A few weeks ago I attended a training put on by Postpartum Support International. If you are not familiar with the organization, please check out their website. They are a great resource for families. The purpose of Postpartum Support International is “to increase awareness among public and professional communities about the emotional changes that women experience during pregnancy and postpartum”. The mission is to “promote awareness, prevention and treatment of mental health issues related to childbearing in every country worldwide”. Through the website you can learn about perinatal mood or anxiety disorders, find resources and connect with someone local.
One of the trainers was Dr. Christina Hibbert. She is a psychologist and mom of 6. She is the author of This is How We Grow: A Psychologist’s Memoir of Loss, Motherhood, and Discovering Self-Worth and Joy, One Season at at Time and most recently Who am I without You? 52 Ways to Rebuild Self-Esteem After a Breakup. On May 18th, her radio show “Motherhood” on WebTalkRadio.net will air. I was excited to meet her as I have been following her blog for awhile. One of the things that I love about following Dr. Hibbert’s blog is that she talks about self-care, clearly one my favorite topics and also stresses the importance of it. Something that was talked about in the training as well. She shared with me some of her favorite forms of self-care are alone time, exercise, making sure she gets enough sleep, naps and dark chocolate. All of my favorite forms of self-care. I shared that I keep a bar in of dark chocolate in the freezer. It was a hard day when the kids realized it was there!
Dr. Christina Hibbert also gave me permission to share one of her blog posts “Motherhood 101: 12 Realities & 12 Lessons from a Seasoned Psychologist & Mom of 6“. Here are her first three realities and lessons of motherhood that she has learned in her 18 years of parenting 6 kids.
Reality #1: It’s hard
Lesson #1: Recognize that it is hard.
Reality #2 Hormones, brain chemistry and life experiences can make it even harder.
Lesson #2 Understand all you can about your own emotional health and take care of yourself.
Reality #3 You won’t love every moment, and you won’t feel happy all the time.
Lesson #3: Look for joy in the moments.
Good, right? Those are only the first 3. You can read all of them on her actual post.
What lessons of motherhood have you learned? I know motherhood has taught me a lot. It has taught me about myself, but also my marriage and friendships. A reality for me is that motherhood is HARD, way harder then I thought. But it can bring joy that I could not have even imagined too. I have learned I am way better at being a mom if I take care of myself. I am a calmer and more present parent, which is very important to me. What lessons have you learned from motherhood? We would love to hear.
Choose Happiness,
Jessica Lynn
