What's your daily pleasure?

[pineapplejuice22]

I am currently on mat leave with a 2mo and wild 2.5 yo. I am really struggling. I think I need something to look forward to every day so wondered what your daily pleasure is? Need some inspiration!

A run. I find it completely meditative. Nothing makes me happier

ASMR on YouTube of somebody brushing my hair.

Morning walk with the dogs in local woodland -listening to an audio book ...followed by coffee with cream at home.

(The dogs and book replaced the children - but the coffee remains.)

It's funny how lots of these favourite things emphasise that "being alone" is part of the pleasure! I guess that may be difficult for you @pineapplejuice22 with DC that age. Do you live with anyone who can give you a daily break?
All these seem to take pleasure in the "routine" eg a set time of day/evening which I guess may also be awkward.

When my DC were little I got into the habit of wine o clock when they went to bed and it was just the worst thing to do. I sound like an evangelical now but I replaced it with running (ofc you need a partner at home for the DC) and it was just the best thing for raising my mood and it lasted for hours as well, not just a transient pleasure like wine o clock. The benefit to my mental health the actually outweighed the physical benefits!

So a lot of it depends on your circumstances. My favourite thing now I can't run any longer and my DC are older is to do a skincare routine before bed, put a lot of fairy lights on in my bedroom (and electric blanket!) and get into bed and read for three hours an hour.

I'm sorry you are struggling. If you can say if you have any total solo time away from DC even if it's 15 minutes (I know this is hard at 2mth) and if a certain time of day is easier and what you enjoyed doing pre DC we could come up with some good ideas? If it could be an evening break it may be better as it could keep you going a bit through the day having it to look forward to?

(In case you can't tell I was fucking awful at having little DC I can assure you life gets so much easier as they get older)

A cafe presse of coffee in the morning when I start work.
Maybe some chocolate later.
15 minutes of Russian learning.

I have a few...
A little walk around 8.
A very white, very hot coffee around 2.
Gin and tonic between 4 and 5.
Going to bed around 10.30, lights out at 11.

Once the Christmas decorations have been put away and the table is clear, I’m going to spend 30-60 minutes each day doing a jigsaw.

I make an iced latte every morning (in my Starbucks cold cup so I can pretend I’ve left the house ) and I look forward to it.

I also reward myself for getting my work done with some Animal Crossing on the Switch

@amusedbush

I make an iced latte every morning (in my Starbucks cold cup so I can pretend I’ve left the house ) and I look forward to it.

I also reward myself for getting my work done with some Animal Crossing on the Switch

I’ve just played for an hour 🥴 got 3 new plots built and gave Pascal the otter a scallop to eat so I made some solid progress

@RecipeStealingBitch

Pascal is my favourite - my (virtual) bedroom is mermaid themed thanks to his DIY recipes. Poor DH has to listen to me talking seriously about my infrastructure projects on my island

I wake up before everyone else, bring a coffee and some chocolate back to bed and surf MN.

I have a coffee mug that you can put proper ground coffee in. Basically when you plunge it down a lid goes on top and you can drink your coffee out of it. A nice cup of coffee in that and some overnight oats with funky flavours (current favourite Nutella and banana) for breakfast before the kids get up is my treat to myself. I got so sick of wasting a whole cafetière of posh coffee (or worse, drinking the lot and being like a stressed meerkat by 11am) and this is just decadent enough :)

A half hour uninterrupted listen to Spotify with big headphones, either music or podcast. Reading a few chapters of whatever book I'm reading - when I had young babies, my choices of books were easy reading. Episode of something equally 'easy ' on Netflix, just enjoyed 'Glow up, bit trashy but fun. A walk if it's dry weather. A good cup of tea first thing.

An early night with DP!!

I like to read a poem.

A coffee and a game of online bingo xx

I like the quiet time in the morning before everyone wakes up. Also feed the birds in the garden and watch them and realise there's still normal lives going on in the nature, sometimes rewarded by the beautiful sky too.

@pineapplejuice22 if you are looking for more ideas, there are two lovely books that will be useful:
Froth on the Cappuccino: How small pleasures can save your life by Maeve Haran
The Wonderful Weekend Book: reclaiming life’s simple pleasures by Elspeth Thompson

My daily pleasures would be:
fleece blankets on the bed instead of sheets
Bamboo socks (so soft - I obviously have a thing about soft textured things)
Waking up early (5-6am) before the rest of the house and making a large coffee that I take back to bed and I get to read my book for an hour

Great thread OP

A sunrise swim in the sea every morning

When DD was tiny I used to treat myself to a decent coffee every morning, often accompanied by malted loaf toasted and spread with lots of butter. I also made sure that I slathered myself in nicely fragranced body butter after each shower. And I made a deal of always doing my eyebrows every morning, it lifts my whole face somehow.

Now in lockdown it's much the same, decent coffee, a nice body butter after shower and eyebrows every day. I also have a selection of good candles (most from TKMAXX) which I burn after DD is in bed. We drink yogi tea for comfort and I've recently rediscovered my spiky mat so sometimes have a snooze on that before bed. A hot bath with Epsom salts is great for a bit of me time to.

Absolutely love these! Thanks for the inspirations everyone. It's reminding me to take pleasure in the smallest of things when the days seem so hard.

@IAmAMalenkyBitPoogly
yes wine is becoming a feature but I am trying to limit it to weekends as I could easily have a glass every night.

My DH is fantastic and will happily have them both whilst I get a break. Have been having a bath and reading a new book to try to escape. Any good recommendations?

@Whatliesbeneath707 I will check them out. Thank you

@LittleSwede do you have a particular eye brow set you use? Mine are looking appalling after pretty much a year of no threading!

Eating