Caring for the "ME" in "Mommy"

Good morning!

It got chilly last night, so it was a good night for sleeping. Jordan had a bad spot around 12:30 a.m. though. I got up with him and fed him and changed his stinky diaper to discover he had a horrendous sore bottom. He's never had issues with diaper rash or anything so I'm guessing all this red butt business has to do with the teething situation. Poor kid. Aquaphor ointment seems to help, though.

I stayed up later than I wanted to last night finishing some things around the house that I didn't get to during the day. I put away a lot of laundry that was sitting in folded piles all over the house, and I emptied the dishwasher and re-loaded it (and broke a salad plate. Grrr.... My wedding dishes are dwindling!). Those are two of my least favorite tasks. I'd scrub a toilet over emptying the dishwasher or folding and putting away laundry any day. I'm not sure why.

Anyway, I was kind of taking a tip from the FlyLady at flylady.net, who recommends you "shine your sink" before bed every night. Of course, your sink has to be empty in order to shine it! Well, I emptied it and shined my sink. Whoopteedoo. "What's the big deal?" I thought. Who cares if the sink's shiny?

But waking up this morning to a sparkling sink was a pretty awesome feeling! Yes, I stayed up last night and wasn't having much fun, but the feeling of waking up to NO laundry and NO dishes is indescribable! We'll see how long I can keep up with it. The FlyLady also recommends a daily "Swipe and Swish" in the bathroom--you wipe down the surfaces and swish out the toilet bowl, theoretically taking only one minute each morning to do so, therefore leaving your bathroom much tidier between deep cleanings. I definitely want to do that, since I have a four-year-old with less-than-stellar aim, ifyaknowwhatimean!

I tend to let the housework pile up into difficult-to-tackle mountains and that decreases the quality of my life. I spend all day, every day lamenting what I SHOULD be doing, all the while getting not much done! I can see how keeping up with the tasks would make things a lot easier, though it requires a bit more effort up front. Still, I really want to do this for myself. I'm worth it, right?

There are other things I need to do for ME too. One of them is so simple, I can't believe I have trouble with it, but I do. It's drinking enough water.

We've all heard it over and over, the Earth is made up of blah blah blah percent water and your body is made up of yadda yadda yadda percent water and we need XX glasses of water each day just to function. Well, save it. I don't want to know about percentages and ounces and whatnot.

I am a breastfeeding mom who dehydrates easily and I know I need to drink more. But how can I make myself do it? I have a fridge that dispenses water and ice, so it's easily accessible. I have plenty of glasses and straws and even some nifty stainless steel water bottles for when I'm on the go. I have sweet, tasty well water instead of nasty chemically city water. So what's my problem?

I've tried tricks such as adding Crystal Light-type flavorings to my water. That worked great until I had to take a trip to the emergency room due to all the artificial sweetener giving me what was tentatively diagnosed as visual migraines (I had swirling, flashing lights in my vision field. Like when they show an acid trip on TV! I thought I was having a stroke.) I make iced tea but worry about staining my teeth even more. I tried sparkling waters, which are great, but cost at least a buck a bottle.

I guess it's going to take a concentrated effort to drink more water. I am going to try this trick: Drink a glass as soon as I wake up. (I will do this while my beloved morning cafe mocha is brewing). Drink a glass before breakfast. Drink a glass after breakfast. Repeat before and after lunch and before and after dinner. Drink a glass before bed WITH MY VITAMINS (another thing I can never keep up with). So, we'll see if this works. Maybe associating my drinking with meals will help me do it. Of course, I have no trouble drinking during workouts, and I drink when I get up at night with the baby, too.

So, that's the plan for now, I guess. Make more of an effort to take care of me by keeping my house cleaner and treating my body better by drinking more water and taking my vitamins. A better me = a better mom.

What will you do today to take better care of yourself?