Take time for you

With kids, life can go from hand drawn sunshine and rainbows to sh** hitting the fan in as little as 0.3 seconds....which is what happened today. We got to the gym, came home and had a snack, and as my middle two girls watched Frozen my youngest brought me a fox to play with with her in the kitchen.

We were good.
Things were under control.

Then, as I made lunch and prepped dinner for the crock pot, my youngest daughter decided that she needed lunch NOW and any longer was unacceptable. So she's crying, my dinner is overcooking on the stove, I am getting a phone call and I want to quit. But kids need to eat so I get the food on the table (my youngest devours it while my other girls eat probably 6 bites between them) and then take some time in the next room to decompress. Even after lunch my youngest was still being crabby so I decided it was an early nap day and got all three girls in bed between 12:30-12:45.

And although my kitchen is a complete disaster and I have laundry that needs to be washed and laundry that needs to be put away, I knew the best use of my time was to do something for myself. I had been able to put makeup on earlier in the day but my hair was a frizzy mess and each glance in the mirror made me feel like the hot mess express. So, after eating my own lunch, I set up the iPad to watch Superstore while I straightened (well, I ended up curling with a straightener) my hair and walked out feeling like a new woman. A new mom. One who has decided to turn things around and work extra hard to be in a better mood after rest. 

Maybe this is cheating, but the thing I've learned is one that I've shared before in my Look Good, Feel Good post:

The thing I’ve learned: do something each day that makes you feel human so when, yes WHEN, things go awry, you can feel better about handling the solution because you feel good.

Maybe makeup isn’t your thing. Maybe your hair has to be done, the bed has to be made, your nails need polish or you need some quiet time in the morning for a devotional or cup of coffee. Just be sure to take time for YOU.