Covid Week Umpty Million – Self Care Time

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How is everyone this week? We are having an absolute stinker over here! Home schooling for the younger boy has been a daily battle, we managed to poison the older boy with some rancid butter on Tuesday which resulted in much scrubbing of vomit from the floor, wall and towel radiator after he *almost* made it to the toilet in time and we haven’t managed to get supper on the table before 8:30pm once so far this week, despite resorting to soup and bread twice already…

It’s fair to say that the week has completely run away with us, I haven’t managed to even scratch the surface of the work that I wanted to get done so far, and I’m feeling all the frustration. There has been far too much shouting (mostly by me) and many tears (also mostly mine). But speaking to friends about it, it seems a lot of us have hit a wall of some sort in the last week, and it’s good to know I’m not the only one making a bit of a spectacle of myself (thankfully only in front of my family – lockdown has it’s silver lining too, I guess!)

I don’t really know what has sparked it – maybe after eight weeks we all just needed to throw our toys out of the pram and have a bit of a moment before we put our big girl pants back on and get on with it. What I have decided today is that we all do need to take some time out for ourselves – for our own sanity, or for the general health and well-being of our loved ones, if nothing else! What we do with that time looks different for everyone – maybe you like to make a cup of tea and sit down with a book; maybe you like to go out for a run, or a cycle, or a walk; maybe you like to do some drawing, or some colouring-in (much more my level!); maybe you like to run a bath and light a candle and have a moment of calm; maybe you like to pour yourself a glass of wine, or something stronger, and just sit outside, or by the window, on your own, listening to the quiet; maybe you like to put your favourite song on really, really loud and have a little dance. However you like to spend those moments, it’s just important that we try to steal even just a few of them for ourselves. Not easy if you are locked inside a house with all of your nearest and dearest, I know, but worth the effort!

To help, we’ve put together a little selection of things we think might just help tip the balance back to the right side of certifiable, and might even just prolong the lives of those living with you for another week…

Nature Bath Salts – run a bath, sprinkle in some of these, even light a Join candle while you’re at it, lie back and relax. You’ll be feeling more human in no time!
Norse Hand Salve – even if all you do is take 30 seconds to rub some of this into your hands, your skin will thank you for it. We’ve all been cleaning more and washing our hands more and our skin is feeling the effects – this works wonders for fixing them back up again and you’ll feel better for taking a little bit of care of yourself.
Spacemasks – the absolute don of self care. Pop one of these over your eyes and sit back and let the warmth work its magic. 15 minutes of warming, beautifully fragrant darkness and you will come out the other side feeling like a new person! (If you don’t trust just me, they were featured at no. 10 of the Buzzfeed countdown of best lockdown purchases…)
The Surrey candle by the Home County Candle Co – lavender and chamomile have long been known for their calming and relaxing properties. Even if you don’t have time to actually stop and sit down, just light this in the room and breathe deep; you will be feeling calmer and more relaxed in not time, even as your toddler rubs chewed crayons into the rug…
Calm Balm – you can rub some of this amazing Kiss The Moon balm onto your pulse points at any point of the day if you are feeling a little overwhelmed, but it really comes into its own when used as you climb into bed; be prepared for a wonderful night’s sleep. Everything always seems better after a good night’s sleep!
Dark chocolate is said to potentially improve blood flow, lower your blood pressure and improve brain function, and this delicious bar by COCO Chocolatier is flavoured with G&T. We can’t speak for the accuracy of the potential health claims, but this is chocolate. Flavoured with gin. Surely enough said?

Just remember that none of us are really smashing this, regardless of how it may seem – in the immortal words of Britney and Will.i.am, sometimes we all need to scream and shout and let it all out. After all, we all know it’s the quiet ones you really have to be careful of (or so I keep telling my husband…)

Alex xx