Simply Sleeping Well

7 things to consider for Simply Sleeping Well

Do you wake up unrested? Or do you struggle calming yourself and getting to sleep? Do you wake up in the night? 

As a mom that has had littles and as many as 3 under 4 at once, I just assumed this to be a right of passage.  Simply sleeping well was not on the top of the list with everything else going on.

Mom: lady who gives everything she has, doesn’t sleep, doesn’t clean herself up, gets to eat half a meal, has bags under her eyes, may stay in her PJ’s all day.  This sounds awful, who would willingly want to do that!

Now there are stages and seasons where all this is true, like newborns or sick kids, but are you like me where you just get disgusted with waking up every morning, even when you’ve had 6-8 hours of sleep and still feel like you got ZERO actual restorative rest?

Even if you are out of the kids at home stage, there are times when we sleep but we don’t get any rest or restoration from that sleep.  If this goes on, over time it wears down our body so it is less likely to fight off germs, so we may get sick easier and not heal as quickly.

I’ve compiled a list of just 7 things to consider for simply sleeping well, that I have personally changed in our home or put into practice. Please take note I said practice, this means we are working on it every day and somedays that practice doesn’t go like we want it to, but don’t quit, keep going and try again. Hopefully you can grab onto a few of these and see some improvement in your sleep.

  1. Lighting

Ditch the LED bulbs in your bedroom.  Try to find incandescent, which is a softer light.  LED exposure occurs all day.  We are exposed from our phones, computers, tablets, TV’s. This light fires up your brain and they are now finding extended exposure can damage eyes.

With this knowledge it’s recommended to STOP all screens at least 1-2 hours before bed so your brain can start shutting down. This means we ditched having a TV in our bedroom years ago.

2. Bedroom set up

Is your pillow and mattress appropriate for you? Do you feel relaxed in bed? I’ve struggled to find a pillow for years.  From an alignment perspective I’ve found that no pillow or a small flatter head support is actually suppose to be better.  I’m still experimenting with this, my neck just gives me fits, but there are some other solutions for that too.

Clutter!  Ditch the unneeded and unwanted items in the bedroom. The bedroom is for 2 things, sleep and I’ll let you guess the other. We can’t rest when there is chaos, and clutter causes chaos in the brain. Is your clutter overwhelming?  Start simple with just 5-10 min a day to get it in order.

Weighted blankets can help calm nerves and get you settled in for the night, I found one at Home Goods, for a reasonable price. My husband calls it the death blanket, I feel like it’s a nice hug.

3. Food

It’s best to not eat heavily after 6, try not eating at all. Why? Because then when you are getting ready for bed your body is not still working hard to digest.  Plus our liver and detoxifying organs can’t restore themselves as well if we eat late.

Dark cherry juice can help the body naturally produce melatonin, which is a hormone needed to get into deeper sleep. Be careful that it’s JUST the juice and it might be too much sugar content for some.

To assist in the detoxing process you can have a warm glass of lemon water prior to bed.  I warm up water for about 1 min and squeeze ½ a lemon in. This is also great in the morning 1st thing to help get the bowels moving.

4. Natural or Home Remedies

Simply sleeping well starts with simply helping our body to wind down and feel better.  If your mind is racing you can also use herbs and essential oils to help calm.

Teas like chamomile, lavender, passion flower, vetiver all possess great relaxing properties.  You can find companies that have night time tea blends already made.

Essential oils along the feet or spine or shoulders or diffusing 20-30 minutes before bed have helped me many nights to relax.  I use blends from Young Living like Stress Away, Peace and Calming, Valor.  Single oils like cedarwood, lavender, and chamomile can be used too.

Magnesium lotion or salts help to relax muscles.  Salts you can combine with any of the above oils (1 cup salts and 10-15 drops essential oils) and soak in a warm bath or use ¼ cup of the mix in a small tub to just soak your feet.  Maybe enjoy your cup of tea while soaking your feet and reading a good book.

The lotion is awesome because I can combine with a drop or 2 of my oils and since I carry tension in my neck I will rub it in there and on my feet.  This method has worked great for my kids at night, plus gives them a little one on one time and foot rub before bed.

We like the Ancient Mineral brand for magnesium

5. Being aware of EMF’s (electromagnetic field)

No this isn’t asking you to put on your aluminum foil hat! We’ve learned that our increased exposure to this low radiation through our days over time is causing damage. It use to be just our microwaves and those that worked in the radiology field, but now we are around it all the time through our computers, our phones that go right next to our heads!


