Time Out for Mom 10 Winter Treats to Trump the Too-Busy Blues

Time Out for Mom 10 Winter Treats to Trump the Too-Busy Blues

By Sarah Lyons

Moms are busy and often forget about self-care. Do not feel guilty about making more time for you, mom. Notice the difference in how you feel every time you do something sweet just for you. Don’t wait for someone else to come along and make you happy. Please yourself and then go about your daily routine more cheerfully. Here’s some inspiration to get you in the mood:
Hand Model Worthy
Candy Apple Red? Toasted Pumpkin? What about Autumn Gold? Discover your signature fall color and give those fingernails and toenails two coats between one clear layer of bottom coat and topcoat.
Oatmeal-Cookie Soak
You’ll fall hard for this sensual skin-softening bath. In a food processor, combine 1 cup rolled oats, 1/2 cup baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract. Blend on high into a coarse powder you can dump right into a warm-running tub. Enjoy your soak!
Instant Bliss
Try this any time of day when you feel tense. Breathe in deeply through your nose all the way down into your belly and hold that breath for a moment. Let the air slowly out of your mouth. Pause. Repeat four more times.
Spice up Your Coffee
Make your own pumpkin spice latte. In a microwave-safe bowl, combine 1 cup of 2% milk, 2 tablespoons pumpkin puree, 1 tablespoon sugar, ¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, and ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract. Partially cover and microwave until hot (1-2 minutes). Whisk until mixture is foamy and pour over ½ cup fresh espresso in a large mug. Top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice. Yummy!
Bring the Outdoors in
Slip on a lightweight jacket, grab a basket, and go gathering in your neighborhood. Keep an eye out for seedpods, bird feathers, pine cones, acorns, branches, fallen leaves, and twisty vines. At the store, supplement your stash with dried flowers, mini-pumpkins, gourds, nuts, and Ornamental corn. Pull items together onto platters or into vases to create inspiring autumn displays throughout your home. Enjoy the compliments.
Teatime
Purchase some fancy tea cookies, scones or muffins, and stash them away in a secret place especially for you. Flavors in season might include maple, ginger, cinnamon, oatmeal, cranberries, pumpkin and toffee. Pull them out when you are ready to create a festive afternoon tea party. Don’t skimp on the silver and the good china. You deserve it.
Discover a Timeless Daily Practice
When I collage, time disappears and I am free to spin a unique story on the page without a care in the world. What’s the thing you enjoy doing that makes time irrelevant? Is it knitting, drawing, reading, writing, or painting? Whatever it is, can you make time for your passion daily, or at least weekly, this fall? Set some alarms on your cell phone to remind you when it’s time.
Magazine Escape
Grab your favorite magazine and head to the corner coffee shop. You are sure to find all of the seasonal drinks and treats you are dreaming about there right there. Choose something special to enjoy while sitting by the window as you turn the pages slowly and savor slowing down.
Invent a Healthy Ritual
Do you love to grab a farm-fresh apple in the morning and start your day with an invigorating 20-minute walk around the neighborhood as you listen to your favorite audio book? If so, you know how to combine things you love into a feel-good ritual. Feel good rituals are healthier because they put us at ease in our bodies. What can you combine that will create this effect for you each day? Adapt a new habit.
Invest in Your Yes
Imagine you already have the future you would value. What images represent this vision? Tear photos out of old magazines, or surf the web for just-the-right mood image. Gather these images together onto a piece of cardboard that you have cut out into your favorite shape. Use Mod Podge to make them into a collage that inspires you. Trim the edges if you like or thread two corners of your image with colorful yarn or embroidery thread. Post your vision board where you will see it daily, and each time you do, say, “Yes, yes, yes.”

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