Survival Mode

Survival Mode

Wellness is an ACTIVELY pursued state of being. For many mommas, myself included, personal wellness is something put on the back burner.

Anyone who has flown on a commercial airline knows the flight attendants always talk through what to do in an emergency. When it comes to cabin pressure dropping, the attendant always says to "place the oxygen mask on yourself before assisting others".

It makes sense right? You cannot take care of anyone if you are rendered unconscious by oxygen depletion!

For many working mommas like me, finding time for personal wellness is a huge challenge. We have to balance children, housework, sleep, and work.

*FULL transparency*

The last few weeks have been rough for me. Colds, croup, teething, parties, holidays... I had three weeks of laundry (washed thankfully) piled on the chairs in my bedroom, a stack huge of papers on my desk, piles of "things to do" on every normally clean surface, and dishes for days. Let's not even discuss what happened to my usually well kept yard (broken sprinkler lines).

I picked my mom up from the airport at 1:00 a.m. a week back -- or was it two? After a couple hours of sleep, I ended up packing up the girls and driving to Starbucks for coffee. I try to avoid buying coffee, but I hadn't been grocery shopping in weeks and there was none left in the pantry. When I got home with a coffee for me, a coffee for mom, and a croissant for my toddler, my Momma intervened. She told me a story.

When I was a little girl, she had apparently had a few weeks just like I had been having. Laundry piled high on her bed. She, like me, just didn't know where to begin. She had let her personal wellness go trying to do it all. She was sitting in the pile of laundry and was very upset. Little two-year-old me apparently climbed up and said "mommy, I help." Instead of becoming more frustrated at the fact that her very young daughter was offering to help her with a "mommy chore" she thanked my for my offer and then took me out to play. She realized that sometimes, you have to enter survival mode, which still includes prioritizing YOUR personal wellness!

Full circle, sometimes we just need intervention. Sometimes we just need to enter survival mode. Sit down, write out everything you WANT to get done, and then mark everything you NEED to get done. Take the tasks in small increments... Set a timer! Fold five things and put them away every 10 minutes. It works. I was then able to move on to other things, like addressing the piles and clearing the surfaces (a must for me; clutter gives me anxiety). I've made it a goal to set a small load of laundry in the dryer each night on a timer, so that it is ready to be transferred to the dryer when I get up in the morning, and to keep the counters clear.Mind you, I am still in survival mode.

I am not organizing the boxes in my garage.

I am not deep cleaning my home.

I am not sticking to my "chore chart".

I am keeping it together. I am exercising, eating well, and getting sleep. I am doing my work to the fullest, and taking care of my children.

Survival mode doesn't mean we are "a bad mom". It means we a human. Life is messy. Sometimes it falls apart and we are stuck picking up the pieces for week, or even years.