Things that make me sparkle

 Life as a new mom is absolutely, deliriously wonderful. Spending my days looking after and getting to know this gorgeous little boy that spent going on nine months growing inside me? Amazing.  But it’s also really, really hard. Sleep deprivation is a real issue, people. And it’s constant, too. I probably got a total of three hours of (broken) sleep last night, and there’s no promise of an early night or late lie-in tomorrow morning to get me through the day. If I’m lucky, Noah will sleep for a three-hour stretch between 1am and 4am, but I’m not counting on it! Point is: motherhood, as I’ve discovered, is relentless. A never-ending whirlwind of dirty nappies, marathon feeding sessions, hours of rocking baby to sleep…

One thing that’s amazed me most since becoming a mom is the fact that these seemingly endless duties don’t seem to bother me in the slightest. As someone who relishes her ‘me-time’, I was worried that I would find these selfless acts difficult to come to grips with. Not so. I just get on with it, without thinking twice about what I’m doing. A true labour of love, I guess! Having said that, I do have moments when I feel as though life will never go back to normal again, and it’s at these times that I’ve started treating myself to the little things that make me feel good. The things that make me ‘sparkle’, if you will. I’ve decided to share the little things that make me feel good about myself with you each week, because I think we could all do with a little sparkle in our every day lives – whether you’re a mom or not.

The little things that made me sparkle today? I finally devoted Noah’s nap time to something other than loading the dishwasher or doing yet another load of laundry, and spent the morning plucking my brows, doing a full face of makeup and flat ironing my hair. I then put on my favourite pencil skirt and a pair of heels, and went off to Tribakery to treat myself to a delicious (decaf) cappuccino. Bliss! What makes you feel all sparkly?