Well, more like, let’s celebrate me making it to one year as a mom of two! Around this time last year, I started my maternity leave thinking that I would get XYZ amount of things done before baby #2 arrived. Nate arrived 2 weeks earlier than his due date, so while I didn’t get to knock more items off my to-do list, I did get some important stuff out of the way, including updating my wholesale catalog and prepping my Faire site to be launched. This paid off pretty tremendously for me later in the year.
Life of a mom of two is pretty different than that of one. I can write pages on being a first time mom to Em - the identity crisis, the I don’t know wtf I’m doing, and so on. With baby #2, the baby part is actually easy (plus Nate is pretty mellow, eats and sleeps fairly well). Having one baby puts you in a go, go, go mentality, but having 2 kids is 3x that (yes, 3x!). It’s hard to stop to think about what it all really means or feels like because one moment you’re tending to a tantrumming toddler to making sure the next baby’s isn’t going to bonk his head on something to…oh, what’s that email that came in from a retailer? to…ah, I’m behind making new cards for the upcoming holiday…
As I keep trucking along (my toddler loves his trucks, btw), there are a couple of daily reminders:
- Focusing on the positive - in the case above where I wanted to probably print 5 more cards before baby 2 arrived, I’m focusing on what I did achieve, which was setting up my wholesale part of my business
- One small thing - I told myself this everyday during my first month postpartum and onward. If I achieved one very small thing that day for myself, such as taking a shower or folding some clothes, that is enough. Now, on days where I’m flooded with thoughts of “not doing enough,” I bring myself back to that time in my life to give kudos for the one small thing I did get done.
- Keep going. Naturally, being a busy mom, that is just what you do, but what that also means for me is to not dwell on guilt (guilt is a topic for another day) and negativity so much. Pick a small thing to do and keep going.
- What is most important to you - It often feels like everything is important all the time, but if I take some time to really think about it, there are certainly some things that are far more important than others. My family, my health, our health - that is what’s most important. I would think that is obvious, but I know I’m guilty – when I’m trying to push myself to do more for this business side that I am neglecting doing something that is more beneficial for my health. And if I’m spending the extra time to, say, exercise, I am not being a disservice to myself or business for that. If I spend the extra 5-10 minutes to play with my kid, those minutes could mean everything to my little one, and there is nothing more important than that.
- Trust. Trust in myself. In this season where I’m practicing “self care,” sometimes I start to feel like I am now less productive, which is simply not true. I have always been a productive person, so I have to trust that I am still getting things done in a different pace and a more positive mindset.
