Fun Self Care for Busy Moms: 10 Ways to Embrace the Inner Child
Had yet another blah day and now crave some fun self-care without adding more stress to your busy mom life? Here’s how to embrace your Inner Child for some easy, playful self-love ideas.
Written by Nadine Stille, who coaches moms with careers to ditch their daily grind and bring more joy into their lives.
When was the last time you had some lighthearted, stress-free fun that didn’t cost the world and was easy to accomplish? You know the kind of fun we had as young kids, jumping into muddy puddles simply to see what it’s like when the water splashes about.
As moms, we do our best to make sure our kids have fun with activities, great playdates, and entertainment, and we put considerable resources into the endeavor.
But what about us?
What about fun, playfulness, and self care for ourselves?
We’re so often in our heads, worrying, organizing, stressing, planning, coordinating, scheduling, thinking… and get lost in the everyday life of being a busy mom trying to keep it all together.
And fun for ourselves somehow falls off our massive to-do list.
It’s time we give our minds a break, and get more re-connected with our hearts and the parts of ourselves that help embrace positivity and happiness, our Inner Child.
What is an Inner Child?
“Many trace the concept of an inner child to psychiatrist Carl Jung, who described a child archetype in his work. He linked this internal child to past experiences and memories of innocence, playfulness, and creativity, along with hope for the future” (Source)
While our Inner Child can also hold trauma, which can resurface as we parent our own children, for this article, I’ll be concentrating more on the playful and fun side.
Please note that if any of the activities here evoke very strong emotions and bring up potential trauma, a consultation with your healthcare provider might be beneficial to establish if you’d benefit from therapy.
Why nurture our Inner Child?
The simple answer is, because it makes us feel good.
We get to embrace ourselves fully, and experience parts of our lives with fun, ease, and joy, and not without the stressors, judgements, expectations, and past impressions that have come to weigh us down.
“Each one of us has an inner child, or way of being,” says Dr. Diana Raab, a research psychologist and author. “Getting in touch with your inner child can help foster well-being and bring a lightness to life.” (Source)
How do we connect with our Inner Child?
There are several ways to connect with our Inner Child, including that we acknowledge that we have this playful, carefree, creative side inside us - we just need to pay attention and look.
And another way is to concentrate on releasing the ‘Feel-Good’-Hormone Oxytocin. You may have heard about it previously because “Oxytocin is often known as the "hormone of love" because it is involved with lovemaking, fertility, contractions during labor and birth and the release of milk in breastfeeding. It helps us feel good, and it triggers nurturing feelings and behaviors.”
10 ways to embrace our Inner Child
There are many different ways to increase ‘Feel-Good’ Oxytocin production in our body and I’ve included some here in my list with a focus on our Inner Child to ensure these are fun self care activities.
Ready?
Here we go!
Dress like your younger, 5-year-old who you would be proud of.
Go for bright, colorful clothes. Mix it up and don’t necessarily match your styles. For more inspiration seek out your own kids advice or check out Bella Mackie’s recent article in Vogue “I Highly Recommend Dressing For Your Inner Child”.
Eat fun food.
Make cartoon character-shaped pancakes, get a box of Lucky Charms, devour a simple grilled cheese bread, make some bubble gum bubbles, eat loads of ice cream, or spaghetti without any sauce (like my Little One enjoys right now). And while you’re at it, make sure you get to enjoy some nostalgic drinks, like lemonade or a hot chocolate, too.
Have a bubble bath.
Don’t have a bath? See how you can make a shower more exciting! Don’t forget to add some toys ;)
Have a sleepover and PJ party.
What if your best friend, your sister, a fellow mom friend had a sleepover at yours and you conveniently just dressed in comfy PJs, ate all the fun food I mentioned earlier, and binge watched your favorite shows?
Decorate your hair with all sorts of colorful hair bands and clips (more than you’d actually need of course), embrace a ponytail, braid your hair, or, if you’d really like to make a point, embrace an oddly cut fringe.
Learn or discover something new.
Remember how excited we got every time there was something new and cool to try out? A new game, a new activity? It doesn’t have to be an energetic experience either. It could be a mindful walk (discovering the plants, sounds, and surroundings outdoors), or reading a book (extra points for diving into a childhood classic! Winnie the Pooh is a clear favorite in our home.), or doing a puzzle.
Embrace the arts and crafts.
Get some pens, papers, colors. Create something with your hands without judging the process or outcome. Simply enjoy the activity of creating and an opportunity to stay away from electronics.
Get and give hugs.
Any sort of consensual body connection ups the ‘Love Hormone’ Oxytocin. Hugging a dog or cat works wonders too. There’s a reason they’re often emotional support animals.
Music - make it, listen to it, dance to it, sing along to it, or do all of these at the same time and feel the positive effect on you.
Run about outdoors.
It doesn’t have to be ‘proper’ jogging. Let Lisa Kudrow’s character Phoebe from FRIENDS be an inspiration for running while embracing your Inner Child.
Reflect for more personalized and fun self care
Are you looking for more ideas that might resonate with you? For more personalized ideas on how to embrace your Inner Child, why not reflect on these journaling prompts to see what comes up for you:
Embracing the positivity of my Inner Child will give me…/ means to me…
Some of my happiest childhood moments…
What made them special was…
I can replicate some of the lighthearted fun now by…
I will do this by… and stay accountable by…
By the way, I’d be happy to be your accountability partner! Simply DM me on Instagram or post about your activity in your Instagram stories and tag me!
If you’d love to have some more journal writing prompts, I’d love to invite you along to my Free 7-Day Guide ‘Soul-Nurturing Self-Care for Stressed Mamas’.
You’ll receive pocked-sized joy directly to your inbox in the form of Reflection Prompts for more Clarity & Calm, Positive Affirmations for more Confidence & Joy, and Personalized Activities for more overall Well-Being.
Conclusion
Let’s not leave the fun and play for our kids only.
We busy moms need some self care and self-love too - and we might as well make it lighthearted and joyful.
Let’s start by tuning in to what our bodies and minds crave. That might be triggered as we reflect on our own childhood joys or while we observe what makes our own kids smile.
Then we give ourselves permission to enjoy some lighthearted happy times, and to tap into fun self care as we may not have experienced it in a while; nurturing our Inner Child.
It’ll be a judgment-free, accepting, and fully embracing space to indulge in nostalgia, happiness, and maybe even some silliness.
Here’s to fun selfcare for us busy moms!