Show Yourself Some Mommy Love~ Guest Post

We have a tendency as moms to make sure everyone else's needs are being met often in lieu of our own.  Making sure hubby has clean underwear (that is probably the only thing that is clean in the laundry room) and that the kids are fed a healthy breakfast (whether that is pancakes or Trix depending on what you can get your children to eat) often takes precedence over us taking more than five minutes to ourselves.

Here are some ways to show yourself some mommy love:

1. Smell a favorite scent.  For some reason just the smell of my favorite perfume provides a lift.
2. Light a candle and sit and watch the flickering flame.  There is something soothing about just taking a few minutes to do nothing. It can be restorative.
3. Exercise.  It will get your adrenaline flowing.  Your muscles and heart will thank you.
4. Read a book.  Get lost in another world and forget about your to-to-list.  Okay, reading an entire book may not be realistic but read a magazine cover to cover in one sitting or even the newspaper.   If you have forgotten what that is like, your not alone.
5. Take a nap.  Who couldn't use a midday snooze (especially if the kids are out for the count to).
6. Forget the laundry, the dusting, and the toilet bowl that needs to be scrubbed.  Strap the kiddos in the stroller and go window shopping.  Or, if your stuck at home, lock yourself in a room and go window shopping online.
7. Dress up in makeup and heels and treat yourself to lunch, even if it is at McDonald's with the kids.  At least you'll feel sexy sitting there in Playland and you'll be the best dressed momma there. 
8. Go for a drive.  I love to drive in the car even with the little ones in the backseat.  The monotony of driving seems to get my creative juices flowing.
9. Meet up with some friends.  There is nothing better than enjoying the company of other women.  It's even better if there is wine involved.  Again, if your snowed in you can conference your friends on the phone and chat or have your own little twitter party online.
10. Take five, or ten, or an hour to write on your blog.  It doesn't matter if your ranting, raving, or reassuring it is good therapy for whatever ails you.  Ask any mommy blogger.
11. If you enjoy crafts, take time to devote to your crafty side.  Finish that project that you put aside.  For me that would be my scrapbooking.
12. Do a puzzle or a crossword to exercise your mind. 
13. Pick a movie or your favorite TV show and sit through it uninterrupted.  Let your hubby watch the kids and be in charge of their nighttime routine.
14.Take a class.  Check out the offerings at the local Y, a nearby community center, or the local community college.  Broaden your horizons.

At least one of these things is guaranteed to take you to a happy place. Best of all, they are all free or relatively inexpensive ways to shower yourself with some "mommy love".  Afterall, you deserve it.

Joy Warfsman is a former history teacher turned stay-at-home mom.  As a stay-at-home mom, she missed writing and researching until she realized that she could still do the things she loved just in a different arena.  That is how The Practical Mom Guide was born.  She believes that all moms strive to do what is "practical" for their own families and includes tales from her own life as "a practical mom".