The bottom line is that lack of self- care and self-prioritization affects your health and wellness. Weakened immune system, weight gain, high blood pressure and sleep disturbances to name a few of a variety of other side effects. These issues can then snowball into some major diseases and health problems, ultimately affecting the quality and time spent with your family.

When Olivia was born, there were major complications that required a lengthy stay in Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Not only did I discharge myself early after an emergency c-section (against my doctors wishes), but I wanted to stay by her bedside every hour of every day.

It took a team of medical professionals, my husband and my mom to eventually convince me that taking care of myself would ultimately make me a better mom.

Little sleep, lack of food and stress levels through the roof wasn’t helping anyone, especially not my recovery process.

It was throughout these early days that I learned how to take some “self-care” time.

Fitness was my self-care method of choice. Working out relaxed me, healed me and made me stronger – mentally, emotionally and physically.

BUT…

The transition home from the hospital triggered the mom-guilt again. I was terrified to put her down, let alone leave her alone during her naps.

The struggle was real. Knowing what I needed to do and actually doing it were two totally different things.

Don’t even get me started on how I had to wean myself off of hearing the background noise of the ventilator and heart monitors. (That’s a lie. I didn’t wean myself off. I still sleep with a sound machine. Almost 6 years later.) But that’s a whole other story.

It was never easy and my schedule was never consistent, but once I developed a routine for myself, carving out a small window of my day for some self care, it became routine for the whole family.

Nap time became “my time” – an easy time for me to get some self-care in (even if the laundry or cleaning had to take a backseat). As she got older, the likelihood of solo-self-care wasn’t a guarantee, but the activity was routine and important nonetheless.

As an all or nothing person, this was initially difficult for me to wrap my head around. The old me would’ve scrapped an entire workout if it couldn’t be done the exact way I wanted it done. It took a while, but the perfectionist in me started to relinquish control to the mom in me – realizing that things rarely go as planned, something is better than nothing and creating healthy habits for myself and my family should be the priority.

This is when I started including her. I love and need my workouts too much to have her join in the whole workout, but I give her little similar modifications to do while I get my main component in, and then we do a finishing round together.

Kids are always watching. They learn through watching us and they learn through copying us.

Raising a happy, healthy, well adjusted human is my main goal; so Olivia seeing me as a frazzled, unhealthy stress case isn’t exactly an ideal way for me to lead by example.

As a mom, it is important for me to know she understands that this is a part of our daily routine. I relied so much on sports growing up so transitioning into a gym routine wasn’t without it’s obstacles.

Why would I want her to go through those battles too? I’m glad she’s learning and embracing it as her routine now.

If you’re struggling to fit consistent workouts into your schedule, start slow by incorporating your kid(s)! Looking for a fun kid-friendly workout? Give this one a try!

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