Stress and saying it's okay.

I went to the dentist today because I've been having some pretty bad pain in my jaw that is causing me headaches and neck pain. I was told that I may be grinding my teeth which is causing my jaw to be slightly off track and is the reason why I am in so much pain lately. My dentist told me stress can cause this as well and maybe I need to look into ways to managing my stress.

Stress? Does that look like a stressed out person (pictured above)....okay maybe a little.

I'd say the last year has been quite stressful to say the least.

Our lives changed quite a bit the last year and I think at times we are still trying to catch up and cope with all of the change. The obvious changes, as you all know happened quickly and then BAM!, I became a mom of two little humans (and I think I'm still getting used to that). Some days we are great and seems like we are settled into this "new" life and then other days we fail miserably. Some days we just get too caught up in everything that we forget the important things that should only really matter. I know we've all been there.

Anyway, going back to my original intent with this post. Stress. Managing stress.

I'm understanding that I am not too great at taking that fresh breath of air and letting myself unwind a lot of the time. I think most days I'm still trying to find that perfect balance between being mom of two, having a full-time job, and still being...me. I spent a lot of the last few months being a little bit ashamed and embarrassed to say that out loud because let's be honest, no woman wants to admit they are having a hard time or struggling for fear of looking weak but if we can't say that out loud, doesn't that make us weak?

So, I'm proudly saying that there are days where I feel utterly defeated and that this whole "mom of two" thing seems like a mountain that I'm still trying to climb, slowly but surely and then there are other days where I am batting this mom thing out of the park (they are rare, but they do occur!), but I'm also slowly realizing that I need to start taking more time for me too and figuring how to manage stress.

Some of the things I used to do to manage stress or just think, calm myself down, etc:

Go for a long walk
Workout
Read a book
Go Shopping
Make some tea and sit outside

What are some types of ways you manage stress? I'd love to hear ideas because apparently I need them!

Most of all though - I think it's best to know that you're not alone on those days where you feel like you're alone, doing a bad job as a mom, or feel like you can't do anything right. I feel you and know what you're going through and it only makes us better moms and people in the end.

Xoxo