What does self care or the term I used above “Individual love” mean to you? Is it happening in your life? Do you have a trip planned? Do you get away from the stress of caring for your special needs family member often enough? What is often? I hope you are taking the needed breaks that I call my “Individual love.”
I recently had a wonderful girls party at my home. Yes, this takes work and planning but the day comes, the beautiful faces appear and it is all worth it. This is part of my care plan. I come up with an idea and I add to it and it gives me so much fulfillment it’s hard to explain.
I feel very humbled by the group of friends I know. The greatest thing is I have more than ten people I call friend. So I had to limit this to who I would invite this year. I can only fit ten people in my dining room. I invited 10 people I thought would enjoy my party theme. I sent out invites with what each person should bring. It was themed as a “group charcuterie board” and each guest had written in their invite what to bring. Nine of my invitees came and it was a fun atmosphere. We put all our food together and we had a great conversation all sharing our words around the table. The theme was “Extraordinary Year.” We chose a word to live by for 2025. A word that embodies who we want to become, how we want to live and how we want to feel. This was a come together time for the group to take in a few hours for ourselves. This is what self care is about. You MUST fit it in because it will not find itself.
Everyone needs this but the Warrior mom can get a feeling of wholeness and like life isn’t so draining when we take time out for fun. Yes, fun. Play like a child or find a fun activity to let you live to the fullest. We all know that the daily chores are never caught up and really don’t matter as much as we think. In fact, it’s great to have a gathering because you truly get your home in a great sense of readiness.
Paul was able to sit in the living room with Anna. He would have left and let us alone but just where can he go with Anna for four hours and feel at ease? He needs to sit and relax too. My group had 5 moms with children or adults that have a disability. So that’s five people out of ten who I would likely not even cross paths with if Anna wasn’t a part of my life.
It was great to take an afternoon to myself with others who I don’t get to see enough. It was fun to see what everyone picked for their words and it will be amazing to check in with them in July and then again in 2026 to see how things turned out.
So my word. I’ll share it here because I’m the author right? It’s “Influencer.” What this means to me is that I hope to promote and influence good and change in all the areas I can. I hope to empower women, special needs mothers, those struggling to make a choice about where their life is failing in the hole, and to in general be a leader in my family and in my career. I didn’t choose the word leader because I usually say, “How would that influence someone?” I’m living into my word and when I falter I will start again.
So do you have a word? Does it sound like a fun challenge? You could try this too. We never know who we can become until we start trying, pick a word to challenge you.
AI Definition of Influencer: A person who has a large social media following and uses their authority to influence their audience. Influences are often known for their authenticity and innovative approaches. While I’m not striving to have a huge following, I do want to impact the way the world understands living with and caring for someone with special needs. I do want to be authentic and hope to be more of a influencer in that way.
