Great Tips for Taking Care of Mom
1) Invest Time in Your Marriage
New babies quickly take most of the attention in a family, and the time you spend with your husband can quickly melt away with each new family member. Scheduling a regular date night and making it a priority has been a lifesaver for our marriage—and the benefits for a mom are too numerous to list. Simply dressing up, planning a date and enjoying adult conversation can quickly brighten a day filled with diapers and ABCs. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to have a great time. See www.KCParent.com for great free and cheap date night ideas in Kansas City. The time invested in your marriage, and remembering romance, can be vital to refilling your tank as an expectant or new mom.
2) Teach Your Child Independence
As a mom, it is often easier to do things ourselves than to delegate. The incentive of independent children hardly seems worth it when your child spends twice as much time accomplishing a task as you would and the result is half as good. However, I learned quickly that investing time in teaching my children to be independent was worth it.
This is also an excellent time to begin teaching basic chores. Little ones can help feed pets, match socks, put away some laundry, dust furniture and even sweep up simple messes with small brooms. Older children can pitch in even more. Every simple task your child can do not only helps teach them responsibility, it also makes your job easier in the long run, decreasing your stress and saving time.
3) Eliminate or Decrease Daily Hassles
Let’s face it. We all have certain daily tasks that quickly become tiring, especially when we’re pregnant or nursing.
To eliminate some of those daily hassles, we “toddler proofed” the house. This simply meant making “safe things” accessible to the girls so they didn’t need my help as much. For instance, each day I put fresh sippy cups in the fridge where the girls could reach. When they were thirsty, they helped themselves and knew to put them back in the fridge. This simple routine gave me a few more minutes of rest each day and set us up for success when baby came and needed to nurse without interruption. Likewise, we still keep some healthy snacks accessible (with the rule to ask Mom first), appropriate toys and activities within reach (with the rule to put away one activity before starting the next), as well as paper towels and baby wipes so they can even handle a simple clean up in a pinch.
4) Rest, Relax, and Reconnect
Finding that moment of rest, so strongly prescribed for pregnant ladies by well meaning doctors, can be difficult at best. Whether your children nap or simply spend some quiet time with a book, it helps everyone in the family to have a bit of quiet time each day to rest and refresh. For expectant or new moms, this can be invaluable in refueling your energy tank. Take advantage of the opportunity to read a book or blog, catch up with a friend or take a catnap. Try to spend at least 15-30 minutes relaxing each day, even if a mountain of laundry is calling your name.
And, don’t forget to connect with friends every day. Whether you have an email buddy, use Facebook to chat, call on the phone or play at the park with a neighbor, connect with other moms for needed encouragement and support. If possible, join a local moms’ group to meet other moms in your community.
Kristina Light lives in Kansas City with her husband and three daughters.