So simply put you need to get the cell phone out of your bedroom, turn off your wi-fi in your house at night. You can google more how this constant exposure over time can affect your DNA and contribute to chronic illnesses and some forms of cancer.

At a minimum put the phone on airplane mode if you need it for an alarm, but we just bought a regular alarm that has a sunrise light.  

6. Get some comfy pajamas

This one is easy and can be fun, get a few pairs of pajamas and only use them for sleep. Get fabrics that are soothing and feel good on your skin. Mom,  are you like me where you just felt it was easier to stay in what you slept in because why get the extra clothes dirty if you aren’t going anywhere and you are just keeping house?

I tell my kids, that getting into pajamas helps to signal your body we are getting ready for bed, it’s a mental thing. Then when we get up we get out of them to signal our body we are waking up and getting geared up for the day.

You don’t have to buy expensive stuff, I’ve found some of the comfiest ones at Wal-mart and Target.

7. Stretch

Taking a few minutes to relax our tired bodies. This can help your muscles to release and brain to wind down.

Laying with your legs straight up a wall for a few minutes. Ladies leg up the wall may help reduce varicose veins and it helps with circulation or swelling that comes on during the day.

Windshield wiper legs can help release the hips and low back. You can see how this works here.

Figure 4 stretch helps release a muscle in your buttock called the piriformis.  We sit A LOT and when that piriformis gets too tight it can possibly lead to sciatic nerve pain down the back of the leg. You can see how to do it here.

Laying face up over a towel roll along your spine with your arms at your side.  This stretches the chest muscles out that get contracted all day with hunching over things. Check out this set up.

Upper trap, neck stretching, for those of us that wear our shoulders as earrings! Check out this video.

Most of these tips don’t require you to go out and buy anything. Try the freebie options 1st and progress to some teas and oils.  Simply sleeping well will help you serve your people better.  We are just like toddlers, when we are tired or hungry we can get rather cranky with those around us and we just don’t feel good.

You need to take the time to care for your amazing body so it can work to its full potential. 

These are simple things to try, but obviously these may not work for some. You may have other issues causing sleep problems, so I would encourage you to visit with your trusted health care provider for possibly lab work or discuss other causes.

Lack of restorative sleep WILL CAUSE DIS-EASE over time.  So maybe start saying no to some evening activities if you need to and establish a good routine for yourself and your kids that trains your body and brain to get ready for rest. 

Post your routine somewhere so everyone knows what is expected or laminate it so they can mark it off as they follow through with it.

I’ve created a sample here of what I personally run through and what I ask my kids to do. You can use it if you want.

A friend told me also to start praying over myself before I go to bed specifically for the rest I need. So I pray for each of you that God will provide you the sleep you need and that it is restful and restorative. 

Stay well Mama!

8 Instant Mood Boosters for the Cranky Mama

As mamas we set the mood for our home. I dislike this but if you pause and think, it’s true! So the last month I’ve been rather unpleasant for my people to be around. Being a stay at home mom it’s hard to motivate yourself to get around in the morning and get ready for the day, I mean you aren’t going anywhere super special.  Maybe to run the kids around or a few errands but no need to waste time getting on real non-workout clothing and putting on some makeup right? It’s a sad cycle I go through, it’s pitiful at its worst and does not show that I’m a thankful steward of what God has provided me.

Now I’m not suggesting putting on a show to make everyone think you are doing wonderful, when maybe you are battling some depression or anxiety, both of which I unfortunately had small seasons of this summer. We can do hard things mama, we have good bodies that do so much. We are the WORST at allowing ourselves grace, forgiveness and starting over, even in the middle of the day to allow God’s mercy to wash us clean and begin again.

I get so frustrated repeating the same instructions to our kids, or doing the same meals, dishes, laundry, cleaning, running around. It’s honestly very boring most of the time and I struggle to want to keep going. We must keep going, and in the season you are in you need to find those uplifting instant mood boosters and things you can do to allow a moment to reset and give yourself the encouragement to keep going, just keep swimming.

So here is a quick list of instant mood boosters for moms that I’ve found helpful and I would love to hear yours.

1- Take the shower, put on the nicer clothes, even some shoes, makeup, fix the hair, jewelry if you like.  

