Fit your own mask first

We all do it.

Everyone has priority over our time, except ourselves. It comes with the territory of being a mum.

It all starts when their tiny. You just sit down to eat and the kid starts crying to be fed, or held, or changed.

So what do you do? The child takes priority. Of course they do. So you try to rock them or feed them while you eat one handed, usually with your wrong hand too, for an added degree of difficulty.

As they get older, you need to toilet train them, teach them how to socialise, entertain them. All while what you want to do – need to do – for yourself takes a back seat.

Then they go to school (phew). But then they want to play sport, or do dance, or drama, or play an instrument, or go to a friend’s house or… [insert activity here].

And then they become teenagers…

And where are you in all this? Still waiting for the kids to reach X milestone, because then they’ll be able to look after themselves and you can then start to look after yourself.

Parents are starting having children at older ages. My mum had her first child at 25 and her last (me) at 29. I didn’t have my first until I was 29.5, and my last at 33. So I’m already 4 years older than she was with a baby. To be able to keep up with children, when we ourselves are starting older means we HAVE to prioritise ourselves at some point, or we just can’t keep going. At some point we need to recognise that we will be able to do MORE with our kids if we do more for ourselves.

As a firefighter, we are taught that the most important person in an emergency situation is yourself. You can’t help others if you go down. Fit your own mask first. In other words, help yourself first, because then you are in a much better position to help others.