I said what I said.
On e morning a week or so ago when I woke up I just knew it was going to be a tough day. It was a really really rough night of sleeping for me due to a lapse in mental health and just in general I wasn't feeling the day. I don't know if Noah could feel my inner struggles or if he was just being extra sweet but when he woke up, he climbed into my arms and asked me to hold him and we just laid there for a few minutes in silence but everything was calm. Shortly after Noah looks at me and says
"mommy, I don't want to go to school today, I want to have a day with you".
Y'all, when I tell you my heart exploded, it exploded.
Noah LOVES school SO much so it is rare for him to ask to stay home. Again, I know kids pick up on their parents tensions/feelings so I am not sure if he was feeding off of how I was feeling or if he himself was also just feeling a little out of sorts but I knew he needed a little break too.
Unfortunately I had some work commitments that morning but I did tell him that I would try my hardest to pick him up early so that we could have short days at work/school and then a fun afternoon and he loved that idea.
Long story short, we got ready, I dropped him off at school and I worked until about 1215 then r u s h e d over to his school to pick him up before they put him down for a nap and we spent the afternoon at the park, in the hammock, eating treats and then seeing my mom for dinner and it was SO needed.
Mental health is something that is more and more commonly talked about nowadays and I think it is SO important to parent kindly and to teach our children about mental health. Being a little kid prior to 2020 was scary enough in this big world but now we have a crazy virus, masks and thats a LOT for kids to take in on top of all the other things going on in the world.
It isn't overly frequent that we are able to take full days or even half days like this but they are important and something I am personally striving to have at least once each month. I want to teach Noah that it is 100% okay to need a break sometimes. He is only in preschool now so him missing school isn't a deal breaker but this is a practice I will be carrying with us because it is important to me.
Since it isn't an ever going to be a daily thing where we can check out for a break, we have a few solutions for moments during the day where you just feel like its too much.
just breathe. find a quiet spot to breathe and regather your thoughts/feelings/emotions
set a timer-even if it is just 5 minutes for YOU time. whether you just want to scroll on your phone or take a hot shower, enjoy a hot coffee, whatever it is
turn the jams up and put the windows down. LOUD worship music and the windows down are an instant mood booster for me.
talk it out. or write it out. find someone you can confide in or journal
treat yourself. get a boujee coffee, ice cream or something yummy you've been wanting.
mental health is no longer a taboo subject of conversation but it is one that should be talked about more!
How do you beat the days where you just feel less than?