The life of a working mom (or at least this one) during the early days of COVID-19 was busier than ever. We needed to prioritize the things that matter most.
During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, my days as a working mom at home with a preschooler and a kindergartner were the busiest they had ever been. And we haven’t driven to our typical activities going about our typical routines in months. From the online school assignments and virtual classes, checking over worksheets, helping with handwriting, making lunches, monitoring what they watched on the screens and getting in some movement throughout the day, this was the life of a working mom (or at least this one) in the age of COVID-19.
During spring 2020, I was well aware that the days were becoming warmer and the sun was staying out longer. When spring cleaning time came around, which for many means a time to organize and declutter, it didn't mean that for me. Not right now, anyway. I couldn't clean my closet or keep up with the laundry or any other number of extra things, such as cook gourmet meals (we ate a lot of broccoli and gluten-free pasta) or watch a movie (unless I wanted to dip into my sleep time).
Working moms working from home and taking on the teaching responsibilities for their kids needed more support than we ever had and we needed it now. We couldn't do it all or be expected to do it all, and that’s where self-care can help.
I do prioritize self-care every day with a variety of practices: sleep, yoga, exercise, meditation, journaling and more. I need to fill up my cup with self-care so that I can do everything I did today again tomorrow.
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Although weekdays blended into weekends, I saw great gift in those early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. And I have great appreciation that I was fortunate to be with my children during this very different time. To give them hugs throughout the day and to actually serve them lunch are little things I do not normally get to do when I am not with them during the weekday. I found myself looking forward to simple things, things we didn't ordinarily do in our ordinarily busy lives. Things like our (almost) daily family walks where we can walk around the block just before the sun sets when it’s not too crowded, creating short family comedy films (my husband’s idea), riding bikes and playing hopscotch. Simple. And so grateful for these.
The closet and the stacks of papers, and the unfolded clothes and the dishes (well, at least some of them) had to wait. There were more important things that needed me.
I did what I could. We all did. The only way to go is forward. Keep moving forward.
Practice It: Your Favorite Self-Care Practices From This Website
From breathing exercises, to journaling prompts, check out the self-care ideas on this site and spend time every day to fill up. Repeat often!