So, this is one of those blogs where I get real! Hope you can handle it.

Sometimes I get really tired of being on duty 24/7 and giving of myself all the time. Sometimes my kids drive me bat crazy, yes sometimes I feel like they are sucking the life out of me.

I know I am probably the only person who feels this way right?

I love them passionately madly 99% of the time and can’t get enough of them. Yes, I have even had my daughter, in the midst of my extreme cuddles and kisses, tell me that I am too much, in other words, back off mom you’re suffocating me with your affection.

From my teens, all I wanted was to be a mom and I am sooooo blessed to have them after been told falling pregnant would be a challenge. They are my everything.

But last week Thursday was a bad day when I felt like enough was enough! I had to step back and ask myself why do I feel this way and how did it get to this point.

What I realized was that it was all my fault I had not been kind to myself. I was just working, cleaning, cooking and being mum all the time. Nope I don’t have a hobby, nope I don’t go to the gym (yes, I know I should)

I thought about what makes me feel refreshed and what puts spring in my step. I have come up with my top 6 things to do to give me some pep so my tank does not go into reserve!

1 Book a date night:

Go somewhere fun with your partner. Sometimes just having a good meal, a fine wine and staring across the table at the one you love is all you need.

2 Escape to nature:

Organise a sitter for 3 hours and just go to the beach or a nature reserve, go early morning with a book and a cup of coffee and just sit, read and stare into the open spaces and refresh yourself it will do you the world of good

3 Make a point of doing something for yourself that you have been putting off:

Book that manicure or pedicure or facial and just go! You deserve it.

4 Go watch a movie alone:

One of my favourite things to do is to go watch a movie alone! Yes alone! Do it, there is no one else to consider you can watch what you like. The joy and independence of been alone is bliss. PS and get loads of snacks that you won’t need to share

5 Bond with family:

If you have a close healthy relationship with a sibling or parent make the effort to spend some quality time alone with them. I recently spent some time with my mom all alone and realized how little of her attention I get when the kids are around and really she was mine first 😊

It was bliss to have her to myself. Same with my sister we really connect when the kids are with the dads and we are on a solo mission. It feels like a mini-holiday after been on a jaunt alone with them.

6 Spend a couple of hours with your tribe:

Us girls all have that group, that group of friends who make you laugh until your belly aches. Who makes you feel alive. I have that group, there are 4 of us and we have a group name, The GG’s it started off as a WhatsApp group called Giggling Gourmets and we used to share dinner ideas well now many years later it is full of jokes and catch ups and stories about our day to day lives and a lot of times the discussion is all food.

We are fortunate to have a diverse cultural demographic in our group (Italian, Portuguese, Chinese and me good ol SA style cooking) So it gets really exciting! We don’t all see each other every day but when we do it is a laugh a minute, and we do talk the deep stuff when necessary. A couple of hours with these girls and I swear I am ready to face anything.

Ladies, we give so much of yourselves as wives, mothers, daughters, sisters, friends and working gals, we need to be kind to ourselves so that we can be kinder to others.

Lose the guilt and do something kind for yourself! Start today.

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