for myself and I want to spend that talking to my baby? I sound like I have lost my marbles but hear me out.
I am a C section mom, so in the first few days of her life, I couldn’t really talk to her or engage with her a ton without completely exhausting myself. Now that I have recovered, I am taking full advantage of it and I intentionally set aside an hour each day where I do nothing but talk to her.

I find that as a parent I can be quite overwhelmed, especially because she is only a month old, but if I put away all my electronics and just spend time talk to her, not only is it good for her language development, it also helps me relax! I have also noticed that when I do chat with her she starts babbling, which is really the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen a baby do!

2. Taking a 20 minute walk every day

Each day, I ask her dad to look after the baby for a minimum of 2 hours so I can get some me time. This can even be scheduled when she is taking a nap.

During this time I can take a shower, read or go for a walk. Since the weather has turned warmer, I have been opting for more walks instead of reading or sitting around.

3. Put some lipstick on

Something as simple as putting on some lipstick in the morning makes me feel put together and happy for the rest of the day.
Admittedly though the weather in Toronto is hot as shit right now so I have been avoiding putting lipstick on because I hate the melting feeling on my face. UGH.

4. Have some tea

Because tea is magic!

I lovvveee love love tea! I don’t care how hot it gets, tea always makes me happy!

5. Drink lots of water

Our little one is exclusively breast fed so drinking water is high on my priority list, especially on these hot days. AHHH GOD! SO HOT! Can we go back to winter already. DAMN IT!

I have the pink S’well bottle and it makes me feel oh so fancy even when I am just drinking water. You don’t need to have a fancy water bottle but I like having one so I use it!

6. Ask your partner for help 

7. Meditate

I do this by colouring in my mandalas! You can use one of those meditation apps too, here’s one that I am currently obsessed with

https://www.calm.com/meditate

8. Blog

I find that not only does blogging help me relax, it also helps me get organized when I can get my thoughts out on paper or in this case in a blog post.
I have always found blogging to be extremely therapeutic. Doesn’t matter if people are reading your blog or not, do it for yourself and perhaps your kid down the line.  It is also really fun to go back and read posts you wrote several years ago and see how you have grown as a person.

9. Eat well! 

I can’t stress this enough! Eating well gives you the energy to take care of your baby & yourself.

Mamas, I want to know how do you take care of yourself?

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Disclaimer: It took a while after Iman’s birth for me to start taking care of myself or to even figure out what I need to be doing & by no means do I have it all figured out.