The other day, my son and I were chatting about food when he asked me what my favorite breakfast was. To which I replied, Avocado Toast!
I love the meeting of soft avocado and oozing egg yolk, yum! A few days later, he told me I should make avocado toast for myself for breakfast today. Unfortunately, I didn't have any avocados. So the next time I was grocery shopping, I grabbed some. I kept them out to ripen. Then, again, my son said "Mom, you should make yourself avocado toast for breakfast".
I had forgotten that the avocados were probably ripe by now, I checked and there was at least one ripe avocado, so I planned to make avocado toast the next day for breakfast.
This morning, I finally made myself avocado toast consisting of a slice of toast, roasted red pepper spread, egg, and yes, nicely ripened fresh avocado! I sat down with my son for breakfast. He noticed right away that I was eating my avocado toast. He was glad that I finally made it for myself. When I told him how good it was and what I had included on it, he was delighted. He said "See, I told you you should make yourself avocado toast!" to which I replied, "Yes, thank you for encouraging me to make it, it is so yummy". He seemed proud of himself, even though I was the one who made it for myself.
Here's the thing...
My son's nudge to make myself avocado toast was actually a nudge for me to take care of myself. It was a nudge towards self-care, towards self-nourishment, and towards doing something for myself that I enjoyed, even if it didn't serve anyone else but me.
Unfortunately, most of the time, we don't have anyone nudging and reminding us to take care of ourselves, to take time for self-care, especially not from our kids! When I think of the number of times my son reminded me to make myself avocado toast, it was at least 3 times, if not more, over about a month. To be honest, without his encouragement, I likely wouldn't have made avocado toast for a very long time, simply because it takes a bit of extra effort.
The satisfaction on my son's face after we had breakfast together, with my avocado toast, was priceless. At that moment I realized that by taking the time to nourish myself and take care of myself by eating what I enjoyed, I showed him that I believed I was worth the effort of avocado toast (or however I choose to take care of myself), and this gives him permission to do the things he enjoys and express his needs and wants as well.
Self-care is often seen as selfish, especially for moms. However, from a piece of avocado toast, it was reinforced to me that my son is watching and my taking the time to care for myself, teaches him that not only am I worth caring for myself, but so is he. As my son grows up, instead of modeling hustle and working at all costs, I want to model tuning into myself and making time to take care of my needs.
If my story speaks to you, I highly encourage you to get my DIY Self-Care Guide for Moms. You can grab it here. You are worth investing in, and this guide will walk you through creating a plan that works for you and your family.
Remember Mama, you are Worthy, Valued, and greatly Loved.
Gillian
Gillian Yuan
BN BSc MBEC
Motherhood Coach
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