If there is one thing most Moms have in common, it’s always putting their kids’ healthcare needs first. As a result, their own care gets pushed to the back burner. This includes booking dental appointments for their kids and forgetting to book their own. If you’d like to show Mom how much you care, the ideal Mother’s Day gift this year could be helping her prioritize herself and make time for self-care. Here are some important self-care tips for Mom this Mother’s Day.
1. Book A Dental Appointment
Since this is one of the most common self-care appointments Mom sacrifices, it is one of the first things she should be scheduling to support her well-being. If Mom hasn’t been to her regular dental visits in a year or two, you can book her a check-up and cleaning to help get her oral health back on track. If you don’t have benefits, this shouldn’t stop her from receiving a proper cleaning and assessment of her dental health. Our PayBright plan is the perfect solution for families without benefits.
PayBright is part of the Bradford Family Care plan, and a new way to pay for healthcare not covered by benefits. It allows you to select PayBright at the time of payment and you are automatically provided credit for the services performed. Mom receives the care she needs, and the payments are then made in monthly installments until the balance is paid in full.
2. Schedule A Physical
Another appointment Mom might overlook is her annual physical. Schedule an appointment with her doctor and then make sure she can get there without having to worry about other family demands. While you can’t make her go, chances are she’ll appreciate the gesture and make the most of the chance to get her health back on track.
3. Give Mom Space
One of the things that Moms miss most — especially after a year of pandemic stay-at-home orders — is having more time to be alone. As much as she appreciates her family preparing breakfast and being showered with gifts, a real sign of how serious you are about making this her day is to leave her to her own devices for a while. You, as her spouse or partner, can take the kids out for a few hours and leave her with control of the remote, the bathtub to soak in, a stack of her favourite magazines, or the latest best-seller so she can sink into complete ‘me time’ without any background noise to distract her.
4. Provide A Little Luxury
How many times has Mom dropped hints about what she really wants? Is there a wall she’d like painted? An exercise machine she has mentioned? Is there a new trendy restaurant she would love to try? A sweater she’s been eyeing at the local boutique? A friend or sister she misses? These little clues are the comments she makes that you should be listening to. When you start to listen, you can respond by surprising her with the things that make her smile. These are the little luxuries she misses because she is focused on everyone else. Provide them and she will know you are listening to her.
5. Encourage Self-Care
Moms have needs that aren’t necessarily attached to something tangible. Instead, it could be a wish list of things she lacks that interfere with her self-care. Some ideas to help her find time for her needs might include:
- Setting up space in the house that is a Do Not Disturb area where she can meditate, read, work out, do yoga or just have quiet time
- Buy Mom a journal so she can start writing down her thoughts as a form of stress relief, to set goals, or to simply reflect
- Purchase a gym membership or sign her up for classes she enjoys that will allow her to be more active
- Reduce her stress load by offering to share duties she tends to worry about, like making dinner, preparing school lunches, driving the kids to their friends’ houses or practices, etc.
- Acknowledge her feelings when she shows signs of frustration, stress, or anxiety so she understands that her feelings matter
- Make sure she has time to spend with friends and family away from home, so she has time to just be herself with adults she loves
All of these things can help show Mom the importance of self-care.
6. Plan A Family Declutter Day
Clutter is proven to cause stress and anxiety. Plan a declutter day where the whole family pitches in and helps downsize to create a more peaceful environment. Depending on the age of your kids they can be assigned tasks, even if it’s just placing items in the sorting boxes. The idea is to remove the things that you don’t need to make more room and allow you to keep the home more organized. When you help Mom declutter, you also help declutter her mind, so it becomes easier to deal with more important things.
7. Make Self-Care An Everyday Habit
Last but not least, self-care should not be something Moms only get to consider one day a year on Mother’s Day. Self-care is something Moms need to practice every single day. Instead of thinking of ways to indulge Mom only on Mother’s Day, consider taking up a new approach to family life so Mom always has regular time for herself. Some things to adopt as a commitment to helping Mom continue self-care include:
- Everyone should do their part daily to keep the home neat and clutter-free
- A schedule should be made to share the burdens Mom tends to take on, whether it is preparing meals, cleaning, chauffeuring, or tutoring
- Make sure Mom has designated adult time every week, whether it is with herself, friends, family, her co-partner or even work events if she chooses
- When booking dentist appointments remind her she needs to book one for herself
These important self-care tips will help Mom remain focused on her own needs, so that she is at her absolute best to deal with the demands of her family.
Call today to schedule Mom a dental checkup: 905-775-5307 or click here to request an appointment.