Occasionally, a mom will see me post a picture of something and in the background, there are toys everywhere or a laundry basket and say something like, “oh, I’m so glad it’s not just me that has stuff everywhere.” There was a point in time where I would have gotten upset by this, maybe made excuses of why it was there or internally beat myself up over it.

I don’t do that anymore.

I have come to learn that babies don’t keep, toddlers grow into teens, and life passes by way to quickly.

Part of my self-care is to get my workouts in, and if that means waiting until later to do the laundy, then screw the laundry! I’m not going to chose between spending time with the kids, going to fun events or playdates, (which is part of self-care, too) and doing housework. Housework and laundry will always take a back seat to this.

I’m not saying never do laundry or household tasks again. I’m just saying sometimes, it’s just not that important, you feel me? You have to come to a point in your life where you just say that’s okay, this can wait.

Part of that has to do with boundaries and letting go of the guilt we as moms place on ourselves. Putting your needs as a priority is NOT selfish, even though we may think it is. This is the farthest thing from the truth. When we do and do and do as moms do, we become depleted, completely drained and empty without recharging ourselves. If we cannot recharge, we have nothing left to give. We need to take care of ourselves to be able to give to those in our lives who are important to us.