You’ve got to fill your cup.
I don’t quite identify with the oxygen mask analogy around motherhood (I just so happened to have written about it a year ago) because I am fairly certain in an instance where I had a choice, I would try to put all of my kids’ masks on before my own via pure instinct.
The oxygen mask analogy is around a life and death scenario but the plane is not going down in everyday life (though it feels like that sometimes).
What we can do and should do instead is fill our cup up so we can pour into our children’s. That doesn’t mean we fill our cup to the very brim (which in fact makes pouring a thousand times harder) but we fill it with enough to share and still have some in reserve.
The things that fill my cup are uninterrupted, insightful and connective adult 1×1 conversations. I’ve found breakfast or lunch to be a great time to sneak in these moments.
After sharing meals with two friends today, my cup was comfortably and gratefully filled. I came home to kids who voluntarily cleaned up their books and clothes on the floor of the bedroom and bedtime went more smoothly than it has in a week. I know my energy played a role in this and I’m so glad that I filled my cup today.
Take time to identify what fills your cup and then think of some creative solutions to integrate those into your life. Or maybe your cup has been so neglected that there are some very obvious solutions as well. Let me know what they are and how you plan to add those to your life!
