Bras have been completely optional since the beginning of the pandemic. Oh, and don't even get me started on jeans. I don't even know where mine are! I have lowered my standards dramatically for
What kind of snacks are acceptable for Baby Zand.
Our home-cooked meals.
How Baby Zand’s toys don’t take over the entire house (they do!!!! Even under my pillow I find random things from her.)
How many hours are acceptable screen time.
And how messy I show up at work calls with Baby Zand yelling “potty” in the background and puppy Haigo barking at the deer in the yard.
Professionalism has gone out the door. The mom who keeps it together all day hasn’t shown up in months. And guess what has also left? Mommy guilt! We broke up. I felt so guilty in the beginning when my lighting wasn’t ideal for the videos I was shooting. When there was just the tiniest noise of another human being breathing in the house. When Baby Zand ate her third granola bar of the day. What did that mommy guilt give me? Sleepless nights! Constant anxiety so that I wasn’t able to eat or would overstuff myself on comfort food (ice cream and chocolate). Heart palpations and complete dizziness in the middle of the day - so bad that I would have to lie down while playing picnic with every stuffed animal we own. And most of all, it made me freeze in life. I wanted to pull the duvet over my head and not do anything for this wonderful community on the blog and in social media, I didn’t want to talk to friends, and I didn’t want to show up for another day of Zoom calls. Until I realized that mommy guilt was sucking the joy out of my life and that everyone was having a hard time showing up. Everyone would understand the child climbing on me while I was trying to explain the concept of rancid fats in the arteries. Everyone would understand that my emails had typos. And everyone would understand that I need some sleep and sometimes just can’t show up at all. Is it time for you to drop the mommy guilt during this pandemic and just know you’re doing the best you can? Come and join the virtual Wellness Week for moms to take care of yourself. Because when mamas thrive, everyone thrives.
Love,
