Self care for Homemakers and caretakers: tips and ideas

Let’s talk about self-care tips and ideas for homemakers and caretakers.

As a busy homemaker or caretaker in a season of making sure everyone else is well cared for, we often put ourselves last. 

Why do we need a self-care routine as homemakers?

There are so many reasons.  Homemakers are the source of how the home feels. If we are burnt out and bitter, the home will suffer and our family will feel it.

By taking care of ourselves, we will be much better equipped to handle the daily juggle of all the roles we play. And we can do it joyfully!

Ladies… please take care of yourselves!

Before we get to the practical ways of self-care, I want to talk about WHY we need it. 

If you have children, then God has called you to be a parent. It is a blessing!

It’s a lot of work though, isn’t it?

Depending on the stage your kids are in, it can feel like there’s never a break. Add in a baby that wakes up all hours of the night and you’ll be feeling pretty depleted very quickly.

It’s crucial to build in self-care activities so you always know there will be a little break coming.

We don’t want to grow to resent our little blessings.

When we are talking about self care, we have to talk about all the parts of ourselves.

What are our own needs? This must include our spiritual health, physical health, and mental health.

Our mind, body and spirit.

We are a complicated being aren’t we?

The top priority should be our relationship with our loving creator. God loves you and wants a real relationship with you! 

(What is the gospel?) 

A daily routine of being in the Word, is the best way to connect with God as a busy homemaker. This will fit really well into a morning routine, but should be a part of our daily life even if we choose a different time of day. 

There is no true inner peace apart from God. 

Those extra special times of going to a group bible study, or a women’s retreat are also soul-filling. But when your home is full of little ones that need you all hours of the day, just reading God’s word regularly will be your life-line.

This doesn’t have to be fancy or complicated. Just sit down with your bible, open it up and read. 

Leave your bible in an accessible place so you can easily grab it in the morning (or any time you choose). 

Making this happen daily will help you to see life through the lens of our amazing God.

Seeing how patient Jesus always was with children and his disciples will help you be more patient with the constant interruptions of living with children (or sinners in general).

If you do nothing else for self-care, do this one thing for yourself.

God is so good and wants to be in your life!

*Bonus! To have more encouragement from God’s word, you can leave little sticky notes with scripture on them for you to see around the house. This will also encourage your family members too!

Self-care for homemakers: caring for our bodies.

There are a few layers to caring for our bodies.

First off, we should be practicing good personal hygiene. I’ve mentioned this before in my post about “How can Christian women feel sexy?”.  

Staying fresh and clean, will give us a huge morale boost. If we are moping around in our pajamas all day and don’t shower for way too long, we will have no ambition. We should be dressing well, but comfortably and prudently.

We deserve to feel fresh!

Caring for our bodies by regular exercise.

It can be really tricky to find a time to sneak away to a gym for some serious strength training. Mom guilt is a real deal!

But maybe you can try to go for a walk in the afternoon, or do pushups with the kids. A little physical activity can go a long way when you’re in a busy season.

Our energy levels will improve with a little bit of exercise. Once you start to feel your overall health benefitting from these small pockets of exercise, you’ll want to do even more!

*A tip if you struggle with this. Put a little mark on your calendar for each day you do a little intentional exercise (even small or simple) and as you see these little marks building up day after day, you will be so encouraged to continue! 

Self care for our bodies by eating nutritious meals.

I don’t know why it took me so long to realize the reason for food is for our nourishment. I used to think it was just so I wouldn’t feel hungry anymore. A subtle shift in thinking has really helped me have a healthier view of food.

If it’s not nourishing food we are eating, we will not feel satiated.

Women’s health in a season of child-bearing and breastfeeding is critical. If we are constantly depleted, our health WILL eventually suffer.

We don’t have to embrace a martyrdom syndrome.

If we are feeding everyone else in our families, but not properly feeding ourselves, what will happen to them when we are really sick later on?

It is so important to prioritize the nourishment of our bodies by making sure we are getting the essential nutrients we need.

Our immune system will be stronger as well if we are regularly getting enough nourishment.

I know it can be really hard to want to spend the money on healthy food and good vitamins, but how expensive is it to try to fix health issues later on?

High blood pressure pills, depression medication, even heart disease medication would be a huge cost.

Let’s be thankful for what our bodies can do and care for them well to hopefully avoid trying to “fix” things later on!

Self-care for our bodies by getting enough sleep.

A great way to make sure we’re getting enough rest is to make sure our kids are getting enough rest!

They should be sleeping at least 10-12 hours a night depending on their age. If this is a struggle for your family then check out my post on “creating a peaceful bedtime routine“.

If we can train our kids on a consistent sleep schedule, then there will be opportunity for us to get better sleep. I totally understand there are seasons where it’s just not great for getting enough rest. (I currently have a baby that is teething and isn’t sleeping very well.)

Reach out to your husband or a friend or family member if you’re feeling really wiped out and just need some help! Most people want to help, it’s just a matter of us being willing to ask.

Sometimes if we just have a spare 20 minutes of resting our eyes (even if we aren’t able to fall asleep) we can feel refreshed and ready to tackle the rest of the day. 

Self care for our minds

Even in a really busy season, we can still be growing and learning.

In a season of little sleep, we may feel like our cognitive function can’t handle any big mental feats. It can be simple!

Maybe you want to learn how to knit, or bake sourdough. Whatever it is, we should always be trying to learn a new skill or improve our skills in certain areas. 

It could even be as simple as listening to an encouraging podcast while you fold laundry. Maybe you’re “learning” how to be a better wife or mom. Or you decide to finally take that art class. Whatever interests you have, you deserve to be spending time on those things.

This could also just be one day a week you touch on your project you’ve been working on. This will be a huge boost in our emotional health as well if we are able to carve out time for little things that we enjoy. 

To regularly engage our minds, we need to be having great conversations with people we admire. This includes our spouse, by the way!

Self-care practice

Putting some of these things into practice might just feel like adding to your already overstuffed to-do list. Try not to see it that way.

If we take time to recharge, we will be so much more effective in our role as a homemaker. 

The biggest key here is to find what is actually restful.

This is huge.

Often, our little pockets of free time will arise and we will have to know quickly what we want to do for ourselves.

If we aren’t proactive, we will waste our whole “break time” by scrolling social media and just feel more depleted afterwards. 

Think through what fills your cup so you’ll be ready next time you have a small pocket of time.

A nice cup of tea, going for a walk, read a little bit in a book, learning a new language, or just a present moment with some deep breathing exercises can all be amazing self-care.

This will look so different for each of us, but I want to challenge you to not use screen time for a true refresh. I love a good movie as much as anyone, but screens can leave us feeling more overstimulated. 

This might take some time but take note of how you feel after doing certain activities. Really try to find some things that leave you feeling really optimistic and energized. 

But when in doubt…. just step outside! 

Mom guilt is so real, I know. But we really do deserve to have good things that give us an enthusiasm for life.

The importance of self-care can not be overstated. 

It doesn’t have to be a full day away from the family at a spa to properly recharge. It can be, if that’s what works for your family. 

But more often than not, our self care will come in little pockets of time that arise in day-to-day life.

Have a plan to optimize those moments when they pop up!

If you are feeling like a self-care plan is just a distant impossibility, I want to encourage you. Find someone you can reach out to, and ask about trading an hour a week of watching kiddos so you can have some time to do something for yourself. 

If you can’t find anyone you trust, maybe you could arrange a certain afternoon a week that is reserved for “resting” at home. Have some prepared snacks for the kids, and just take some deep breaths in the comfort of your own home. 

Let’s care for ourselves in a way that honors God.