How to take care of yourself with kids at home? Do it together!

As a mom of 3, I tend to meet my kids’ needs first. Which is great on the one hand but on the other I very often forget - or even get too lazy - to take care of myself. Not even for 5 minutes! And that shows! I’m not as patient with my kids, I tend to have more arguments with my hubby and my inner critic tells me that I don’t have my sh*t together… Bravo! But especially for expat partners, where you are very often THE emotional backbone, THE lighthouse of your family, it’s so important to find ways to stay sane and balanced.

So I decided to change my strategy. When all 3 kids are at home and there’s no way out, I simply try to adapt all the things I like to do for myself to a level, which allows my kids to join. And this has proven to be a WIN WIN in many situations. Of course it's not the same as if you had time for yourself. But not taking care of yourself at all can't be the option. And by the way you are rolemodeling to your kids a healthy behavior. So, here we go.

1) Yoga: We roll out our mats and choose from @cosmickidsyoga or @madymorrison and just start. My eldest also enjoys fitness videos from @marklauren or @pewithjoe.

2) Audiobooks: We try to find books that we all enjoy listening to - or where I can snooze off in the hope that no one notices ;)

3) Create something (please ditch the perfectionism upfront): We take our palettes and just start painting without a plan. Or we look for an online watercolour tutorial to follow.

4) Hot Chocolate: For the kids. Definitely coffee for mom!

5) Going for a walk: Flink, our little sausage dog, is the best reason to go outside. Just today we’ve all come back, covered with mud, but rosy cheeks.

Maybe some of these ideas are inspiring for you as well. What are your strategies?

Warmly, Viviane