Last week, I wrote about my stressful Morning routine that I needed to change. At the same time, I've been reading The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins. In her book, she challenges you to get up 30 minutes earlier than you normally would. This is one thing she challenges you to do because she knows it's difficult because who wants to get up 30 minutes earlier? Certainly not me. I love my sleep and don't get enough as it is, but she uses this exercise to put the 5 Second Rule into practice, but to also show you the effect of discipline and working towards your goal. When you change one habit, it has ripple effects through other parts of your life. Mel Robbins reminds us that we will never feel like doing most things, but we have to push through and do them. We have to follow our instincts and so many times we lose out on opportunities because we rethink things and let fear take over.
I knew that I needed to change my morning routine to make things more peaceful for Rosebud and I, so I took the 30 minute challenge and got up 30 minutes earlier every day this week. Well, every day except one when my alarm somehow got turned off, but I still managed to get up 15 minutes ahead of schedule. Overall, my mornings this week have been much better. I was able to exercise before Rosebud woke up. I didn't feel rushed and even had a few quieter moments to think about what I wanted to get done during the day. It reminded me of mornings when Rosebud was a baby.
Back then, my work day started a little later so when Rosebud would have her morning nap, I'd rock her. It was so peaceful. I'd listen to music or an audio book while holding and watching my sleeping baby. Rosebud never slept in a crib and only slept well when next to me so there were lots of times when I had to slow down and just snuggle with her. Now that she's older and naps well in her toddler bed, I have to find a new way and a new time to be in that peaceful space.
The other things I've done to make the mornings run smoother are to prepare my lunch the night before and to be intentional about leaving my phone in the other room so I'm not tempted to look at it when I get notifications. This way I'm not distracted and don't waste time. The best thing about having this extra time is when Rosebud asks to paint, I can tell her yes. We can have a few extra minutes to read a book or bake pretend pies.
If you haven't read the 5 Second Rule, it's worth checking out. It's as if Mel Robbins is sitting there talking to you rather than reading a book to you. I'll leave you with a quote from chapter 8 of the book.
"Whatever reason you hold yourself back, you're wrong. It's not safer to keep quiet. It's not better to keep the piece. It's not feudal to try. It's not risky. You're wrong. All your excuses and reasons, they are wrong. There is no right time to improve your life. The moment you move, that's when you discover your strength. That's the way to bring the real you to the table by pushing the real you out of your head and into the world. And the best time to do it. It's right now. Right now when your heart is telling you to move."
Here’s what I put in the tub
When I was just out of high school, I became good friends with this girl. When we first met, I was unsure of her. She seemed nice enough, but she was really quiet and it didn’t seem like we had much in common. Over time, we got to know each other well and became pretty close. It turned out that we had similar interests, goals and struggles in our lives. After a couple years, we lost touch mostly because of me. Back then, I was allowing others to influence me in ways that were harmful to my confidence and my wellbeing. I had talked to her a few times since then and realized that she was living the life I wanted to have. I always admired her intelligence, independence and courage. She was able to change her life in ways that I couldn’t at the time. I always admired that, but I’ll admit, I was a little envious. Although, I was mostly happy for her. I never told her any of these things. She has some amazing things in her life and she created that herself. It just goes to show that you never know whose lives you’re touching. Sometimes people may never tell you. Sometimes it’s hard to find the right words, but if you are able to give a compliment or offer some simple words of gratitude, it will brighten someone’s day.
6. You must always eat with a fork even if the food is pretend. It’s polite.
Sometimes Rosebud is already awake and that means I either don’t exercise or I let her watch something on the iPad. I don’t like to skip exercising because I’m trying to make healthy choices so more often than not, Rosebud spends 30 minutes watching something on the iPad. then the mom guilt kicks in whenever screen time is involved. I monitor what she is watching and try to keep it somewhat educational, but still…
I’ve been thinking about this all week and have been feeling horrible because it shouldn’t be that bad. I shouldn’t feel so overwhelmed before my day even starts. Then I start to feel guilty because I’m imagining all the moms with more than one child and who have to start work extremely early in the morning. I think to myself, this shouldn’t be so hard if you just get it together. This morning, I saw this wonderful article, 
They have some great ideas on how to make mornings more peaceful. I realize I’m not alone and plenty of mothers feel the same way I do. I’ve never been a morning person. I usually feel tired and unproductive, but it’s obvious that I need to restructure some of my morning routines. Feel free to post anything that helps you in the comments.
Normally when I write in my blog, I only focus on the positive and rarely ever write about something so personal, but I suppose that isn’t exactly authentic. People who know me in real life know that I’m visually impaired, but most people who I interact with online don’t. I usually dread telling people and do whatever I can to hide or minimize it. It’s because I know people will think of me differently once they know. I’m having second thoughts about posting this as I type. Anyway, I left the store today in frustration and I didn’t say anything, but there have been times where I’ve stood up to that.
While I was in the hospital after Rosebud was born, there were mostly wonderful nurses who were caring and supportive. However, there was one who was absolutely horrible. She was rough while drawing blood from my baby, she was abrupt and generally had a negative attitude. It was obvious that I made her uncomfortable and that she didn’t think I could handle caring for my newborn. I’ll mention that I had a c-section due to complications and it was impacting my ability to breastfeed. Sometimes women who have had c-sections take longer to produce milk because of hormones and the trauma to the body. Anyway, for whatever reason, Rosebud wasn’t feeding very well and like a lot of mothers, I was having trouble getting her to latch. Most of the nurses were fine with helping me with this. Rosebud and I were starting to figure it out, but it was taking time.
I want other mothers to know that yes, you can fire your nurses. I did not know that and only learned that out of desparation. Also, it’s okay to advocate for yourself. It’s hard and sometimes you don’t know if it’s worth it or not, but it usually is. It’s not okay for people to treat me like that and I wish they wouldn’t, but at times proving people wrong has been a strong motivation for me. It has pushed me hard to achieve my goals. Sometimes it’s okay and absolutely necessary to surround yourself with a protective bubble.
There is so much you can get from journaling and there so many ways to journal. You could use anything from a plain notebook, a photo/art journal to an entirely digital journal. Even if you only write for five minutes a day, it can still help you. Here are a couple of books that I’ve used to get my journal started.