Week Two

Sorry to keep you hanging. Life has been happening over here. Ms CJ had a little run-in with a double ear infection and a trip to the ER for dehydration.

How are you doing? A few people have been brave enough to post publicly and I've gotten a number of private messages. I'm always happy to talk with you via email. :)

For me, this week was kind of awesome for lots of reasons. The days I went barefoot out-of-doors were noticeably better.  It's getting a little chilly, but I think I'm going to make this a priority. The sunshine doesn't hurt, either. :)
I did just OK at going to bed the same time every night. It really affects my mornings if I stay up too late, so I'm going to do better at that. I've had some questions on anxiety. To be honest, I don't know much about it so I'm going to do some research and make that the subject of it's own post.

For now I'll leave you with the tasks for this week.

As Moms, we are pulled in so very many directions. They are all GOOD directions but it's hard to fully enjoy what we do because we feel as though we should be accomplishing more and do it faster.
This week, we will put an end to that.

1. Pick three things a day to accomplish. When you are in a state of depression, it can be hard to get anything done. Some days rolling out of bed is akin to climbing Mount Everest. So before you hit the sack, think of the three most important things to accomplish the next day and that is IT. If more things happen to get done, yay but judge your day only on those three things. On a really rough day the list can look like this:

• Shower
• make dinner
• read books to kids

         On a better day, it might look like this:

• finish Science project with Suzie
• bake bread
• vacuum

1. Pick a moment and savor the joy of what you are doing. Believe it or not, there can be joy in diaper changes, bath times, and temper tantrums. Looking for it, looking for the part we appreciate about the moment, helps make it worth while. The eye contact, the private jokes, the connection between you and the child, these are the joy of mothering. Getting in the habit of seeking out joy is an excellent path to improved mental health. 
2. If you are struggling more days than not, buy the 5-HTP supplement. As I've said before, it's less than $17 at Costco for an almost four month supply and has the added benefit of being an appetite suppressant so if you have a couple extra pounds to loose, bonus!

If you have a particular struggle, please comment or send me a message and I'll try to address it. Good luck this week. Enjoy the permission to slow down and savor the moment.

Disclaimer: I am not a medical doctor. This is not medical advice. If you feel like harming yourself or someone else, don't mess around. Tell someone you trust, then go to the emergency room. That feeling is not a joke, it's your fail-safe warning system that things are about to implode.