[JessFinds] Stress Relief for Mama Bears

Alana over at Domestically Challenged blogged Tip Tuesday - Do You Have a Mom Stress Relief Plan?

She writes; "To say that last week was stressful would be an apocalyptic understatement, but it served as a great reminder. Moms are in a unique position of needing to be reminded to practice regular stress relief tactics."

Amen to that.


We have been under a little apocalyptic stress of our own over the last two weeks. Take everything you ever knew about the structure of your life (your home, your work, your income sources, children's school, etc...) and toss it out of a moving car like a cheap hooker. Okay, pretend I wrote something more eloquent, but essentially that describes the last 15 days for us.

I am trying to focus on one thing at a time like a good little grownup. Right now, I need to just clean my house and sell off some stuff so that we can then stage our home and try to sell it. That is one, well-encapsulated, issue that can be tackled. The rest are unknowns that can fall in to place as they will. Except I hate cleaning. I am reluctantly dealing with nutters on Craigslist. Selling my home in a down economy sounds like a mouth full of root canals.

Fortunately, I tend to deal well with change. All at once - not so sure. I think I have everything managed and then I get that "is there an elephant on my chest?" feeling. Or the "Why am I staring at the ceiling at 3am" feeling.

Look for my new book: Guatemalan Worry Dolls and their Therapists

JessFinds Stress Relief in Ten Easy Steps!

1. Blogging. My husband is a serial hobbiest, but me? No. I turn to the blog. The blog that has grown and evolved over the last ... get this ... EIGHT YEARS.  Someone should be paying me for this by now. I should probably be embarrassed. I am not.

2. Making old-fashioned popcorn on the stove with oil and a big pot. And then adding butter, salt and parmesean cheese. And then eating it. All.

3. Channeling someone I admire. I have a dear friend who could project confidence for miles around her.  From her I learned to stand straight. Wear great lipstick and black boots. Put a swagger in your walk. The lipstick used to be "wear red lipstick" but I am reaching the age where it looks like I am trying too hard.

4. Hugging the kids. No matter what is going on, they are still young enough to think that I am a golden goddess and can do no wrong.

5. Being present and aware of others. When I am stressed, sometimes I offer to help out others. It helps brush some of the doom and gloom off my own shoulders.

6. I want to crawl back in bed and mope, but I get up and put on shoes. The act of putting on the shoes means I can go outside if necessary and that alone opens up possibilities.

7. I have a "to hell with it all day." A day where everything gets swept off the agenda. Sometimes you just have to tell stress to back the eff up.

8. I remind myself of the truth of the matter. Whatever the source of stress is (money, work, kids, home) I know myself. I know my wonderful family and by extension the friends that make up my bigger family.  In the end, that is all that matters. My network stays the same when everything else is wonky in the world.

9. Random acts of kindness. Letting someone go ahead of me in the grocery store. Letting someone merge. Buying someone's coffee ahead of them in the Dunkin Donuts drive through. Complimenting someone on a beautiful outfit or well-behaved child. 

10. I buy something on Etsy. Retail therapy with the added bonus of supporting a handcrafter. Yay.

In reality, I am lucky to hug my kids, get shoes on and blog. I should try to add exercise to that list of things to reduce stress because it works. It really works. But like housekeeping, I am not a fan of exercise for the sake of working out. I need to find something that gets my motor going though. And before it gets so cold that I just want to huddle by a heater.