Remember this month is about self-care and loving me. On my journey to treating myself better and because recently I’ve received a lot of pitches to review books I was able to read Genevieve Shaw Brown’s book The Happiest Mommy You Know. Now reading one book might not sound like a lot to you but it means a lot in my world. I have been an avid reader probably since Dr. Seuss’ Hop On Pop. Yup, I’ve loved books for a really long time but as of lately the only ones I read are from our private Usborne collection or some other children’s book JustaBXgirl has around the house.
Now don’t think I’m getting all woe is me on you because even before reading Genevieve’s book I considered myself to be a pretty happy mommy. And before researching and writing it Genevieve considered herself one too. The thing about happiness is there is always room for improvement. You can never be too happy so if there’s a chance to improve your current level of contentedness why not act?
The three things I have taken away from the book are very basic lessons that might feel like aha moments when you read how Genevieve explains them.
- Treat yourself as good as you treat your littles!!! This is the biggest takeaway from the book for me. It should go without saying but very often we forget to do this. I love how Genevieve walks us through all of the ways she learned to treat herself as good as she treats her children. I wish I could have read this and thought, “I already do that.” Truth be told many times I forget to treat myself as good as I do JustaBXgirl. Too often do I make excuses not to rationalize not buying things I want or could use whereas I wouldn’t think twice for purchasing them for JustaBXgirl. Case in point today (yup, even after I read the book!), we went to the movies. I like pretzel bites. I considered buying them for me for like half a second but skipped them. JustaBXgirl asked for a slushie and even after I told her no I bought it.
- Figure out what you need to be happy. Yes, a few billion dollars would be great but realistically what are your needs. Genevieve for example needs a good night sleep. Me? I need to be able to eat in peace. I serve myself last and want to be able to enjoy my food when I finally sit down. What’s your happiness deal breaker?
- The choice is yours. This was a true AHA moment. When we don’t want to be somewhere with our children there is a good chance that we have a choice. That 10a birthday party? Chuck E Cheese on a weekend? In line at Disney? Guess what, let me share a secret with you, we chose to be those places. Yup, blame the parent in the mirror. Now we might have chosen those places to make our littles happy but if we’re miserable there is a chance our littles aren’t having too much fun either.
These are only three of the things I got out of the book. I know those three are pretty deep! But wait there’s a lot more waiting for you to discover in the chapters. And because while I am working on loving me, I also love you I want you to get to read the book too. I am gifting one of you my copy with the hope that once you read and learn from it you will gift it to another parent. And yes, tips that help make a happy mom can work just as well to make happy dads!
