Yesterday afternoon I came home feeling completely exhausted. It wasn’t that I had particularly been out doing something strenuous, although I did have a very busy weekend. Coming through the door I was greeted by what felt like, a million questions, requests, and endless stories being thrown in my direction by my three children. It kind of goes with being a mum, if you go out for a few hours without your children you have to expect to be on demand the minute you walk in the door. It is kind of sweet, at least I knew I was missed! I am certainly not wanting to change my world, I fought hard to have these babies and I am forever grateful to be their mummy. For anyone reading this who knows what it is like to be tired (and I am guessing that is all of you), you know that sometimes when you get home you just want to block out all the noise, all the chaos and flop on the sofa!

I answered questions, I checked on the things they wanted me to check on, I listened to my eight year old, (go on and on and on and on), chat happily about a game he had been playing. I went upstairs and saw messy kids bedrooms, and noticed the pile of washing I needed to get to, I listened to my two daughters talk about wanting to rearrange their rooms (a habit they get from me I am obsessed with moving furniture around), and I just got to the point where I lay face down on the sofa muttering to my husband “I can’t take this anymore”!  Just what I couldn’t take I am not sure? I think it was noises and mess. I just needed to crawl into a quiet bubble, curl up and be still. After a few minutes of self pity and my head hiding under a cushion I was OK. The evening proceeded, hubby made a delicious dinner and the kids played happily whilst we watched an episode of Billions with a cup of tea.

My hubby usually heads to bed by around 10pm on a Sunday night, I can never fall asleep at 10, I am a night owl. He looked at me and asked if I was coming to bed, but I knew he expected my answer to be no. I usually find once everyone else is in bed I can get on my laptop and blog, or get things done I don’t manage to do during the day. To his surprise I said ‘yes’. I also added, “I am exhausted, I may not feel it right now, but the way I felt earlier was a red flag that was telling me I need rest, I need sleep. I need to listen to my body!”

I knew there were things I wanted to do, but I had been up until one in the morning both Friday and Saturday night, I had been out with the kids all  day Saturday, and then out helping someone on Sunday and I was mentally shattered. I was running on hardly any sleep, no mediation, in fact virtually no self care, and my body and mind were screaming to me to slow down. Many times in my life I refuse to listen, I have ignored the warning signs, and I have later paid the consequences. So I went to bed, I knew I wouldn’t sleep straight away, but I turned off my phone and I read a book for a little while before turning off the lights and just letting sleep take over my noisy mind. Today I am very thankful that I did. I have more to give myself and more to give my family.

What have you done today to nurture your mind, or body?

It is easy to ignore the small signs, it is not that hard to keep ignoring them even as they grow, but eventually we will crash and burn. Ask yourself today where you are on that scale? Do you need to slow down? When was the last time you did something caring for yourself (and I don’t mean buying something)? What have you done today to nurture your mind, or body? Share your thoughts in my comment section below.

Thanks for joining me, love Mackenzie xx

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