As magical as the holidays can be, let’s be real guys – it can take a serious toll on your physical & mental health. It’s so important as a parent in my opinion to make time for self-care, even if it’s just for a half an hour in the morning or evening and I am so excited to have partnered with Audible for today’s blog post!

How often do you stay up late working instead of investing in you? Reading that book you’ve been wanting to read for oh, well – a year! Or to try a new hobby, try that yoga class you’ve been curious about or cook a recipe just for fun to see how it turns out? Well all of those are me, I put off me-time like the best of them, I am the classic put myself last kind of gal. Well at least I was. About 6 months ago I put some serious focus into self-care. I was feeling run down yet again, feeling down and overwhelmed. Another classic mom trifecta I believe.

So, with the business of the holidays now over, I wanted to share some down time recommendations with you – in the hopes that you will actually do wishfully 1 of them, for you!

1. Make some homemade popcorn and watch a classic movie, or love story. That homemade popcorn will be a feel-good snack and a good cry only makes us all feel a whole lot better. Sometimes a good emotional movie or “chick flick” can help us let out a whole bunch of bottled up feelings haha!
2. A hot bath & a good read. Is there anything a hot bath can’t fix? There’s a reason why I have a print on the wall above the bathtub that reads “Where troubles melt like lemon drops…”. It’s honestly one of my favourite things ever! But this is also where I finally get the time to read. I used to bring a book in with me and sit it on my bath tray but I always found it not very relaxing to be turning all the pages when I just wanted to keep my arms warm in the water or my hands would manage to get water on the pages (FAIL), or I just really wanted to close my eyes and relax but didn’t want to stop reading. This is when I started listening to audiobooks on Audible, life-changing my friends! I’ve managed to read, or well-listen to 6 books in the last 6 months while enjoying a luxurious bath. I can close my eyes and listen, soak it all in (literally and figuratively) and relax! I sometimes even listen to Audible while on a long drive instead of music. This is how I ‘read’ my business books, self-help books or even one from my favourite author Nicholas Sparks. I’m a legit sucker for those southern love stories I tell ya! If you’re a bird, I’m a bird right? Swoon! I will share all of the books I’ve listened to on Audible below in case any of you are looking for a new audiobook. You can sign up for Audible {here} if you want to try it out, you can even get your first audiobook for free!
3. Bake, Simmer, Roast… Cooking is my therapy, I’ve always had a love for being in the kitchen. Other than snuggling my littles or relaxing in the bath, it’s my other happy place. We put on some music and cook or bake, sometimes we bake a loaf of fresh bread or overflowing muffins and lately since it’s gotten a lot colder out, we are making tons of homemade soups! Don’t do something too crazy or put too much pressure on yourself, stick to a nice easy recipe – something that can be fun while being delicious too!
4. Get some Zzzz’s!!! My gosh I wish I took my advice more often? The holidays tend to call for many sleepless nights, perhaps because the kiddos were just SO excited for Christmas to come. Or maybe you were up frantically wrapping at night and finishing up your holiday baking for friends & family? Whatever it may be, you need to make sleep a priority. I learnt that the hard way earlier this past year (again), Roxanne is not the best Roxanne with too little sleep let me tell you…just ask my husband haha! Try to give yourself a bed time, yes, I’m serious. Aim for that time and try your darndest to stick to it! Some people recommend waking up early once you get yourself consistently going to bed at an earlier time of night, this is a great way to enjoy some of that quiet “me time” before the kiddos wake up and the busy of the day begins.
5. Get outside with the family. It’s all too easy to get into hibernation mode and let that seasonal depression kick in when winter hits but spending even an hour outside with the kids tobogganing or building a snowman is so good for the soul! The look on our kids’ faces when we are outside playing with them, how proud they are of building a snowman is seriously the cutest thing ever. It’s a great work out when playing out there too and you don’t even notice because of all of the fun! It’s important to try and stay active during these winter months when you aren’t getting as much natural sunlight and you’re eating a little too much of everything haha (speaking from experience of course). It’s not only good for your spirit but also for the kids when you have some outdoor play time, heck it’s great for the dog too! But when the kiddos are happy, mom is happy.

I hope you make some time for you in 2019, you deserve it!

I want to thank Audible for sponsoring this post and fueling my reading habit and I also want to share a handful of the audio books I’ve listened to on Audible with you starting with  the most recent – I enjoyed ALL of them!

• The Awakened Family by Shefali Tsabary

I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook, I loved how the author was reading it too which seems to be how most Audible audiobooks are read (so cool)! I am always learning as a parent and I think that’s crucial to good parenting, as the kids age and develop, we continue to learn about them and how we can be better. This audiobook has a great message and gives the reader an outlook on parenting that they may have missed or even a reminder. I highly suggest it especially if you are feeling like your patience is near it’s end but you don’t want to be too harsh in your parenting, or perhaps you just have a very old school approach to things from your upbringing and you want to re-invent your way of parenting?

• The Wisdom of Sundays by OPRAH

Yep, Oprah narrates this one and it’s golden. This book is always out around the house AND I had to download it on Audible too so I can listen to it whenever I want, I even know what chapters I may feel like listening to. It’s the perfect bath time listen and SO good for the soul! Oprah chats about many of her meaningful interviews with great personalities, she talks about her spiritual journey and aims to help us be more present. I highly recommend this audiobook!

• Every Breath by Nicholas Sparks

I love all the Nicholas Sparks novels and own every single one. These audiobooks are great for an inflight listen while you take a nap (if you are sans-kiddos of course haha).

• Becoming by Michelle Obama

This one is narrated by Michelle Obama which I also find so cool, don’t you? It’s SO fun listening to a book and it’s being read to you by the person that wrote it – you can rest your eyes and just listen. It’s as if you are lounging over coffee and being told a story directly, I love it! This book is SO interesting, I couldn’t wait to listen to it and it’s another one I highly recommend!

• Design Your Next Chapter by Debbie Travis

I downloaded this one out of sheer curiosity and I JUST started listening to it, another one narrated by the author! Can you tell I am just so excited about that feature in audiobooks on the Audible app haha? This book came highly recommended by a friend and I wanted to get it for my mom but I wanted to have a listen before getting it for her, stay tuned and I will let you know what I think but so far it’s been really good! I think the premise of the book can be related to in your 30’s, 40’s or 50’s. Probably even 20’s. I’ve changed since my 20’s, my goals and aspirations have changed, and I can’t wait to listen to how Debbie changed her entire career in her amazing accent!

If you’re wanting to try any of these audiobook on Audible, you can download the app {here} or sign up at adbl.co/BonjourBlissBlog and your first audiobook is free!  Please let me know what you think of these books if you have a listen too!

This post was sponsored by Audible. All opinions are 100% my own.