Monthly Goals: May 2015

The past two weeks have been more about thinking about what's going on now, and dealing with the present, rather than planning ahead and focusing on goals. 

I have always prided myself in being a pretty healthy and active person, which allows me to maintain the busy pace we set for our lives. An injured knee in the winter has now lead to some new health discoveries, which are definitely compromising my energy level and approach to our daily lives. While not life threatening, and treatable, it will need to be something I think about in terms of slowing down and taking time for myself. So for May, my goal is going to be a little simpler: Take Care of Me. 

Looking Back

January Goals: Declutter and Reorganize
I feel like I'm finally starting to see signs of progress on this goal, yay! And you know what, it only encourages me to keep going! I dropped another load of stuff off at the local thrift store just a few weeks ago.

February Goals: Pause and Prioritize
This past month I really found myself making sure I took moments to pause, and to pause tech-free too. Usually it's moments with the boys, but I'm also starting to find more and more moments that are about other things too: nature, people watching, a great quote. Although I am trying to make more of them tech free, for now, you can see the ones I do capture on Instagram.

March: Connect
While our family has had time to connect, I know that I'm still looking for more ways to create connections within the other parts of my world.

April: Look for Growth and Progress
This surprised me as being a little harder than I expected. On the home front, it's been hard to break my head out of the mindset of what more and what else we want to do. But, the decluttering is making our spaces feel great. And a new organization of the boys' playroom helped me think a lot about what a nice space that has developed into in less than a year.

As Big Brother turned 5 this month, there was a lot of time to think about his growth and how this amazing kiddo have mine has changed (and stayed the same over the years.) I did start a new system for capturing moments/quotes, but I need to play with it a little before I share it.

A quick birthday collage of Big Brother over the last 5 years.

It was also easy to quickly slip into the day to day routines of work (and blogging) and forget my goals for these two areas. But I know like my other months, these goals will linger with me.

My May Goals: Take Care of Me

Busy moms are always the last ones to take care of themselves (and let's face it, who isn't a busy mom?) I've seen it with other women in my family, with mom friends, even with moms I really look up to as being a mom who has "figured it all out."

There is always someone else who needs your time, energy, and care. The kids' needs usually trumps all, followed by work, housework, errands, and more. There's always one more project to volunteer for, one more chance to say yes to a request, one more last chore. And in all that time, moms are not usually saying yes to themselves.

So for this month, in honor of myself, and in honor of Mother's Day and all moms, I'm going to be looking for some ways to take care of myself. In what ways can I build in a daily pause that is about taking a moment to breath, relax, unwind? How can I make sure I'm doing better to physically take care of myself (get more sleep, exercise more often, not eat on the go as much during the work week.) How can I find small ways to treat myself each day?

I'm not talking about ignoring those other things in my life, of course kids' needs will still come first, and the housework will continue to never end. But I am talking about making sure I build some moments and routines into my day where I am taking care of me.

And I encourage other moms to do the same. I'd love to hear more about your routines for finding those moments to get a little headspace and take care of yourself. In what ways do you build in "me time" or give yourself a small treat? How do you make sure you're meeting your needs? I'm going to be adding a #momsdailypause to my pictures on Instagram, and I'd love for you to join me there too! Or leave a comment below about a quick tip you want to share. 

And don't forget to check out these other bloggers and their monthly goals.

This post may also have been shared at some of these terrific link parties.