Relax… Refresh… Revive

Truth is I wanted to blog about this topic some months ago when I declared a “no-chores day” for myself. What’s a no-chores day? It is simply a day I decided I would do no chores! Hehe. Yup! No chores… Now, the difficult part was not about getting The Hubs to actually agree to this. Nah, the difficulty was actually following through and not giving in to my natural organising, take-charge, super-mom-super-wife-do-it-all tendencies! It was hard, I tell ya! But I did it and it was nice to actually put my feet up and do nothing 🙂

So why did I not blog about this blissful experience before today? Well, life happened and I quickly fell back into my normal busy, 24hrs-is-not-enough routine. However, I just had a chat with my cousin who is currently enjoying a break from all the chores and craziness and decided it would be great to dig up the desire to blog about this important topic.

Whilst this is not just peculiar to the women folk, you would agree with me that it seems like all we do is take care of everyone but ourselves. Do I have a witness? Or maybe I should speak for myself (and my cousin)… Life feels like a roller coaster most of the time. There’s my family to cater to – a very active almost 2 year old and a husband to take care of, meals to plan and cook, school runs to do, chores to oversee (if you are finicky like me 🙂 ) PLUS a career … Errr it doesn’t look like much now that I have typed it out, but believe me it’s a lot and there are days when I get so tired and disillusioned.

But what’s a girl to do?

Well, I’m no pro at this but allow me share a few tips that have worked for me

• Always maintain an attitude of gratitude: Works like a charm for me! When Kiki begins one of her tantrums or I find The Hubs clothes ON the laundry basket (instead of actually being IN it), I just remind myself of how grateful I am to have them. I also remind myself of the many other times they bring me joy. This helps my mood and reorders my murderous thoughts…
• Ask for help: If you are a perfectionist like me or you feel like things are not done right unless they are done by you or to your specifications, then this tip is for you. I try to tell myself that I am not Wonder Woman, that it is OK to allow The Hubs help me with some chores. So what if the indomie he cooked doesn’t taste the way I like? Nobody ever died from soggy indomie, abi?
• Take some time off: If you can, give yourself like 1 hour me-time. Well, this is easier said than done sha and I am still working on this particular tip. For example, when Kiki is napping, instead of rushing off to attend to neglected chores, I can catch up on that reading I abandoned or I can listen to some music or engage in something refreshing. Not poring through social media o, well except if that relaxes you (doesn’t work for me). The Hubs and I have also explored the angle of sending Kiki for sleepovers at her aunt’s. This also allows for me-time and/or we-time 😉

I have discovered that for all the times I was stressed, my family suffered the consequences. I became grumpy, grouchy and moody which rubbed off on my family and set the wrong tone for our home. I have come to realise that as the wife and mother, I set the tone in my home. The Hubs and Kiki would rather have a happy and loving wife/mother and a messy house than a spotless house with a grumpy and nagging wife.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So how do you relax, refresh and revive? Please share 🙂