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You gotta love yourself!

by Julie Cottlein Mother Care6 Comments on You gotta love yourself!

Last Friday and Saturday I attended the AusMumpreneur conference in Sydney for mums in business. I got a huge amount of information and inspiration from the conference, but I think the biggest thing that I took away from it was the reminder that I must look after me. I rediscovered my inner goddess and when I got home I nurtured the bejezus out of her. My poor neglected inner goddess. Far from being nurtured over the past couple of years, she’s been shifted off to the corner and doused in boy germs. I’m the only female in my family of 6. It happened without me even realising it.

Like many women do, I’ve been putting myself last.

I’ve been having big trouble deciding which session was my favourite, they all gave me something unique and valuable but there was one moment that really spoke to me. I watched Kim Morrison (author & owner of the Twenty8 Aromatherapy range) enact her body boost ritual. Kim has a cute little bowl in which she puts a lovely organic carrier oil, a few drops of her favourite essential blend & 4 squirts of magensium oil spray. She then proceeded to show us how she rubs this concoction all over her body while telling each body part how much she loves it. It went something along the lines of “Oh leggy leggy leg, you’re so strong, I love you”. “Oh lovely healthy tummy, I love you”. “Oh boobs… you’re so nice and perky, I love you”.  She swears she’s done this EVERY day for the last 20 years.

I realised that the most loving thing I do for my body is brush my teeth… I decided then and there that I need to show my body some real proper love.  I had to buy Kim’s book, Like Chocolate for Women. And when I got home, I had to show me some love.

And here’s what I did.

I waited until the munchikins were tucked up in bed then I ran a bath. I got a candle, I dumped a stack of ginger and chamomile tincture in the bath, I put some classical music on, I found a ginger beer in the back of the fridge (the only alcohol I could find), I got a cute little glass bowl and put some ground coffee, lemon juice and olive oil in it. I got some jojoba oil, an essential oil blend & my new Twenty8 magnesium oil spray ready next to another cute little bowl.

As I was looking for the fluffiest towel in the house, my 12 year old got out of bed and informed me he needed to go to the toilet. I asked him to turn the bath off for me and continued my search for a fluffy towel which I had to extend to the clothesline. By the time I’d given up trying to find a fluffy towel and settled for a manky towel, I went back to my bath to find Mr 12 still locked in the bathroom. Despair set in as I realised he was stinking up my sanctuary then delight replaced it when I realised I was about to have my first bath alone since before Lachie came along, over a year and a half ago. The candle would take care of boy stink.

I massaged my face with the coffee, lemon juice & olive oil concoction, I washed my hair, I soak and chilled. I skulled my ginger beer and wished I had another. I got out, body brushed with my manky towel  and did Kim’s body boost ritual. I felt great.

I got to have a bit of  a read of Like Chocolate for Women yesterday. It is as it claims to be- A celebration of womenhood and the ultimate self care handbook packed with hundreds of tips and ideas to help all women live the life they want, reminding them that self-care is not selfish – it’s essential! There’s a heavy lean on aromatherapy but a whole lot more to offer too. I got a signed copy for both myself AND for a blog reader.

Leave me a comment below telling me how you show yourself love. Do you have any rituals? When was the last time you nurtured your inner goddess?

I’ll choose the winner right before my next Sunday soak. Somewhere around 9pm on Sunday September 16.

Homemade Teething Rusks

by Julie Cottlein Baby Care

My little 15 month old Lachie is teething up a storm at the moment. Mother nature is testing his limits as he sprouts 4 teeth all at once including 3 molars. On top of that, or maybe because of that, he has a snotty nose and frequent poo that seems to resemble battery acid in the way that it’s been burning his poor little bottom. He’s become somewhat like the family puppy, gnawing on anything that will fit in his mouth.

After several days of puppy dog behaviour, I decided to whip up a batch of the teething rusks I used to make for my big boys when they were babies. They are very simple to make, work a treat, Lachie likes them and are a much tastier and healthier option than the refined white wheat flour rusks you get in the supermarket.

Here’s my recipe 🙂

What you need:

10 slices of rye bread (you can use any kind of bread really, I’ve used rice bread for my babies when they were younger)

2 cups of miso soup (I use miso paste in water to make a broth but you can also just use those packets of dried miso soup mix so long as it doesn’t contain artificial flavours and flavour enhancers)

1 Tablespoon each of finely ground sesame seeds or sunflower seeds

What to do:

Cut the bread slices into little fist sized soldiers

Mix the sesame and sunflower seeds together in a  bowl

Brush some of the miso soup over the bread

Press the bread slices into the seed mix

Bake in a low oven (around 150 C) for about 11/2 hours until they resemble dried out dog bikkies

Cool ’em and put them in an airtight container

One batch of these makes around 30 rusks and will keep much longer than it takes for those teeth to sprout!

Help a Heart

by Julie Cottlein Mother Care

A few days ago I sent out an email to my mailing list informing them that I will soon be offering my services as a naturopath to support mothers through pregnancy, birth preparation and the post-natal months. I was busy celebrating my baby’s first birthday and feeling my heart swell with love and gratitude for my family when I received a response to this email from a lovely lady called Rosie telling me of a mum that needs some support. Upon further investigation and several back and forths with Rosie, I found myself compelled to help as best as I possibly could.

Rosie has been trying to help out a family during a very difficult time. She has made up a flyer and is distributing it on her own. Rosie has only just gotten her first computer and has no social media connections and is unaware of how powerful social media can be in lifting people up and supporting them through times such as these.

I want to show Jane, the mum that Rosie is helping that she is not alone.

I  have had 2 children in and out of hospital for every couple of months for nearly 2 years. Every time we ended up in hospital, I felt so lucky that I was only going to be there for a week at the most. I knew that my children would have surgery and come home and be OK. I had the support of a loving partner and a dear friend and still I found it a terrifying ordeal.  I know that many mothers know the pain and stress of having a child chronically ill and in hospital. I know that there are many people out there that can empathise with this situation and if they knew about it, would like to help.

Please read the flyer below that Rosie has put together. Read Jasmine’s story.

If you feel moved to do so, here are some things that you can do to Help a Heart and support a mum.

  1. Make a small donation-  Anything, no matter how small will be appreciated. I’m not going to bother with a paypal widget because I want all funds raised going straight to the mother that needs it rather than paypal getting a cut. You’ll find donation details on the flyer below.
  2. Help me spread the word. If you have a blog, please consider blogging about this as I have.  Tweet about this or post about it on facebook. For anyone more social media savvy than me- I welcome help, suggestions and advice on how to spread the word.
  3. Leave a comment of support below. I’ll compile them and send them in card to Jasmine’s mum while they are in hospital. There is huge power in just knowing that people care and if that’s all that comes out of me writing this post, then I’ll consider it time well spent.