Csy-Lux

Hi Friends, Happy Thursday. In all HONESTY, I am so HAPPY we are at this point in time. The last few weeks have really kicked my ass. From endless TO DO lists that still need to be done, the kids starting school it felt like Jesus needed to take the wheel for a while. I usually thrive at wearing so many hats and running around staying busy. I love being busy. That wasn’t the case the last couple of weeks, though. I like to call it the “ Mom burnout”. Physically, I wasn’t feeling energized, I wasn’t really up for moving my body like I usually am, and I was subconsciously not living in the moment. I was physically present, but my mind wasn’t in sync with my body. The mental burn out was real. I have mentioned it before in other blog posts that I am guilty of planning too many things and then feeling overwhelmed. I knew that I needed to pause, make some fresh and much needed changes to feel like myself again, and be more in control of my busy days. Here are some changes I made, and I am still working on that are helping me find my healthy balance while continuing to juggle everything.

Went back to our regular bedtime schedules

Summer bedtimes were crazy! I usually don’t let my kids stay up past their bedtime even during the summer, but lately, we had been going to sleep so late. Going back to the earlier bedtime was a game changer. This helped so much, especially with how busier we get when school starts. Soccer season started around the same time school did, and swim lessons were still ongoing as well. It was non-stop chaos while trying to adjust to homework again and new schedules. It just felt like we didn’t have enough hours in a day! Damian and I were both so exhausted at the end of the night. Starting to put the kids down for bed again at an earlier time has allowed us to still have energy to finish things we didn’t get to earlier in the day and also has allowed us spend that one on one time with each other. My goal for the next weeks is to go back to my 5 am wake-ups. I really enjoyed waking up so early, and I see the difference in my early morning productivity now compared to waking up just regularly early.

Got outdoors again

Being overwhelmed and feeling like I couldn’t catch up was giving me anxiety. Even though I didn’t run as often as I usually do the past weeks,  I started making time to go outside and enjoy the sun. Whether it was during work hours or after work, I made sure to never skip a walk. The sun makes me happy, it relaxes me, and it helps me sleep better. If you’re ever having trouble sleeping or focusing, get outside.❤️

Erased social media apps from my phone that I wasn’t enjoying anymore

This was one of the most beneficial things I did for myself in the past weeks. I went through my phone and erased apps that no longer brought me happiness. Tik Tok was a big one. While I love Tik Tok so much and all its creativeness, I was wasting a lot of time scrolling. After being away at work 8 hours, the dishes still weren’t washed, and my TO DO list still wasn’t completed after I was done scrolling. This did not bring me happiness. Not having the app on my phone allows me to use that time to work on other things. I have even forgotten how much I loved to sit on the couch and laugh my butt off which is a good thing right now. I also went through all my emails, deleted and archived all emails that I had sitting in inboxes. I went through recent pictures that weren’t worthy of being kept and erased them as well. The fewer floating items I have on my phone to distract me from my priorities, the better.

Decluttered

I LOVE THIS. I urge people to do this once every few months please! Out with the old, in with the new. This made me so happy. It felt like I took a big burden off my back and a huge item off my to do list. The last part of summer was so busy with fanily birthdays every weekend and other events that we were rarely home. That meant my house didn’t get cleaned like it usually does, and I didn’t do my regular monthly purging.  My motto has always been, ” If it has been sitting in your closet without being worn in over a year, it does not belong there.” I went through my house and PURGED hard. I got rid of a lot of clothing that I didn’t wear and knew I wouldn’t anymore. Those items were good to me once, and now someone else gets to give it a second chance. I went through every single drawer and pulled out junk, cords, and papers. I went through all the kids’ clothes and took out what they had outgrown as well. The less materialistic things we have, the better we live in our smaller space. I am trying to pass on the feeling of only keeping what we need and use to my family. It is a GREAT feeling. In the past, I have always bagged our things and then kept them for months with the intention of having a yard sale. Then the years sales never happened because there was never time and I ended up driving around with bags in my car. What I did this time was donate all my bags to a program drop off called Children’s Resource Center. They have teen closets on high school campuses in which teens who don’t have access to clothing at home can come in and help themselves. They shop for clothing items they can use. Most importantly, it’s FREE for them. They can look GOOD and feel GOOD. They even encourage you to bring baby, toddler, and maternity clothes ( which I had ready to donate) to their drop-off box. Those specific items went to the school program for teen moms. We have a huge drop-off bin at our local high school and other schools throughout our district, but I encourage you to look into a program like this around your area. The peace of knowing that something that I just had stored away can go to someone who needs it makes me so happy. My house still needs a good deep clean, but everything we have as of now has a place in our home and a need for it to be here. 

Started working out/ eating healthy again

I am my best when I eat good food and work out my body. For the last few weeks weeks, I hadn’t put as much time to work out as I regularly do. I wasn’t eating my regular diet. I was eating mindlessly. I either was eating at different times, not eating enough, going to bed without dinner. This caused me to gain weight, and eventually, my body didn’t have enough good in it to fight off viruses. When I eat from the different food groups, my body feels strong, and I can feel my body fight off whatever cold or virus is going around. With the kids going back to school, they bring a lot of germs home, and with me not being my best, I got sick easily. My body was under so much stress and anxiety. I was sick for two days, but it also meant i got a lot of needed rest. I knew immediately that I needed to go back to being my old self again. I went back to my daily habits of no phone before bed or first thing in the morning, prepping my meals and scheduling my weekly workouts. Moving my body in any way is definitely a happy trigger for me, and I need it every day. I recommend you go for a walk at least 30 minutes a day and see the wonderful changes it brings.

Started to see the blessings around me again

I saw this quote on Instagram the other day that said, ” Stress is as deadly as any deadly illness,” and I felt that. As moms. I think we all stress over everything. We stress about our kids, we stress about others, and we stress about every single thing we can stress about. It’s in our nature to want to take care of everything and everyone, but we need to take care of ourselves too. This little reset that I did was intentional in all ways. I did it with the purpose of letting go of what I can not control, learning to not let little things consume me, and realizing that I just need to slow down. I need to SLOW DOWN and enjoy the moment. A few weeks ago, I got a comment from a girl on Instagram that replied to one of my stories and she said, ” You always seem to have it all together”, I replied back and I let her know. Absolutely NOT. I don’t ever want anyone to think that I am perfect and all my days are smooth. I’m not ever going to pretend like I do have it all together because I don’t. I have weeks where I feel like I’m dominating being a mom, and I have weeks like the last ones where it feels like I need to hit the pause button to catch up. We can, however, do something about it. I chose to change what I can change things to be a better person, better mom, and try my best to be the best version of myself.

Hopefully, my tips can help you out if you’re ever feeling like you’re in a slump. Remember, as moms, we can’t perform at our best if we don’t feel our best. Sometimes, a small reset is needed ❤️

-Csy