Day 102

What happened to the daily blogger I use to be? Where do some of these crazy-busy days go?
Despite a few missed blogging days, I'm exploring the idea of self-care, which I must admit is not easy for me because any phrase that sounds remotely Californian makes me slightly queasy.

But whatever you call it, the idea of looking after oneself is sound.  When I had small children, and lots of them, climbing all over me day and night, I would have rolled my eyes at anyone who talked about self care.  In fact, I wouldn't have got a full eye roll in because on the upward swivel of eyeballs I would have fallen deeply asleep with a bunch of children on top of me, like a pride of lions.  They were deeply exhausting years.

But now, magically, I wave my (warning: blatant maternal bias ahead) four fairly magnificent children off to school each day.  Bye! I say.  Have a great day! Love you, love you, love you, love you! And I send them off into the world and I experience a wave of amputee-like lightness.  I feel like I'm floating, or at least gliding, around my kitchen as I deal with post-breakfast dishes.

Hence time to think about things like self care, minus the eye rolling.  In the last fortnight, I've managed some laps in the pool and a Pilates class, neither of which are Herculian but both jolly-well impossible when you are caring for little people.  I've managed an unhurried walk with the dog.  I've had a nanna nap.  I've met my husband for lunch in a cafe.  I've had a haircut.  I must admit, I am positively giddy with the possibilities of the whole thing.

Then I see some poor mother who is trying to collapse a complicated pram with a baby under one arm with a toddler threatening to dart out into the traffic while she finds her keys and answers her phone and slams the car boot on her head, and I feel overwhelmed remembering the sheer unrelenting   scale that was each single day.  

I'm not sure what my point is exactly.  Be kind to mothers of small children everywhere.  Chances are they are tired, they are doing their very best and then some, they are wondering what happened to their life and they are worrying if they are doing any of it right.  Hold their baby, cook them a meal, tell them they are dong a wonderful job.  Just don't blab on about self care.

Love,

Indigo Kate x