This is a trick your mom friends haven’t told you! 🤫
When your kids are all over you and won’t give you a minute’s peace from the “Mom! Mommy! Up up! Mom! Mom! Mommy!,” you’re bound to start feeling overwhelmed and overstimulated.
Your nervous system gets thrown completely out of whack by all of the touching and noise, putting you on-edge in fight or flight mode.
You probably start thinking thoughts like “get them away from me” or “I can’t do anything when they’re all over me” or “I can’t handle being touched anymore!”
And when this perfect storm happens, you’re very likely to snap. Either at your kids by yelling at them, or by feeling so flustered that you can’t stop the tears.
Before the snap happens, try using 🩷 this technique 🩷 to regulate your body and thoughts so you can make it through the onslaught.
🩷 Start by taking a pause. Shut your eyes and take a deep breath that you feel all the way into your belly and out again.
🩷 Then say out loud to your children “I know you love me and want to be with me right now, but sometimes mommies need a little break to be by themselves.”
Saying this out loud not only conveys the message to your children, but also to your brain. Your brain now processes that you know your kids love you and that’s why they want to be around you (not that they are grabby little gremlins) AND that it’s OK for mommies to take a break.
With these positive thoughts, you maintain your calm for yourself and your children, putting yourself in a position to find a good solution rather than drowning in overwhelm.
With a clear head you can set up your kids with an independent play activity (or iPad – no judgment here!) and give yourself 5 minutes of peace to enjoy for yourself. 🥰
It sounds so simple but this regulation and thought change takes practice when you’re in the heat of the moment!
Give it a try the next time you’re feeling touched out and see if you can stop the overwhelm snap. 🩷
If you found this tip helpful and are interested in more mindset hacks for moms, be sure to ✨️FOLLOW✨️ me @iambaileemcclellan and share this with your mom friends!
XO – Bailee