I Have a Cleaner and Feel No Guilt About It

After my first babe was born for a while I had a cleaner. It was glorious. Leave and do grocery shopping and errands and come back to a nice clean home. Then spend time with my daughter rather then cleaning!

A few months later I had this awful guilt about being a stay at home mom and spending money on someone cleaning my home for me. (That mom guilt is a real jerk isn't it?) So I stopped having her come. Despite my husbands advice and support on having her come.

Fast forward to a few years, a bigger house and an extra daughter later.......

I've learned my lesson. My lesson in being cheap and my lesson in mom guilt. 

I always thought (wait let me rephrase that I always STILL think sometimes) that I can do it all. I can be the super mom that does it all. I can have a clean house and happy kids and work and blah blah blah. And I realize you know what? I DONT HAVE TO BE!

One of the moms in my bootcamp said something so perfectly in relation to this last week. She's a mom of 4 kids and said " I feel bad for you with only 2 kids. With 2 you feel like you can still do it all and everything still be perfect. With four you realize it's impossible and relax on things a bit."

WOAH. Truth bomb. 

Anyways...... a few months ago I came to this conclusion that if I ask for help rather then trying to do ALL THE THINGS I can actually be more relaxed, spend more time with my kids and husband and quality time working on my blog and business. Just from having someone come into my house every second week to clean takes enough pressure off me. 

I feel not a single inch of guilt or remorse about receiving this help and honestly way more relaxed. It's not another thing on m "to do list" and clears my space and time for things that are far more important then cleaning my baseboards!

And since I know I am going to be asked...... I use the amazing Pernickety Services who not only do cleaning but grocery shopping and errands of all kinds. So really, you can get your help in any form. 

Take care of yourself by asking for help. It's not a weakness but a sign of strength. Honestly. 

Love,

Jen The Bitchin' Housewife

Self Care Sunday - A Simple Bath

I wish for everyone to realize the important of self care. Being a little self centered is a good thing.  I know personally I am a better mother, wife, friend when I feel at ease and relaxed. Stressed out Jen, with no time for herself is a bit mean actually. I know this about myself, so I try as much as I can to do things for myself. Every week I wish to write an idea of how you can care for yourself. Grand gestures of spa days and all that are nice, but unrealistic on a daily/weekly basis for most of us. 5, 10, 30, 60 minutes is something we can all make time to do.

This week for Self Care Sunday we are talking baths. When I was younger I used to hate them. And I am not talking about when I was 10. I mean like 20. BUUUUUUT I was 20, care free with minimal responsibilities. Not that I didn’t have stress, but I think many of us 25+, mothers, career holders and so on know the difference in stress levels.

Now I love baths.I like the candles, wine, music, book and it all. Soaking until I’m a prune.  Sometimes it’s a hard thing to get to as kids can still walk in or be heard fighting downstairs, but I want you to try something. Ask your partner to help. I’m guilty of assuming my husband knows I need to relax and don’t want to be disturbed and get irritated when I am.

So ask for the things you need my friends. Practice saying it with me now “I need some time to myself, could you help me out and keep the kids from coming into the bathroom or knocking on the door?” See, it’s not that hard is it? This way your intention is clear and you can relax as much as possible.

A few extra tips for helping you get the most self-care of your bath:

• Light some candles: Go ahead and buy yourself that candle that smells like glorious sweet vanilla or pumpkin spice or whatever you jam is. Heck even buy some simple tea lights.
• Music: I have a portable speaker I use, or sometimes I just have my phone on youtube to mediation music next to the tub.
• Wine, beer, water: Have something nearby to drink, (especially if you are like me and like you’re baths so hot you skin turns a bit pink.)
• Reading material: Grab your favourite trashy magazine or book you’ve been reading.
• Epsom Salts – These are a beautiful way to relax sore muscles in the hot water. Epsom Salt (magnesium sulfate) is a known muscle relaxer. I have this wonderful one from Rocky Mountain Soap Company. Their Sport Bath Salt is delicious with the Lemongrass and Rosemary.
• DON’T ANSWER YOUR PHONE. Commit to the 30, 60, 90 minutes or whatever that you will not look at your phone. You don’t need to wind yourself up looking at things on social media or emails that potentially disrupt your zen.

Plan a day this week, or next Sunday to have a bath. Put it in your phone schedule or write it on the calendar. BATH NIGHT. Knowing that when someone asks you to do something you have plans to take care of yourself. Also setting yourself up to chat with your partner about helping you out and having that time alone.

Be well and take care.

Love,

Je

7 Tips To Get Up Early To Workout

1.Set a couple of alarms. I won't lie to you my friends, I'm a morning person and I even need to set two alarms some mornings to wake up. Just this morning I fell asleep after the first one, but luckily 15 minute later I had another going

2.Lay out your clothes the night before. If you happen to wake up on that second alarm, or third, your clothes are ready to go. Change and you are on your way. 

3.Plan your workout ahead of time. Plan to attend a class or pop in a specific DVD or print off your Take It Outside Bodyweight Workout. Knowing what you plan to do, makes sure you just get into, instead of making an excuse to just go back to bed. 

4.Put your water bottle and/or morning snack on the counter. Depending on how hungry you are (or how you function on low blood sugar), maybe plan to leave a quick easy snack such as a banana on the counter. 

5.Leave your gym bag in the car/at the front door. Again, the easier things are to just pick up and go, the more you are likely to do them! Have your gym bag with a change of clothes for work, your running shoes, toiletries or whatever you may need in your bag and ready by the door to go. 

6.Go to bed a bit earlier! Try crawling into bed even an hour earlier. Some say for every hour of sleep before midnight, it's worth 2 hours of sleep after 12!

7.Find some friends to keep you accountable. I can't tell you the amount of times I didn't want to go to a 6m workout and I knew I would be letting down my friends if I didn't show up. Let me tell you, I have yet to regret going! The Power of A Workout Buddy is like no other!

Need a little more motivation? Here are some reasons why my friend gave that they like their 6 am workouts:

"The feeling after a morning workout is so awesome! . I can start my day with a level head (most days) and so much energy."

"Just knowing you did it and you can focus on the rest of the day, spend time with your family, not worrying about fitting it in."

"It helps me make good eating choices throughout the day. I have less desire to eat junk and am more drawn to healthy options - to fuel my body not just satisfy a craving"

Honestly at first it's hard. I won't tell you it's easy. But the more you do it, the more of a habit it becomes and then you get excited to wake up early and kick the day's butt! On days I don't work out I'm even up early before my kids taking some time to myself. Meditating, reading emails in the dark or just enjoying a hot coffee. 

What motivated you to get out of bed to work out?

Love, 

Jen