Self-Care Giveaway for Yummy Mummies

May 5, 2012 by ·

I saw a new counsellor yesterday and one of the questions she asked me was how much time I get for myself every week. I wasn’t sure how to answer that – is the time I spend blogging while sitting (on the floor) outside Connor’s room at night waiting for him to go to sleep “me” time? Not really. Lately time for myself involves lying down for a few minutes so I can get through the evening without falling over. (Whoever said the 2nd trimester was supposed to be good was clearly just trying to give pregnant women in the 1st trimester some hope.)

I’m not really good at self-care (is anyone?) but I do know how important it is. So I’m going to help one of you get some more of it.

I am happy to share two opportunities you won’t want to miss. Just write your favorite self-care activity in the comment section below for a chance to win a Yummy Mummy Self-Care Package from me and Renee Trudeau. I’ll draw a name randomly on Mother’s Day and the winner will receive:

mothers-guide-to-self-renewal-cover

Bonus! Anyone can enter to win the mega Yummy Mummy Year-of-Self-Care by visiting the Live Inside Out Facebook page and sharing a reply to this question: “What does self-care mean to me?”

Enter my giveaway below. And make sure you take some time for yourself today.

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Filed Under: Happy things, Motherhood, Stuff I like · Tagged With:

Away

May 1, 2012 by ·

We (the collective we) do this all the time, don’t we? We say, “We should go away for the weekend.” Or, “I need a vacation.” We look wistfully at pictures of serene (or exciting) places and reminisce about the last time we had a proper vacation. And then we sigh and carry on.

I’m horrible about doing this. I work for an airline and the only time I used my flight benefits in the last four months was to go to Blissdom (which was handy, to be sure). People I work with go to Vegas for the weekend or to the next province for the afternoon. Or to Amsterdam for 3 days.

I’m not quite that ambitious, but we have talked about going to San Diego for a weekend. I’d like to go back home and see friends and family. I’d really like to book myself a tropical vacation but it might be a while before that happens. (Although… baby-moon? Maybe.)

As we were coming up to Easter I started to muse aloud about going away for the weekend. Just an hour from here, into the mountains. We needed a change of scenery.

So we went.

frozen-river

Frozen, but not for long.

 

As is typical, it was a last-minute decision. My mom had come to visit and my brother had gone to Australia (for two days – on flight benefits. See what I mean?) and my pregnant-with-twins sister-in-law was here on her own. So we decided to take them with us.

coal-bridge

Somewhere in there, they're fly fishing under the coal bridge.

 

It took me a while to find a place that (a) had a vacancy and (b) would be able to sleep our odd assortment of family. But I found one, we shipped the dog to my mother-in-law’s and went.

We didn’t even do a lot – none of the adventurous things I had been pondering. We went for dinner. We went for lunch. We hid Easter eggs. And we walked.

tracks-in-the-snow

A ha! O ho! Tracks in the snow. Whose are these tracks and where do they go?*

 

Out there in the silence, with occasional sounds of crunching snow, it’s easy to feel like a mere speck in the universe. Other things fade away and life’s most basic things are what feel important. Like sunshine and flowing water. Like tracks of animals who came before and who worry less about work-life balance and more about the balance of existence.

 

rattling-stick-on-bridge

Every kid has to rattle a stick on a bridge once in his life.

 

And like the first time a small boy rattles a stick on a metal bridge.

worn-wooden-bench

Who was Daisy? And did she find peace in the mountains?

 

This environment suggests quiet and observation. It makes me stop and think. And it leaves me with a feeling I can’t describe.

 

heart-graffiti

No words necessary.

 

Which is fine, because sometimes no words are necessary.

 

*For bonus points, name that (very good) children’s book.

Filed Under: Happy things, Photos · Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Power of Truth

April 26, 2012 by ·

It’s been five days since the antenatal depression light clicked on. Five sleeps. Five sunrise-sunsets. Five turns of the Earth. And everything actually feels okay in my world.

No matter what the situation, I always feel better once I recognize it. An anxiety attack is less end-of-the-world when I realize it’s a momentary and not entirely logical reaction to something (even if I don’t know what that something is). The stones at what looks like the fast-approaching bottom fall away to reveal solid ground beneath me. And I stop feeling like I don’t know what I’m going to do next.

I don’t know if it was the recognizing of it or the saying of it or the writing of it. But that truth took away some of the power this illness has and gave it back to me.

There’s always power in truth. Whether you admit it to yourself or the whole world, saying it helps dissipate the darkness. I know this, and yet I have to learn the lesson every time.

I’m not saying everything is better or that this won’t still be a battle at times, but I am feeling better. And, for now at least, I’m sleeping in my bed instead of hiding in it.

Thank you for all the comments and words of love – both here and elsewhere.

xo

carousel

Image credit: auro on Flickr

Filed Under: Happy things, Pregnancy · Tagged With: , , , , ,

In the Softening Light

April 19, 2012 by ·

We lie in bed, cozy under the covers, as the light outside slowly fades. We read stories, talking about the pictures and why things work the way they do.

landscape-at-dusk

Credit: Roads Less Traveled Photography, Flickr

“How does that move?”

“Where did they get the wheels from?”

“What makes it go?”

After each question, a pause, and an “oh.” He’s listening.

He rubs his eyes, then my wrist. Still his safe spot.

“I want to hug you for finding my lizard,” he says, and he does.

“I love you, mummy.” His voice is soft and small. “You’re the best.”

When the stories are done and the lights are out, he is quiet but my mind is not. I think about what I did today.

Is that one little thing important?

Five years from now, will what I spent my time doing make a difference?

50 years from now, will it even matter that I was there?

These are the things I think about in the softening light.

 

***

My family has been in town and Connor has been sleeping in our bed for the last week. While it’s not something we would choose on a permanent basis (though more often than not someone ends up in his bed with him for at least part of the night) I do enjoy it. I love the little hand that reaches for mine in the night, his gentle heat and that barely-there-but-still-audible breath punctuated by small sighs. 

It makes me think a lot about what’s important.

Filed Under: Conversations with Connor, Happy things, Motherhood · Tagged With: , , , ,

My Proud Mommy Moment

April 19, 2012 by ·

You know those people who always say the right thing and appear to leave lemon drops and lollipops in their wake? My friend Kir is like that. She has never said anything that hasn’t made me smile. Not ever. She litters her comments and messages with x’s and o’s and means every one of them. She is sweet and supportive and wise and I think sometimes we underestimate how important people like that are to the world.

I don’t anymore, especially not where she’s concerned. Every interaction with her feels like a blessing, and that’s why I was so honoured when she asked me to guest post for her Proud Mommy Moment series.

I’ve chosen to share something recent that is lighting up my life right now, and I’d love it if you’d visit me at Kir’s and read it.

Photobucket
Comments here closed. Talk to me there!

Filed Under: Conversations with Connor, Guest posts, Happy things, Motherhood · Tagged With: , ,
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