Self Care: Investing in Me

The past nearly ten years of parenthood feels like a whole separate lifetime within an already somewhat seasoned existence. I’ve grown nearly as much as each of my children with each passing day of our lives, learning and understanding the vast abyss of love, empathy and the lessons in between that we all absorb of each other and within our environment. Early childhood with Jack, Zoe, Beau and Evangeline has been every extreme of wonderful, fascinating, frustrating and, at times, utterly draining.

Our tenth anniversary is coming up shortly, and Jack’s 10th birthday will be next year. Perhaps it’s the chunk of time and symbolism of a decade spent in the skin of motherhood that nudged at me to take stock of the changes in my mind and body. I decided early this year to adopt my normal vegetarian diet that I prefer when I’m not pregnant, and began exercising regularly; Swimming mostly and running in between. This new motivation to prioritize self care also meant that I needed to stop treating my skin like a twenty-something’s, by washing and moisturizing at night and applying a new product, No7 Protect & Perfect Intense Advanced Serum. It’s currently the UK’s best selling anti-aging serum and it’s clinically proven to reduce the appearance of lines and wrinkles within four weeks-not to mention it’s priced well and available at our favorite place, Target. Easy decisions make for easy habit forming

The time and dedication to making my own mental and physical health a priority has done wonders for my quality of life, my marriage and my ability to parent in a more productive, balanced way. I immediately noticed the changes in my energy levels and my overall attitude with the exercise and then came the changes in my skin and my body. The morning and evening routines of washing my face and using the No7 Serum for the past four weeks certainly has appeared to smooth my thirty-something-year-old skin, and I’ll tell you, I don’t have much time to be vain these days. I intentionally opt for less face-time with the mirror, but it feels good to look and feel glowy and vibrant. My lifestyle hasn’t been impacted remotely negatively since adopting these new routines and priorities, and I think that my kids have even recognized a difference in my attitude and energy levels, which is so important to me.

Personally, I’ve always really valued my time late at night to work, write, edit photos and watch brainless television. It used to be the only chunk of time where I knew there’d be complete solitude for my very own, but it came at a pretty steep price. The lack of sleep and bad snacking choices made for a bad combination in my mood and physical state the following day and cumulatively. Being deliberate about caring for my skin and sleeping routines has had an enormous effect on my attitude, and I think it starts with knowing that I’m worth it and I deserve to feel (and therefore look) as good as possible. My family deserves that, too.