Being a mom is a full-time job.

I used to work as a nanny, a job that I really enjoyed. But to be honest, one of the nice parts about nannying is that come the end of the day you’re outta there! You “clock-out” and go back to “normal” life.

Not so with motherhood!

Now to clarify, I love this beautiful job called motherhood and wouldn’t want to be “outta here” after eight hours every day, except, well, except for those days when yeah, I actually would. Ha! (We’ve all had those days, right?!)

Even once the kiddos are asleep at night it’s hard (impossible even?) to shut off the mom-brain. And then once you’ve finally drifted off for the night you’re pretty likely to be woken at least once by at least one child. It’s the nature of the job!

Because motherhood is a full time job, it can also become really all-consuming. In our striving to do our best and serve our children and care for them well, it’s easy to lose ourselves in some ways to motherhood. To forget that we aren’t only moms.

{This blog post contains affiliate links. When you make a purchase through a link I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.}

I am also a wife (yes honey, I do remember that!), a sister, a daughter, a friend, a person . . . (yes, mommies are people too, gasp!) 😉

When motherhood starts to become all-consuming we can’t let ourselves forget these other important pieces of who we are. It will only hurt us and the people that we love.

A lot could be written about all the different roles I mentioned above, but I thought today I’d share thoughts on just two areas – your marriage and yourself.

Here are a few thoughts that I’ve had that hopefully you can take away and build on!

Marriage

Being a wife is a HUGE part of who I am, but even that can be overshadowed by my role as a mom if I let it. My kids are just a lot more demanding than my husband is haha!

But it’s super duper important for all of us to prioritize our marriages. After all, we’ll still be with our spouses long after the kids have flown the coop. So what can we do to prioritize our important roles as wives? Here are a couple ideas:

Take time to connect and talk

I feel so much closer to Pablo when we’ve taken the time to just sit and talk. I know, I know, sometimes by the end of a long day you just feel like chilling on the catch and watching a show – and trust me, we love doing that together – but it can’t replace time spent just talking!

Laugh and have fun together

It’s important to laugh and goof off with your spouse! Since having kids I have to remind myself to lighten up sometimes. (Check out this post for more on this topic!)

Show your kids that you prioritize time with your spouse.

Let’s be real, you can’t always put your spouse first. Kids are needy. But you CAN be intentional about showing your kids that your time and relationship with your spouse is important. Work with your kids to not interrupt when you’re talking.

Do whatever it takes to make date nights happen.

I always feel so young and free when Pablo and I go out sans kids haha. The BEST times have been the two times we’ve been able to go on an overnight thanks to my family watching the kids. SO nice.

I know though that overnights aren’t a possibility for everyone at every stage. That’s ok. But make date nights a priority. You need time together without your kids sometimes, you just do.

Self

Ok, so, “self”. This may sound funny to you, especially because part of being a parent is learning to be selfless. We have to give up things for our kids and work to be unselfish and that’s a good thing.

BUT, “you can’t serve from an empty vessel”. You can’t.

Make time with God a priority.

If nothing else, do this. We need God pouring His love into us if we expect to minister well to our children. I’ll be honest here – and I’m ashamed of this – but spending consistent time with God has been a struggle for me ever since I became a mom. Sometimes I do better than other times, but it’s definitely something I need to continue to work on.

Two resources that have been helpful to me in this area are Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full and Walking with God in the Season of Motherhood.

Take care of your body.

Exercise. Eat well. Get enough sleep (or at least as much as you can when you’re in the “littles” stage!)

Find a hobby that refreshes you.

You may not have time for a hobby in every season of motherhood. That’s ok! But when you do it can be very refreshing. I suggest blogging. 😉

Find a way to have a little alone time every so often.

I think as moms we can sometimes feel guilty to ever go out by ourselves, but a little time alone is a good thing! This past year I’ve started going out for an hour or two by myself on Sunday afternoons while Pablo stays home with the napping kids. It is SO refreshing for me and I so appreciate that Pablo encourages me to do it.

So yes, being a mom is a full time job (with lots and lots of overtime haha) but let’s not allow motherhood to make us forget everything else that’s important too.

Thoughts? Ideas? Please share in the comments!