If mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy

We’ve all heard the saying, yet in practice as moms, we often put our happiness last. I strongly hold a value that my happiness should be a big priority in daily life, yet I often feel so guilty when I do things specifically because I know they will make me happy.

I see it over and over in my life, my friends and people out in the world- when mama is stressed so is the family. Of course, the aim is not to stay stress free. The most stressful thing you can do is try to avoid stress, it’ll find you! You can stay a part of society and all of it’s stress and do things to help make you happy, peaceful, loving, kind…On almost a daily basis, I’ve found much of my stress is relieved with an afternoon nap, easy peasy. (easy once your child takes regular afternoon naps, contact me for help with this if needed)

For the secret to a great family where each member loves to belong, I think we moms could literally disregard every other piece of parenting advice and focus on this one thing- our sanity, happiness, peace. Write out a list of things that you NEED for your sanity, your peace. Such as 5 min of time for meditation, journaling; at least 10 min of exercise or walking per day; a relaxing bath at least once a week. Keep track of the most important, like you would your kids soccer games, and I can guarantee you happier kids, a happier partner and happier family overall. Because if mama happy, everyone happy.