Self-Care Ideas For Stay At Home Moms

Managing motherhood at home can get overwhelming really fast which is why self-care is so important for stay-at-home moms.

If you have more than one child, then double that overwhelm.

I only have one and she can make me feel overwhelmed at just 18 months old.

She is at that stage where she is curious about everything and everything has to be touched.

Between keeping her occupied while she is not napping, keeping our home from being overrun by toys, and working on this blog, there is barely any time left over for me.

In a previous post, I stated that as a stay-at-home mom, I don’t get to clock out.

Our breaks are when the kids are asleep at either naptime or at night.

We have to be intentional and carve out time for us to be able to just unwind and relax.

• Read More: Making Time For Yourself As A Stay-At-Home Mom

So I have compiled a list of some self-care ideas that are great for overwhelmed stay-at-home moms with some of the things that I like to do as a stay-at-home mom of a toddler.

If you are interested in some self-care ideas that you can do as a stay-at-home mom, then just keep reading.

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Why Aren’t Stay At Home Moms Practicing Self Care?

Before I dive into some self-care ideas that are great for stay-at-home moms, let’s talk about this.

Why aren’t stay-at-home moms practicing self-care?

Self-care is important for everyone to practice in general but what I have learned is that it is really important that stay-at-home moms practice self-care.

Why do you say?

Because it is so easy to get caught up in taking care of everyone else but yourself when you are a stay-at-home mom.

There is a lot of pressure that many stay-at-home moms feel to make sure everything in the home is covered.

This ranges from making sure everyone’s bellies are full, keeping a clean house, and making sure our spouses and partners are good.

With this type of pressure, if we don’t feel like we are achieving these things, it will leave many of us feeling less than fulfilled as a stay at home moms.

Which can cause many of us to fall into that stay-at-home mom depression that has become much more common.

Finding time for ourselves is really important whether it is 15 minutes in the morning or getting out of the house for 2 hours to do whatever.

Self-care should be something that we all prioritize and it is not selfish at all to get in some me-time.

You deserve to be a happy stay-at-home mom.

With that being said, let’s get into some self-care activities that you can practice as a stay-at-home mom.

Self-Care Ideas For Stay At Home Moms

Drink Your Favorite Morning Drink In Silence

One of the first self-care ideas that I love to do as a stay-at-home mom is drinking my favorite drink in the mornings in complete silence.

I say silence because silence is a rarity when you have kids.

If you have been keeping up with me on the blog, then you know that I try to wake up before my daughter and start my morning routine.

• Read More: My Simple Morning Routine As A Stay At Home Mom

I like to make my bed, get dressed, and then treat myself to a cup of tea.

It is just something about drinking my tea in silence in the mornings that is so calming and puts me in the right mode to start the day.

I know that when my daughter gets up, it will no longer be quiet so I try to squeeze in that time for myself in the mornings.

Take Time To Get Dressed Everyday

I mentioned above that part of my daily morning routine is getting dressed.

I know some may be wondering how is putting on clothes self-care.

Well for the average working mom, it might not be but for a stay-at-home mom, it is.

When you are home most of the day, it is tempting to stay in your pajamas all day, but I would strongly advise against that.

I know that if I’m in pajamas all day, then all I want to do is lounge around and sleep.

When I make the effort to change out of my pajamas and put on clothes, I feel so much better.

I feel good and ready to be a productive stay-at-home mom while taking care of my toddler all day.

Making the effort to look more put together as a stay-at-home mom does wonders for your mental and overall well-being.

Get Out Of The House Daily

The next thing that you can do that is considered self-care for stay-at-home moms is to get out of the house at some point every day

I can tell you that as a stay-at-home mom of a toddler, not only will you enjoy this but so will your child.

I have talked about my experience with postpartum depression on here before and part of the depressive feelings that I was having was feeling like I was stuck in the house.

Whether it is running general errands, pushing your child around in a stroller while you are walking around your neighborhood, or taking your kiddo somewhere to burn off some energy.

All of these things will relieve the stuffy feeling you get when you are home too long.

It can be tempting to just stay in the house with smaller children, but like us, they get bored and feel stuffy after being inside for long periods too.

So do yourself a favor and find a way to get out of the house every day.

You can never go wrong with getting some fresh air.

Make Plans With “Mommy” Friends

While you are out of the house, something that you do is make plans with friends.

In particular “mommy” friends.

I don’t know about you all but when I became a new stay-at-home mom, my social life plummeted.

I felt extremely lonely and stuck within being a mom.

Everyone says that becoming a mom is life-changing, but you don’t realize how life-changing it is until your friends who don’t have kids try to act as if nothing has changed.

This is the worst because you are may experience conflicting perspectives and have trouble doing things that you may have done before becoming a mom.

