Filling my cup helps me be a better Mom

When Dino Man was about six months old, I realized I was very stressed out and starting to feel depressed. As I thought about why, I realized I hadn't taken much time for myself since he had been born.

We are what I like to call free-range attachment parents, which means we spend a lot of time with our children, especially when they are young. However, I do not advocate martyring yourself for your kids. My mother did that quite often, and she was always stressed out.

As part of the solution to me being stressed, my husband suggested I take a few hours once a week to myself to go do something that "fills my cup." Initially, this included time at the library and roaming around craft stores. These days it tends to be more intentional, though I still do enjoy kid-free time at the library and roaming around craft stores.

The main thing I've learned from this is that if I have nothing to give my family, I'm not just not helping them, I may be harming them. When I feel at peace in my soul, I have more patience with my toddler and my husband, and also for myself. I spend less time berating them for not being what I want them to be and more time appreciating them for who they are. This is crucial to my goal as a mother to model for my children the kind of person I want them to be.

I've got a Mom's Night Out coming up with some attachment parenting friends that I'm looking forward to, and I get to give a little talk this week about a topic near and dear to my heart. Both events that "fill my cup."

What are you doing to fill your cup so you have something to give to the world?