My son is 17 months and I'm currently SAHP full time. Obviously I don't get much time for myself during the week, but I'm now at the point where I'm starting to really crave it. In particular I'm wishing I had more time to look after my self through doing exercise I used to do before baby - yoga, strength training, walking etc. I feel I need all the strength I can get with the physical work of having a (very heavy and stubborn) toddler, abs lugging round the buggy etc, but ironically my body is the weakest it's ever been as Ive no time to keep up with this stuff. After DS goes to bed around 8 I catch up on housework /dishwasher / cleaning etc and then by 9/10 I'm absolutely exhausted. Also, whilst it may sound shallow, I'm feeling ready to spend and more time in looking after my appearance as that has all had to slide with having a baby obviously. But now as an older mum I'm starting to really feel my age and look like the lack of sleep has taken its toll, and just scraping my hair back each day, chucking on the same old jumper, doing minimal make up, and having permanently chipped nails is contributing to me feeling a little bit depressed and lacking a certain feeling of energy about myself - if that makes sense.
I do eat extremely healthily but want to do more to look after myself now. I feel it would benefit my mental health abs if I'm feeling happier then my son benefits too. I don't have any childcare at the moment so I guess that's a major issue.
Does anyone reading who has a toddler (or remembers that time) manage to do a better job on managing their time and having a bit of self care? Or is every mum of a toddler feeling this way?