Take care of yourself, first.

I am not that mother that will rave about how much she loves motherhood. Because frankly, I don’t love it.
I don’t love early mornings, messy house, fighting for four hours to clean a room, temper tantrums or a sick kid. That not something I decides I ever wanted to do.
My daughter is my life, my whole world. And she knows it. Why?
Because a couple years ago a woman taught me that in order to meet her needs, I HAD to meet mine first.
I don’t wake up to serve. I don’t wake up to meet her every last demand. I’m not, and probably never will be THAT mother.
I take long hot showers, long hot baths, I do not share my food, I do not share my personal bubble very often and I enjoy peeing in privacy. I make sure that being a mother means exactly that, I’m a mother. That still means I’m human. I still have emotions, wants, needs. I make mistakes, I stumble trip and fall. But that’s what makes me a mother.
I am a mother, not a machine. And I’ll never pretend to be.

My daughter knows very well how much I love her. I tell her and show her daily. And I also take care of myself. I may have slipped on physical appearances for awhile, but I’m slowly getting back to caring about that again. Because although I want her to learn that appearances are not the center of the universe, they are important. Important is so many ways, the #1way to show you care about yourself.
I know my daughter knows how much I love her, even with all the sacrifices I chose not to make. I’m not sacrificing my personal hygiene, my nutrition, the love for myself or how I deal with everyday problems just because I became a mother. Just because I am a mother does not mean I do not matter.
It just means I share my love and heart with a little person I helped create. It just means that I am responsible for teaching her valuable life lessons.

And #1?

Take care of yourself first.