Becoming a wife and a mother has been the most rewarding and at the same time most strenuous, experience of my entire life!

I feel like everything I do affects another human being. Like every choice I make affects my family.

When I’m stressed, everyone feels it. When I’m unhappy, everyone loses. When I don’t feel well, no one feels their best.

As parents, we provide for our children and try to set a good example. We want to prepare nutritious meals, have the energy to play, be happy and gentle at all times, and nourish them as no one else can.

But in order to do this, we first need to take care of ourselves, so that we can best take care of them.

Have you ever noticed that you become irritable or tired when you haven’t been eating well? That you’re quicker to anger if you haven’t had enough sleep? You may have noticed that you’re fonder of your children when you’ve been away from them, compared to the days they cling to you at every moment.

Sometimes it feels great when they need you, and other times you think “Can’t I just go to the bathroom in PEACE!”

I totally hear you. And this is all NORMAL.

We all need good nutrition, adequate sleep, downtime, and some degree of personal space. When we ignore these needs, no one really benefits. It may be possible to make it through short periods of poor nutrition, lack of sleep, lack of exercise, lack of (fill in the blank) without too much trouble, but at some point these deficiencies will catch up and take a toll on your body and mind. This will in turn affect everyone around you, including those you were working so hard to please.

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So what can you do?

Make self-care an essential component of your day; EVERY DAY.

Maybe today you will focus on a healthy meal, and tomorrow you will take a long bath. Wednesdays could be “mummy goes out” night, and Saturdays could be “mummy sleeps in” day.

Get creative. Make a schedule. Get a babysitter. Do whatever it takes to incorporate some time for YOU into your life. And by the way, the time you spend at work doesn’t count!

If you don’t do this for yourself, sooner or later you will be:

1. Run down
2. Setting yourself up for irritability and lashing out
3. Sending a message to your children that your needs aren’t important
4. Increasing your chances of developing health issues

One area which is especially important in the raising of little people, is nutrition.

Your body requires specific combinations and levels of nutrients to support itself and to function normally.

For example:

The liver needs a certain set of nutrients to remove wastes and toxins from your system, while your cells require a completely different set to produce energy.

Likewise, your brain needs the right materials to produce the neurochemicals required to stabilise your moods, and your glands need the proper ingredients to produce the hormones that will dictate your sleep patterns, metabolism, fertility, sex drive, and so much more.

And that’s just YOUR body. You’re also in charge of feeding your children, whom have increased needs because they are growing.

Here’s a good place to start:

1. Switch from processed foods to whole foods.
2. Choose foods which are high in nutrients (think dark leafy greens over white bread)
3. Avoid added chemicals

Do you have any other tips to add? Please share in the comments below.

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