Mom, It’s Never Wrong to Take Care of Yourself
Mom, it’s never wrong to take care of yourself. The bond between a mother and a child begins at conception. As soon as the mother becomes aware of the life growing in her, an overwhelming joy overtakes her and she can’t wait to see this new life come out of her after nine (9) months.
It was a great joy when I first held my first child, the bond and the love was great as a new mother and wanted to do everything possible to make him happy.
The little sound or cries draws me straight to him to find out what’s going on with him. He was my joy and my life and I wanted to be there for him no matter what, to sacrifice my life and time to make him happy.
You may think that this joy of being a mother ends with only the first child but no, it continues to the other children you might give birth to later.
This bond between mother and children makes them want to be everything to their children, making them ‘super women,’ multi-tasking to make the children happy.
Her desire is to see her children well catered for, happy, strong, disciplined, responsible, and healthy who fits in any place in society, guiding them to fulfill their destiny.
As a godly woman, she depends on God to help and direct her to nurture the children in a godly manner that pleases God and brings them to the fulfillment of their purposes.
Mother’s hands are always full
The mother having in mind to take good care of the family, will go the extra mile to make sure this dream is accomplished, hence they became everything to their family.
She is the Pastor who teaches the children about God, making sure the children do their quiet time every day.
The Doctor who knows when a child is sick and what first-aid to be given before the child is taken to the clinic.
The Teacher who teaches her children general hygiene of how to wash their bodies and present themselves. She helps her children with their homework and makes sure they are prepared for school the next day.
In the same manner, a mother who may not have been to school, knows the value of education and always ensures that the children are never sent away from school for lack of school fees, even if it leaves her wearing rags and walking barefooted.
She will tell you she is broke but she manages to put food on the table for her family.
She will tell you she is sick but you will find her all over the place, washing, cooking, cleaning, ironing, and caring for the baby.
Mothers do not have rest times, even when she is tired, she is still the last person in the family to go to bed and the first one to wake up even before the cock crows.
She is the judge who settles quarrels and fights between her children.
She sings lullabies to soothe the baby to sleep and also listens to her children with their stories, laughs and comforts them when the need arises.
But remember, mother, you cannot be everything to your family and not take care of yourself too.
A young mother took her child to school for the first time, when the teachers started welcoming the child and the mother turn to leave; the child started crying uncontrollably that mother couldn’t leave him.
After calming the child down for some time, she decided to go but the child started crying again and this continued for some time and the teachers encouraged the mother to trust them to take good care of her child but she was still finding it difficult to leave the child even though she was getting late for work.
She finally gathered courage and left the child at the school but she kept on thinking about the child whilst driving to work whether the child will be well taken care of, maybe he is still crying and no one is caring for him. She stressed herself with these thoughts throughout the day.
At the close of the day, when she went in to pick her child, to her surprise, she saw her child happy and playing with the other children, so she said to herself, there wasn’t any need for me to worry.
When you love yourself and make yourself a priority, your child will reap the rewards.
Don’t be everything to everybody at the neglect of yourself.
How to Put Yourself First to Unable You Support Your Child:
- Setting aside few minutes every day to meditation is huge and life-changing and helps you start your day well.
- Decide to trust yourself; accept the fact that you’re making the right choices for your child including the schooling and other things
- Stop feeling guilty about asking a family member to help you out occasionally, and trust that other people are capable of helping you to cater for your child and they can also contribute to the growth of your child.
- Stop priding yourself on being a tireless caregiver, and begin to treat yourself with respect and kindness. Start to think about the things that you love and determine to fit them into your life.
- Start to have regular exercise and eat healthy food. When you exercise and eat well, you will be able to handle stress better and be more focused and energetic. This helps you get rid of depression.