What I have learned since becoming a first-time mom is the importance of having mommy friends that you can chat and hang out with.

Whether it is an old friend that you have that is also a mom, a new mom friend that you have made, or a family member who has kids.

Find someone that you can be comfortable with and who gets what it means to be a mom.

And then make plans to meet up for a playdate, lunch, or even go workout with like I mentioned above.

Even though we are stay-at-home moms, we still crave adult interaction.

And what I have learned is that adult interaction has turned into a form of self-care for me.

I know this may be harder for my more introverted moms, but if you are invited out somewhere, try to say yes sometimes.

There is a reason that you were invited, so take it as someone who genuinely enjoys hanging out with you.

Cath Up On A Good Book

Another activity that I love to do is reading.

But like many things that I liked to do before having kids, reading became much harder after having my daughter.

I consider reading to be self-care because I genuinely find it relaxing and enjoyable.

It gives me that much-needed escape from the day-to-day so I do my best to incorporate it more into my day.

I try to read at night once I have put daughter down for the night.

Some nights, I will even make some tea and drink it while I’m reading.

When I visualize myself relaxing, it usually involves me drinking tea and catching up on a good book.

I’m a sucker for a good romance and can get caught up reading for a couple of hours at a time if a book is really good.

Occasionally I will switch it up and read a non-fiction or a self-help book here and there.

But if it was up to me, I love to get lost in a good fiction book.

Take Up A Hobby

Catching up with a good book actually leads me to this suggestion.

Which is to take up a hobby.

You really do need to have a hobby as a stay-at-home mom or you will completely lose yourself in motherhood.

Find something to do outside of being a mom.

As many of you have probably figured out, this blog is my hobby.

Something that I enjoy doing without someone making me do it.

Or need me to do it.

I blog and write here because I genuinely enjoy doing it.

That is what a hobby should feel like.

Whether it is blogging, reading, knitting or even baking, find something that you enjoy doing that brings you joy outside of being a mother.

I get a lot of joy out of being my daughter’s mother, but I can also get joy out of other things too.

Clean/Declutter A Space In Your Home

For some, this may not feel like self-care but for others like myself, cleaning can be really relaxing.

Plus I find it so satisfying once I have done it.

I like to play music or listen to cleaning YouTube videos while I’m cleaning so I can really get in the zone.

And then I get to work

Sometimes when I start cleaning one area, it actually motivates me to continue cleaning so I wind up getting another area in our home that probably needed to be cleaned as well.

So not only do I wind up with a cleaner home, I also feel better because of it.

If you find that you feel better after cleaning or decluttering a space, then I highly recommend doing this.

I guarantee that you will be glad you did it.

I wrote an entire post on the areas of my home that I like to declutter regularly.

If you are interested in that post, you can check that out below.

• Read More: Where To Start Decluttering When You Are Overwhelmed

Have An At-Home Spa Night

I don’t think you will ever come across a post on self-care ideas for stay-at-home moms without it mentioning some sort of spa-like pampering.

After a long day of chasing the kiddos around, take the time to pamper yourself with an at-home spa night.

Tell your hubby to watch the kids for a little while you transform your bathroom into a spa-like atmosphere.

Start off by engaging in some skin care with a face mask.

Then run some bath water and add a bath bomb.

Grab yourself some wine and hope in.

If you really want to amp up the vibe, play some relaxing music in the background.

There is something so relaxing about soaking in a bathtub with soft music and I am telling you that you will feel so much better afterward.

As I said before, I know it’s not the spa, but we can try to get as close as possible.

Make A Hair/Nail Appointment

And my last self-care suggestion for stay-at-home moms that also goes hand and hand with pampering yourself is to make a hair or nail appointment from time to time.

As a stay-at-home mom, I feel like I got complacent with doing things for myself.

I stopped going to the nail salon and the hair salon because my attention shifted to my child.

Not to mention going to these places regularly cost money.

But something that I have realized about myself even more so as a mom is that I like going to these places.

I usually walk away with a huge confidence boost and refreshed after either going to get my hair or nails done.

Because I did something solely for myself.

We spend so much time using our resources on our kids that we often forget to utilize some of those resources for ourselves.

So if you are like me and like going to the hair or nail salon from time to time, then make that appointment.

If you were needing that reminder, you just got one.

Your Turn

We can’t neglect ourselves in motherhood. Find some way to squeeze in some me-time whether it’s in the morning before your kids wake up or in the evenings after they go to bed. If you are able to squeeze it in during the day while they are napping, that’s even better.

Just find something that works for you and makes you feel good. I hope you enjoyed these self-care ideas for stay-at-home moms. I would love to hear what you do in the comments below so we can provide more self-care ideas for stay-at-home moms. And while you are still here, check out my previous blog post below. Until next time!

• Read More: You Are More Than Just “Mom”

Love,

Just Jass