First things first, I want to wish all the mommas out there a wonderful Mother’s Day! On this day, it is pretty likely that you’ll receive a gift from your children or husband. Enjoy it! However, I want to talk about gifts that you can give yourself and not just on Mother’s Day.

Like most of the mommas I know, I am not very good at self-care. The needs of the family seem so great, that there never seems like there is enough time to do things just for you. If you do find the time, then the energy isn’t there. I also tend to feel guilty, as though I should be spending that time on something for the children instead.

I am sure most of you have heard the analogy of the oxygen masks on airplanes when it comes to self-care. When you fly, the flight attendants tell you that if you are traveling with small children or anyone else requiring assistance that you should put your oxygen mask on first and then help them secure their mask. This is the standard practice because you are not able to help others if you are unconscious or dead.

I had heard that, but the concept really hit home for me when I was on a short-term missions trip in Haiti. I was helping in a medical clinic on that trip and when it came time for lunch, we would close the clinic doors and go into a back room to eat. The building we were in had concrete block vents and the Haitians would gather around outside of them asking for our food. Our lunch was typically a pb&j, chips, and maybe a piece of fruit. It was nothing fancy, but it was sustenance and most of us wanted nothing more than to give it all to them. We were told we were not allowed to do that. The reason being that if we didn’t eat, we wouldn’t have strength enough to do what we needed to do to help those very people asking for our sandwich.

So, mommas, I am asking you to put on that mask and eat that sandwich. I have to do better about this and I am guessing many of you do, as well. To be better mommas, we need to take better care of ourselves. Over the next month, join me in a Momma-Care Challenge. My goal is to incorporate at least 3 self-care items per week. There are some ideas below to get you started. Let me know on social media how you are doing – tag me and include #mommacarechallenge.

Happy Mother’s Day!