My daughter received a calendar called “Every Day’s a Holiday,” featuring a special event for each day of the year for Christmas this year. I just glanced at it and saw that February 17th is Random Acts of Kindness Day. Now, of course, we all know some great ways to celebrate this day – paying for the person behind us at the Starbucks drive-through, holding the door for the mom trying to navigate her toddler and a stroller, helping a senior citizen with their groceries, etc.
But what about doing some random acts of kindness for yourself? Yes, moms, you heard me! I think we all need to be a little kinder to ourselves.
As moms, we’re always doing everything for everyone else, and sometimes we allow ourselves to get pushed aside or even get lost in the shuffle. We’ve all heard of self-care and how important it is. But I sometimes think as moms, we tend to feel guilty if we’re not focusing our attention on everyone else and instead focusing it on ourselves. Yes, I’m guilty of this too (pun intended!). So even if we decide to do something nice for ourselves like go on a quick shopping trip or take a break and watch Netflix for an hour, we’re thinking about all the other things we should be doing instead. But these breaks of self-kindness are how we can recharge to give ourselves to others around us.
I think it’s time to stop feeling this guilt – no matter how difficult it may be. We deserve to be kind to ourselves as much as we’re kind to our loved ones, and yes, even strangers! If we’re not taking care of ourselves, how can we be expected to care for everyone else without losing our minds?
Moms, please be kind to yourself.
If you’ve had a rough day, don’t beat yourself up about it, there’s a new day tomorrow. Take the time to do something for yourself, grab a coffee from your favorite cafe, read the latest bestseller, and binge your favorite series. Perhaps even taking the time to jot down a few ideas of how you’re feeling or some goals you’d like to accomplish in both the short and long term can help you see things more clearly. Doing the little things can add up and have big positive effects on the rest of your day and beyond.
