How to Boost Your Happiness as a Mother (Even When You are Feeling Down)

Because being a mother involves more than just taking a nice, comfortable snooze while your child is on your chest. It is the thousand unseen emotional burdens you bear every day, the laundry heaps that never fold themselves, the dinners that nobody eats, and the toys in the toilet. Are you a happy mother every day despite your intense and passionate love for your children? That can seem like a challenge fit for the Olympics.

Even so, it is worthwhile to pursue happiness not the picture-perfect sort found on Pinterest, but the real, everyday variety that allows you to laugh, breathe, and be yourself once more. You are more present when you are a happier mother. more understanding. More of you.

Here are seven easy, long-lasting habits that will help you get a little closer to that version of yourself without requiring a complete lifestyle change or a speed dial nanny.

Why Being a Happy Mother Is So Difficult This dirty, magical, and draining business of nurturing tiny humans was something you wanted sometimes. It would be difficult, you knew. But is this difficult? Most likely not.

And even if you are surrounded by people who depend on you all the time, no one told you how lonely parenting might be. Or how your list of things to accomplish would begin to feel like who you are. Or how every time you sat down, let out a big sigh, or needed five minutes alone in the restroom, the guilt would seep in.

Maybe…

You have not slept through the night for years.

Your child has more tantrums than a broken robot.

You feel like you are not doing enough while doing everything, all the time.

You feel unappreciated, over-committed, touched-out, and invisible.

You long for the self you were before becoming a mother.

Whatever it is, remember that you are human and not broken. You are not alone, either.

These useful tools are for you if you are yearning for more joy in your life not in an idealistic Instagram mom sense, but rather in a genuine, gritty, "I want to feel like myself again" kind of way.

Seven Kind Practices to Make You a Happier Mother

1.Get moving, even if it is just to move around the kitchen.

This should not be overly complicated. Matching exercise gear and a gym membership are not required. All you need to do is move. Take a stroll around the neighborhood. Dance with your children while still in your pajamas. While your coffee is brewing, perform ten squats. Your body's natural mood enhancers, endorphins, are released when you move, and it also helps clear your head.

SEO Tip: Workout advice for happy moms, easy movement ideas for working parents, and exercise for moms

2. Set Aside Brief Times for Self-Care

Bubble baths and lavish spa days are not what self-care is all about, even though they are beautiful. It all comes down to paying attention to and respecting your needs.

While the coffee is still hot, sip it. The bathroom door should be locked. Before going to bed, read two pages of that book. Say no more often. Stretch and put down your phone. On certain days, you have the entire hour to yourself.

3. Reduce the bar (and then reduce it once more)

You will constantly feel like you are falling short if your idea of what it means to be a "good parent" is to do everything flawlessly. Let us change it.

Leave the dishes alone. Wait for the laundry. Give up fancy craft projects and flawless meals. 

A clean home does not equate to a happy one. Prioritize connectivity over performance.

You are free to prioritize your sanity over norms.

4. Make an imperfect yet meaningful connection with other mothers

Being a mother might be lonely, but it does not have to be. With no punctuation and lots of ranting, send a text to another mother. Join a Facebook group that encourages messiness. Do not share your filtered thoughts; share your true ones.

We were not designed to handle this on our own. Lean in and find your people, or just your person.

SEO Tip: how to locate mom friends, friendship advice for moms, and mom support groups

5. Sleep As If It Were Your Job (Because It Is)

The basis of everything is sleep. Without rest, mood, patience, vitality, and mental health all deteriorate. Focus on quality where it is available if a full eight hours is out of your grasp (hello, baby life). If you have no other choice, take a nap when they do. Give your mate a break. At bedtime, establish limits with your phone.

Pouring from an empty cup is impossible, particularly if it has not been used since 2021.

6. Release Mother Guilt (One Confession at a Time)

Mom guilt can be sneaky. 

It lets you know that no matter how hard you try, you are never quite good enough. When guilt begins to creep in, begin to recognize it and confront it. 

No? Do not let guilt take over, then. Give it a name. Rephrase it. Let it go.

7. Find Little Pleasures and Give Them Your Whole Heart

Big gestures do not bring happiness. The belly laugh at bathtime, the silence before the home awakens, and the way your child says "mama" as if it were a hallowed word are all examples of how it lives in the everyday.