Celebrate yourself!

Celebrating you….this is a very hard concept for many mothers, myself included. What does it mean? How do you do it? It sounds so selfish, even arrogant, doesn’t it? But it is one of the most important things you can do for yourself as a mom, taking time to celebrate yourself.

We live in a fast paced world, the “rat race” some might call it, where time is not your friend and being a working mom in this environment is tough. Where it is considered normal to push yourself to the limit put others before yourself and experiencing high levels of stress. I know there is always the ongoing debate about which is more challenging; working mom, stay at home mom, work from home mom, etc. but that is a discussion for another day. I’ve always been a working mom, so this is my frame of reference. And truth be told it is hard and comes with a good portion of guilt too, as you do not have the opportunity to spend as much time with your family as you would love too. But amidst all of this busyness, we need to take time to celebrate ourselves as mothers. Celebrate our accomplishments, our successes, our achievements, may it be big or small. Celebrate the fact that you have just finished your kids homework assignment, or that you have managed to survive a whole day looking after kids and you are still sane, or you managed to cook and entire dinner with a baby glued to your hip, or you’ve landed that big project and you’ve been promoted. Whatever the reason, celebrate it, because it also reminds us to be grateful, and only when we take time to reflect on our accomplishments we start realizing how much we have to be grateful for.

You might wonder what about the rest of the family, your husband, helper, nanny, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, because without them you might not even have something to celebrate. Well that is all true, and there is a time and place for those celebrations too, but this is about you as a mommy, taking time in celebrating that.

How do you celebrate yourself? Well I am no expert at this, but to me it makes sense to take time to do what makes your soul happy. Being happy with you is the whole idea. So go out and indulge in that piece of cake, breathe in the rich aroma of your favorite coffee brand, have lunch with your girlfriends, go on a date with your husband, sign up for a dance class, take up a new hobby, go for a run, whatever tickles your fancy, as long as it makes you happy and as long as you are having fun.

I decided to celebrate my “mommyness” by doing a mommy and me photo shoot with my youngest. An opportunity to capture special moments between the two of us. A celebration of the fact that God has yet again blessed us with a beautiful little boy. A celebration that after a bumpy start to parenthood on the first go, I was privileged enough to experience a beautiful birth and the “golden hour” second time round (more about this later). A celebration that I am fortunate enough to still be breastfeeding my youngest, a personal experience that I will forever treasure. Mainly to have a reminder during those less positive days that I have so much to be grateful for, so many things that I have accomplished by the Grace of God. But also because I am always the one taking the photos, so there are very little photos of mommy and the kids ;)

I came across the lovely Chanel from Chanel Oosthuizen Photography and she was such a natural when it comes to capturing special moments. I decided to go all out with this celebration and even had my hair and make-up done. Yes this is a rare occurrence for me, but I had so much fun. A pamper day feeling like a supermodel is just what I needed for the celebration.

So mommies, take a moment and think about what you have accomplished. To love yourself means to celebrate the very existence of who you are. Hold yourself in high regard, you deserve it!

So go on and celebrate the woman who God has made you to be!

“She is clothed with strength and dignity; She can laugh at the days to come” Proverbs 31:25

XXX

Nicole

Photo Credit: www.chaneloosthuizen.com