A shower immediately helps me, why is that? I don’t keep up with fashion trends, but getting out of the running shorts and tanks to jeans and a nicer shirt where I have to wear a real bra makes me automatically more productive and hold myself a little taller.  Also keeps “the girls” a little higher.

If I know it’s going to be a cleaning, mowing or just dirty day. I will still wear the workout clothes, but you can put on shoes and socks. Crazy how that makes it easier for me move more for some reason. 

I like wearing a regular non smart watch, then I’m not dependent on my phone.  Earrings, even studs that don’t get in the way when doing household chores are another thing that make me feel like a real working person.  Please don’t tell me I’m the only one that feels this way!

Makeup, maybe just blush, eyeliner and mascara, but it brings some color to my face. 

The mom bun is easy but so is running the straightener through my hair.  Some days though a good hat works too, keep a few around.

2- Go do a cartwheel

Yes you can do it! Or if this may cause you injury, try skipping, galloping, some silly movement you would have done on the playground as a child.  Trampoline time is a way to make me smile and helps your lymphatic system move.  Your kids will love this fun time with you if you want to include them.

I’m expecting to receive videos of your cartwheels!

3- Crank up the music

 We all have those few songs that make us shake and break out into song. Find those, make a playlist, mine is called Dance Mama.  Christian worship music also gives me a moment to pause and thank God, pray and this always will help me refocus on the goodness in life. 

Musicals, Megan Trainer, AC/DC it’s a random assortment in this household but a good dance party will boost everyone in your home.

4- Essential Oils

 You knew I would go there! Citrus oils with Peppermint are known to boost moods and give energy. 

Here are the combos you need and I’m constantly refilling! Here is where you can get them from Young Living. 

For the diffuser: Instant Mood Boosters

  • Citrus Fresh plus Peppermint
  • Bergamot plus Peppermint
  • Believe
  • Abundance
  • Motivation

To rub on my chest and neck, sometimes every 20 min for up to an hour. I use 2-4 drops. A little goes a long way!

  • Joy
  • Valor
  • Stress Away

5- Go outside and walk or 10 min of exercise or movement

My favorites at this stage in life because they require no equipment and I usually don’t get sweaty so they can be thrown in at any time of day are….  

Robin Long with the Balanced Life Pilates, I am part of her Sisterhood group and you can get $20 off here, but she has free videos too. 

Yoga with Adriene has so many free videos check her out!

Walking without your phone can help reset your mind and mood. Just feel the breeze, praise God, pray and breathe.

6- Supplements

I have a B complex I take daily, from pure encapsulations, and will throw in an extra dose in if I’m just ugh feeling.  The good thing about B vitamins is they are water soluble, which means your body just takes what it needs and you pee out the rest. 

A Chinese herb my naturopath recommended for my super stressed husband and myself is this teapill, Free and Easy Wanderer Plus. I throw down 10-12 if I’m feeling like my tolerance for my crew is very thin and in 20 min I can’t explain it, except I notice I’m more chill.

Nature’s Sunshine has 2 different powdered supplements that you can throw into a glass of water that help me for sure.
Solstic Revive helps replenish what’s lost through exercise and stress.
Solstic Immune boosts the immune system which if it’s not running at its full potential you may be dragging. This will make you more susceptible to getting sick.
Follow my link to Nature’s Sunshine and you can get 25% off your 1st order with code “NSP”

Water with fresh squeezed lemon and/or lime replenishes you and hydrates. Sometimes we are crabs because we are dehydrated.

I also must state, I am not a doctor and if you are unsure please consult with your preferred medical specialist before adding anything in.

7- Ditch the screens and social media

Put your phone AWAY, leave it on silent and just check on it right before meals. The FREEDOM this gives is crazy.  I HATE how attached I am to my phone, we think we’ll miss out but it will be there when we check later.  God will honor you being a good steward of your time and brain power.

I listen to several podcasters who talk about ditching social media on weekends and sometimes they will delete daily once done with their work.  I have gone 1 week here and there where I delete Facebook off my phone, only checking on my laptop.  I don’t miss anything!  I gain so much peace. We are not meant to consume as much info as we now do.  Our brains can’t handle it.  So if you are feeling on edge, ditch the phone.

I want to know if you are planning to do that!

