Grooving mums, time to love yourself

This week I'm taking part again in the grooving mums challenge and its something i really need to do . I need to take some time out to discover how i can look after and love myself better as currently feel I'm running on empty and I'm no use to those i love if I'm not loving myself.
I realise i have not been looking after myself properly for quite some time now and the day after we moved house my body told me it could not carry on and a virus quickly turned to bronchitis and having suffered previously with pneumonia my body just gave up on me. I'm on the mend now apart from the racking cough i just cant seem to shift that is really effecting my sleep.
Its all been a bit of a wake up call and made me realise i can,t carry on as i have been i need to raise my own energy levels before i can give more to others.

I need to look after my body better its the only one I'm going to get and in a few weeks it will be 40 years old and i appreciate i cant treat it as i did in my twenty's. The positive step i am taking here is I have booked myself an appointment with a nutritionist as this helped me to mend after little E was born when anaemia, pneumonia and pnd took there toll. The nutritionist was amazing she really helped me turn things round even helping with pnd. I lost all my baby weight and looked years younger after seeing her so hopefully she will put me back on the right track again as currently look around 100!

I am setting my standards way to high i do need to be more realistic on what i can achieve and spend more time on the things i love and can change rather than stressing myself on mundane things that don't really matter or the things i cant change. I need to balance my time a bit better and not feel guilty for some spending child free time on something just for myself. I'm long over due a beauty treatment or a hair appointment I'm going to have a restyle and colour in time for my big birthday.

I'm sure between the nationalist and the hair dresser i will feel a million times better and will bounce back and we be able to spread love to those i care about once again.

I think things happen for a reason and in a bizarre way i needed to be ill to slow down and realise how hard i have been pushing myself lately.

If like me you realise its time to love yourself more why not hop over to
http://kateonthinice.wordpress.com/2012/02/14/will-you-love-yourself-this-valentine-day/ and join in with the lovely grooving mums.

Thought of the day............... You can't love anyone else till you take care of yourself

We can learn alot from our children #grooving mums

This week in my search to become a grooving mum life has taken some unexpected twists and turns and inspiration has come from the most unlikely places.

I am still taking baby steps towards my goals a bit like a toddler learning to walk for the first time who takes one unsteady step at a time into the unknown as the realise they can't reach what  their heart desires sitting round waiting for it to come to them.
When learning to walk the toddler takes a small step at a time reaches out for help and support when its needed and keeps trying until they succeed and before long the walk has turned into a run because they persevered and mastered the basics first.

I have realised as well as teach my little E new things i can also learn alot from him and his approach to getting what he wants out of life. It was nearly two years ago he learnt to walk and now he runs so fast i struggle to keep up. He is never afraid to try something new and he definitely is not lacking with the energy and determination to succeed. I have the determination and im working on the energy  and with the support of the grooving mums i will be running again in no time.

We have a reward chart up in little E's bedroom which is an incentive for him to do well and when the chart is complete the reward is going to Peppa pig world as this is what his heart desires. When attaching the stickers to his chart the other evening he asked me why i did not have a reward chart.

 This made me chuckle and  i did not really know what to say but Little E persevered with the conversation advising me that i could get stickers for going to bed on time eating my vegetables and drinking water and getting dressed properly! He is a sensible boy as yes bedtime needs to come forward and a chocolate orange is not classed as one of my five a day and the first thing i can grab is not getting dressed properly.

 He continued with and when your charts finished mummy me and Daddy will buy you a nice present what would you like ! Hmmmmmmmmm what would i would like some pampering i think a day at a spa with an over night stay pure relaxation and time to quiet my racing mind.

 I think little E is onto something here with Mummy reward charts what a fantastic idea to praise our daily small successes the little baby steps that move us towards our ultimate goal with a small prize on completion to celebrate our success.

This weeks grooving mums challenges are Body (lotions and potions ) mind (celebrate whats good about us) Blogging (what to we plan to do with our blog and the big question what can we delegate.

I think i will take up Little E's advice and start a Mummy reward chart my weekly treat will be delegating Sunday evenings to my other half and locking my self in the bathroom for an hour for a lovely long bath rather than a quick shower and re discovering those long forgotten lotions and potions. The chart will be encouraging me to look after myself better too drinking a litre of water a day is supposed to work wonders for the skin and eating my five a day should fill me up enough to resist a sugary snack when my energy is flagging.

I will do my homework like on Little E's chart and take some time out to discover where to take my blog. I would really like to develop the room set posts further and work with companies to help show Mums affordable home products that benefit mums and make life easier. I would like to be able to use my knowledge of affordable interiors and visual merchandising to help others. I am really unclear at the moment how to use these skills but ultimately i would like to offer affordable design to help small buisnesses make the most of their products and home owners get the best from their houses and add value to it. 

I'm not really good at blowing my own trumpet so the question what is good about me is tricky for me to answer not because I'm not good at anything just that I'm am better at shouting about other peoples success than i am at shouting about my own.

 Maybe that in its self is something good about me that  i can lift other peoples spirits and often know exactly the right thing to say in a moment of crisis and somehow manage to make things not seem so bad and often even manage to raise a smile from a tearful friend with the right words and TLC.

I was really inspired this week by the posts from Kate on thin ice and mammasaver where they have shown their skills as a blog C.V this is a fantastic idea and one i will pluck up the courage to do myself this week.

Thought of the day...................... Reward the baby steps