The MBA you need to discharge mum-stress

Hi Subscriber First Name

Can we talk about all the balls we keep spinning every day instead of feeling guilty about the one or two that drop every once in a while?

Last week, in the time it took me to nip upstairs, Rafa maced Frankie with antibacterial spray and then turned it on himself. As I entered the room, he was squirting it in his mouth saying “Bubbles”!

In an instant, my body flooded with stress. I was terrified and in flight or flight.

I grabbed Rafa, stripped him naked and then rinsed him in the shower. I then did the same with Frankie. They both screamed (due to the cold shower). My intuition told me they were fine. They were soon playing as normal and showed no signs of distress. But I was in full panic mode. I texted my mum friends and told them that the boys were fine, it was me who was about to have a breakdown.

I pulled out my MBA to discharge the stress surge

Music: When my mum arrived, I went upstairs and listened to a calming song. I needed to lie down and discharge all the stress that had so quickly built up in my body. I also stayed calm during Jerry’s mega tantrum by singing him the African song I sang to him in hospital when he was a baby, which usually soothes both of us. (Singing lullabies can help mamas stay calm as well as babies.)
Breathe. I concentrated on long steady breaths to counter the tension I could feel building, whilst dealing with Jerry’s half-hour tantrum in the doctors’ waiting room. If looks could kill, I would have been assassinated.
Acknowledge. Instead of ignoring my PTSD when the GP told me I had to take the boys to the hospital, I acknowledged it and faced it. I reminded myself that yes, I would have to go back to a place that held a lot of tough memories, but all that was in the past. I tried to stay present looking after two toddlers intent on pressing every button and pulling every red cord they could.

When the judgemental nurse asked me how the boys had access to the spray, a twinge of mum guilt rose up. I shook it off. I chose compassion. Accidents will happen with 3 cheeky boys. It was out of reach and they were restrained when I left the room. I underestimated them. We all drop a ball every now and again…

Namaste 🙏🏽

Leila (and the triplets) xxx