8- Watch Funny Cat Videos

 I saved the best instant mood boosters for last!  I can’t tell you how much I’ve  laughed until I’ve cried watching dumb cat videos, there are some hilarious squirrel ones too. My 30th birthday my sisters and I drank wine around a fire pit and watched hours of cat videos.  It was the best! 

The real point is, just find something to make you laugh.

I hope you find a few of these you can add in to help when you just aren’t digging life or the mom gig at the moment. I love my Jesus, but sometimes I let satan sneak in and speak to me and it’s hard to get out of that.  This shouldn’t be, I’m still learning, praying and figuring out how to use that power Christ has put in all of us to turn away from sin. 

These are simple things, but I understand you might need more. Maybe you really can’t even get out of bed or feel motivated to do anything or you experience chronic pain or illness, trauma etc.  Seek out help from a good Christian counselor or a medical provider that will listen to you and maybe see if you have some labs that are off.  God did not intend any life to be miserable and angry.  Don’t punish yourself or your family with guilt or shame from past choices or mistakes.  You don’t belong there! 

Go start with a cartwheel and some journaling and prayer and God will guide you.  Reach out to some of your best support people and tell them, pray with them, ask them to pray for you.  If you feel you have no one, please please reach out to me and I’m no specialist but I will pray with you and for you when you feel like you just can’t.

Stay well, 

Hannah

Trying to raise not crappy humans

Trying to raise

Trying to raise humans who aren’t crap is a very exhausting and stressful job.

I don’t want to do everything for them, I just want them to kindly speak to each other instead of scream. I want them to respect my space and others. Don’t we all just need a moment alone? I want them to see the mess they made and clean it up. I want them to ask “how can I help?”  I want them to love Jesus and not stir up problems. There are many other things I hope to see come out of them as they live here a few more years but all of this won’t magically happen.  I have to be the one that instructs, follows through, repeats and demonstrates, over and over and over.  It definitely has refined me and made me see my areas of improvement over the years, especially in the area of obedience to God.

I heard that it takes 67 times to establish a new good habit.  Are you like me where I know I’ve repeated things and corrected at least 6700 times and it hasn’t established anything? Frustrating!

We are a family of 7, that requires “Team Thompson” to all be on board and everyone help with the daily, or this mom would be the most unpleasant person to be around and just wrung out.  I can only serve so much. Maybe that’s not the most Christian response but I’m still a work in progress.

Last year during Covid and they closed school for the rest of the year my immediate thought was, we can do this!  A few weeks in, the follow through from my kids was awful. There was lots of yelling and threatening because I just wanted them to do it when asked and I know they did it at school. 

I remembered that the school uses a tickets system for rewards.  So, we created our own with the top things I wanted to work on for our family and that would allow me more freedom to be “fun mom” and get my kids thinking about their behavior, how bad behavior does not reap good rewards.

Of course this requires the giver of the tickets, mom, to be super diligent in recognizing those that are following through and immediately reward them to get the ball rolling.  This I failed at many times, but we keep starting over.  My kids don’t hold things over my head like I do them, yikes, I just admitted that. I guess the story of all of life seems to be, fail, fix the issue and try again or in other words GRACE. Lord, help us all do better the next time we try.

I wanted to share what we came up with for how to earn tickets and what they can spend them on.

You can download the PDF here.

You can modify this to fit what your family values are and where you see your family needing the most direction and help. Now when I am good about following this daily we have had wonderful results.  It also gives my kids more choices and independence and teaches them some about handling money.  To be honest they don’t have a ton of choices around here because I just don’t, I have control issues, no joke.  

I will laminate it, and hang on the side of our fridge as a reminder for all.

You can buy ticket rolls at Dollar General or Wal-mart. You don’t need a ton because they will cash them back in to you.

Bonus, it helps little kids work on basic math skills, teaches them to be responsible with their “money” aka the tickets. It also shows how when you work, you get paid and then you pay others for things that you want or need.

What would you add to this list? I would like to know because we may want to add them to ours. Comment on this post.

I also want to remind you that all of our kids are individual people and we can not control anyone except ourselves.  Our kids gross and ugly behavior is not always a representation of how we are trying to raise them.  They have their own battles with sin and thoughts that are self-destructive.   Sometimes people, even our kids, just need reminded gently about Jesus and all he’s done and how much he loves them and then we just have to let them experience life and figure it out on their own.  This will mean, suffering, pain etc. but think through your life and remember where you screwed up and what character God built in you going through that.

