Yes you read that right, 33 animals. If you read my last blog you know that we had 30 a week ago. My husband picked up two adorable baby goats and a pretty handsome rooster this last week. The new grey baby goat is my favorite animal so far. He is super cute and loves when the kids pet him. Since I've written about how its been an adjustment for me to move into this lifestyle I thought it would be good to write about how I keep from going crazy when life gets overwhelming. Just a disclosure, there are still times that I lose my temper, its normal! But these are the things that keep me an over all healthy person.
I take my time. When you have a 2 year old you know that tasks can get derailed easily. I make sure I don't over schedule myself and give myself more than enough time to get things done and then some extra time in case something comes up, like a hungry baby or a forgotten toy at the store. When I'm not rushing to get a million things done, I'm more on top of my game. `
I drink green smoothies for breakfast. I really believe that changing your diet can change your life and I'm not talking about fad diets or cleanses, just diet in the sense of what you eat on a daily basis. When I have a green smoothie for (or with) breakfast, my skin looks better and I feel better physically. Keeping up good eating habits is a work in progress for me but when I have my smoothie I feel like I'm ahead of the game that day.
If I'm overwhelmed, I do the thing that will make the biggest impact. Some days that thing is just making dinner. Other days its choosing between mopping the floor and getting the laundry done. I know no one will really notice a mopped floor, but they will notice how easy it is to put their outfit together the next day. If my husband asks me for a favor, I know that will make the biggest impact on him if he feels he can count on me, so I'll neglect making dinner in favor of helping him out, and just grab a pizza.
I dance and sing in the shower. I'm pretty sure everyone does this. But I have my own personal Shower Songs playlist on Spotify. I put this on the list because I have noticed on the days I don't do this I actually don't feel as good about my day. In a group I follow on Facebook on femininity they actually talked about making your high value woman play list, it shouldn't have any songs that make you feel down, such as break up songs. My favorite song on my play list is Mariah Carey & Miguel's "Beautiful". (Edited: I've noticed that using aroma therapeutic products greatly enhances the effect of feel goodness lol. My recent favorite is the chocolate soap with lavender from Indi Chocolate in Seattle, $8.00 @indichocolate.com).
I try to make the house feel like my sanctuary. My house isn't the fanciest on the block but when I walk into it, I see things that make me happy, like my charcoal couches. Yesterday my husband hung a tire swing in the front yard for me, I've ALWAYS wanted a tire swing! Things like that make coming home feel nice.
I don't beat myself up. Like I said, some days all I can manage is cooking up some mac and cheese for dinner, like when I'm on my period, or I hear about some family drama. Those are also the days I tend to lose my temper. It's ok. I used to really put myself down until I realized that I'm on earth to be a good person and be happy, not to have the cleanest house or do the most errands. And everyone has bad days. I know that on other days I'll do better, and I try to see the best in myself.
I express my feelings. I let my husband know that it was an adjustment moving here and that I would need time to get used to it. If I hadn't been able to do that maybe our relationship would be filled with confusion and resentment right now, but instead its mostly filled with annoyance and appreciation. He is annoyed that I don't like picking up poop and appreciative that I feed the animals. I'm annoyed when he spends too much time with the animals, but appreciative when he surprises me with hot chocolate after work when I have a tough day. When I let my kids know how I'm feeling they know its ok to have a range of emotions and don't feel like my bad moods have to do with them. They know what kinds of things make me happy and sad and they learn to talk about their feelings.
I listen to my body. This helps me make adjustments to my life where needed. For example I recently decided to stop drinking coffee and alcohol. I never had an addiction to these things but I noticed that when I drink coffee it makes my skin go crazy and when I drink even half a beer I get headaches. I tend to get panic attacks when I'm tired or hungry so I make sure to rest and eat when I need it and before getting burnt out. I've had loved ones who had to drastically change their diets for health reasons. This really drove home to me how important it is that I listen to my body and take care of myself now as I'm entering my 30's.
I have a creative outlet. Like this blog for instance. And reading, learning new things, following and participating in Facebook groups where there's a common interest. Anything that can just be for me for mental and creative stimulation. Since I'm attached to my two year old 24/7 its nice to be able to mentally connect to something besides motherhood on a weekly basis at least.
I call my loved ones. This is something I really need every week at least, some weeks I need it almost daily. I call them to connect and see how they are doing, get ideas and opinions. I also vent to them so that I can get things out of my system and not dwell on it. When they let me know what's going on in their lives, it helps take my mind off my issues and make them not seem so dire, everyone is dealing with something. Of course I never want to call them just to unload negative energy, so I try to keep the conversation fun as well and thank them for being awesome.
So I'm pretty much a sane person thanks to those ten things lol. But I know there's always room for improvement, so here are three things I want to start doing in the next month or so that I think will benefit me and our family.
Having a routine. You would think that with all these kids and animals, I already should have one, but I tend to take quite awhile to adjust to things and I really just haven't gotten my routine down yet. I had a really great one at our old house but peoples schedules changed and needs changed etc, so this is something I'm still working on.
Working Out. After I had my two year old I was really unhappy with my weight and appearance so I started working out EVERY DAY for thirty minutes with 21 day fix. I felt awesome, but as she got older and harder to handle lol, I gradually stopped paying as much attention to my eating habits and stopped working out. I'm ready to start again though.
Date Night. My husband and I do NOT spend enough recreational time together and it really annoys me. Now that we moved out here most of our family is 30 minutes to an hour away and no one is really down to watch a 2 year old on the weekend lol. But this is definitely something I know will benefit our family so I will be looking for a way to remedy the situation.
So here is my list, how I keep sane and what I could improve on. I'll be updating you all on how the improvements go. In the meantime, let me know your favorite ways to keep sane in this crazy thing called life ;)
