*Sponsored Post

Learning how to relax and switch off has been much harder than I thought as a parent. I used to really easily chill out, and could quite happily spend an evening reading, cross-stitching or just putting my feet up with a glass of wine, but there’s something about being a new Mum that makes me feel like I should be *doing* something all the time. There’s always washing to put on. Toys to tidy up. And piles and piles of clean clothes awaiting their home in the wardrobe.

Baby in washing basket

Pickle can’t really help out with the chores yet, but he did quite enjoy a sit in the washing basket!

I’m only just starting to realise how important it is for me to take the time for myself. It’s not selfish. It’s just appreciating how crucial self-care is, and how it allows me to ultimately be a better person for Pickle! What makes perfect logical sense, however, is all too often easier said than done.

Rattan Direct are conducting some research to find out what parents do around the home to unwind, and I found answering the questions to be quite insightful. It’s good to step back and take stock sometimes, isn’t it? It only took me a few minutes to complete and you can do the same by answering the Survey Monkey questions too.

For example… I did NOT expect that I would tick ‘YES’ to ‘Does the state of your home affect your mood?’. Whoa. Anyone who has ever seen the state of my house and my chronic untidiness will be as much in shock as I am. Maybe becoming a parent has started to change my attitudes towards house work? If I’d have known that was the case, maybe I’d have thought about kids even sooner!

The survey also asks about upcoming Christmas plans and I’ll be honest… we’re still not sure what we’ll be doing this year. We’re VERY lucky that both our sets of parents live relatively close to each other, and us, so we don’t have to make a geographical decision of where we’ll go. We just have to figure out who we’ll spend dinner with! Currently, we’ve only been invited to one parental household so far so the decision is actually looking fairly easy at the moment.

Christmas table

As Pickle will only be 6-7 months old, we’re not going to go over the top for Christmas this year. A handful of inexpensive presents for him to open just for the experience, but we’ll definitely focus more on spending quality time with our family and friends – that’s what it’s all about, really eh?

Have you filled in the survey? Were there any answers that surprised you? Any answers that are different now you’re a parent to what your answers would have been before? Would love to hear your thoughts, and definitely looking forward to the results of the survey when Rattan Direct share them.

Please note: this is a sponsored post, but all opinions and views are my own, and as always, completely honest.