Remember this too when you look at other parents and their children, we are not to judge. We don’t know their whole story or what they have going on.  Love them anyway and pray for them, maybe remind them they are doing the best they can, we all are.

You are doing the best you can every day and it helps to remember this about our kiddos too, they are doing the best they can with what they know.

Back to School Growth For Mama

This is not a moment of tears or heart ache for this mama.  Why, I don’t know, I just have never been one to be super emotional with my kids.  I missed Owen (my oldest) when I had to leave him at 6 weeks old at the daycare provider and I returned to my full time Physical Therapist Assistant position. But, I trusted her and was confident in her ability to keep him alive.  Plus he was a thumb sucker so was always able to self-soothe.

Owen 6th

1st days of kindergarten, the kids have never been fearful, none of them.  Maybe this is why I don’t get too emotional?  All my kids have never known a stranger and sometimes that is a concern in this day and age but in moments like this where I need them to fly they do so very well.

I realize that I’m only a part of their life and they are only a part of mine.  They are not my whole life and my life might temporarily revolve around them and their needs, but just temporarily,  I have great visions and ideas God has put in me for when they no longer require my everyday assistance.

Isn’t that the point of #momlife? To work ourselves out of a job, it’s the only job you hope to become fired from.  For some of us it’s the only job you may have ever known, and I can understand how that would be scary. But God has great plans for you to continue to be that caregiver in other ways I just know it (Jeremiah 29:11-13). In building great relationships with our children we will always be needed by them too, I mean I still wish at times I could message my mom and ask something or vent.  God has made sure to place loving friends in my life to fill this void.

Nora 4th

Here is a psychological spin on it, my Mom died when I was 16, my 3 younger sisters were between 6-13, at that moment I became a “mom”, I carried on the schedules and routines my mom had already established (she was VERY good at that).  That is why these are still something I cling too, there is this deep-seated feeling that I want my kids to feel confident and prepared if anything should happen.  Now, this is completely NOT trusting in God and his plan for me or my kids. God took the best care of me that he could during that period of my life, or as much as I would allow him to.  Sometimes we do that, he is waiting with open arms to comfort us, provide wisdom and we do not allow ourselves to be open to that, he can’t force us to love him, it goes against his nature.

Ok so, that is why maybe I don’t fear the kids leaving or school? My Mom being gone at such a young age was HORRIBLE but as an adult I can look back and see the blessings, yes there are blessings in loss. I understand that this life is temporary and I ultimately have zero control of anything but how I respond and how I can choose love in any circumstance.  What can I learn from this? What character is this situation helping me build? What is God going to use this growth in me for now?

I can tell you a negative side of this is that I do have too high expectations for my kids and their abilities to be more independent and take care of themselves (for pete’s sake they are 4-11). This is something I continually am asking for wisdom on and reading all I can through my Bible or other authors that come recommended, podcasts, or those moms that are just a step ahead of me.  So please share resources that you have benefited from.

Molly 2nd

While I am an individual that thrives with organization and plans and schedules (I am an Enneagram 6 ).  These crazy kids have taught me some chaos and unpredictability is ok and have made me more dependent on God, which I’m sure was his plan all along in throwing us 5 kids in 7 years!

Ruby Kindergarten

Here is how I see today, this 1st day of school, after a summer full of fighting and loud.  It wasn’t all crazy, there were ballgames, pool trips, other trips, time with friends. They have been put on the bus this morning, I have JOY in the peace that I will be getting during the days now, it’s quiet where I can listen more to what God has to say.  I’ve been practicing all summer listening for the Holy Spirit in the LOUD it should be simple to pick out that voice when it’s quiet?  I’m ready for my own learning and growth.  I’ve established new habits during the summer with myself and the kids that the goal would be this will help us thrive completely during the school year. 

So whatever feelings may be going on inside your mama heart on these 1st days of school, embrace those and take a moment to think about why you feel this way, why am I thinking this way?  Let’s get excited about the next stage God has in his plan for us and our families. He intends for us to feel that joy down deep in our hearts regardless of the circumstance and my prayer for anyone that comes across this is that you have that, or that you are in the process of finding it.

Now, off to declutter toys and do those tasks that have been on the list all summer!  Shoot, a blog post in the 1st day when it’s been months since the last one!!! I’m super excited about the 2019/2020 school year.

Greta and I ready to take on every school day together!

Stay well!