Breathe first!

I'm not sure if I can state this generally, but I have the gut feeling I can speak for all mothers here. Mamas, we do not take enough time for ourselves. (Speaking for myself, I definitely don't.)

Isn't it so easy for us mothers to forget about ourselves, to always put our children and family before ourselves? Aren't we reprogrammed, the moment we give birth, to dedicate every second of the rest of our lives to the wellbeing of our babies?

It's of course a very logical natural phenomenon. And it all perfectly makes sense out of an evolutionary point of view. After all, we're just another mammal mother fighting for the survival of our offspring.

However, never taking time for ourselves doesn't, in the end, make us a better mum. It makes us stressed, unhappy, and tired. We need time to unwind, to feel good about ourselves, to be happy and loving and patient.

I recently thought about the safety procedures in an airplane. I always specifically notice (probably because it is so counter-intuitive) the phrase 'please put on your own oxygen mask before helping your child'. I would always think of my babies first!

But it makes sense, doesn't it -- we need to be able to breathe first, before we can help our children to breathe. 

It's so perfectly simple: we need to look after ourselves in order to be able to look after our children. We need to breathe first. We need to clear out our busy minds. Because there's no way we can look after them well if we don't look after ourselves!

xxx Esther