You might be wondering what the heck is this Mom sick day? And why should you include it in your self-care plan? No fret sister! I am here to clue you in.

If you haven’t taken the time to device a self-care plan for yourself yet, I would say it is about time. Although, they say it is better late than never, my two cents is don’t make it anymore late than it is already.

Let’s come up with a list of self-care activities for you, beginning with Mom sick days! In this post, I will focus on the importance of taking time out aka mom sick days. Yes, moms need timeouts too.

Why?

As mothers, our lives are constant. Not only are we responsible for taking care of ourselves, we also have to take care of each and every member of our family. (which is totally awesome, by the way!) And depending on the size of your family, that can be a lot of extra care that you dish out each and every day!

While moms typically don’t get a day to slow down, most of the time mom’s just understand that it comes with the territory. Who else is going to wake everyone up, take them to school, give baths, cook dinner and usher everyone to bed at night? And while your mom life may be 24/7, it’s an amazing feeling as well. It’s great to be needed and wanted, and your family truly does thank and love you for each and every thing that you do for them.

But, what about those days when you just feel downright sick? No matter how hard you search, there isn’t a phone number to call in to let them know that you aren’t “momming” for the day. And while it may be hard for your family to understand, it’s absolutely 100% important for you to take a sick day.

And this is where I am saying Mom sick days are a must.

Stop reading.

Take your journal, to-do list or a piece of paper right now and add this to your list of essential self-care ideas, stat!

4 Reasons Why Mom Sick Days should be on your Self-Care Plan

If you feel tired, worn out, downright achy and sick, then you need a sick day. Not only do you need a mom “sick” day, you absolutely deserve one and here are the reasons why you should take one!

Why do you need a Self-care plan? And why a “Mom Sick” day?

4 Reasons.

1.You need a day to recharge.

Everyone deserves a bit of time to feel better and give themselves a little boost of energy. You shouldn’t feel bad about this at all! Haven’t you ever heard of people getting burnt out at work? While I don’t think it’s actually possible to get burnt out as being a mom, you still need that time to yourself to rest, recover, and recharge.

2. The time off that you’ve “accumulated” throughout your mom years is maxed out.

If you wake up in the morning and feel a little cough, it’s time for a sick day. Working 24/7, 365 days per year has earned you the time to take care of yourself. Call up your mom, your in-laws, your babysitter or whoever you trust to care for your children, and head to your room and rest that head. If you feel horrible and keep trying to push yourself, you’ll need a lot more than just one sick today to recover!

3. Your body is telling you it’s tired.

Sometimes, we fail to slow down long enough to listen to the cues that our body is giving us that it needs a break. And when we fail to pay attention, we then end up getting sick. Start noticing those pre-warning sick signs as a mom and take a day of rest before it turns into a full-blown cold or flu. The quicker that you acknowledge that your immune system is being a little wonky, the quicker you can get some extra much-needed rest to get it back on track.

4. Be a good example for the rest of your family to follow.

No one likes being sick, right? And even more, no one actually enjoys going to the doctor if their sickness level gets to that point. If you are showing those signs of being sick, communicate that with your family and let them now that your body is telling you it’s time for you to have a “sick” day. Once they see you in action and watch you take care of yourself during a time that your body needs to heal and recover, they’ll be much more apt to do the same as well!

Don’t feel bad or even think twice about the fact that you are needing a mom “sick” day or let alone have a self-care plan for totally selfish reasons (kidding!!!).

While you are used to making everyone else in your family a priority, it’s time to put the focus on you and make certain that your health is back on track and where it needs to be. The quicker that you rest and recover, the quicker that you’ll be back on your feet doing those mom “duties” in no time at all!

Convinced enough to add mandatory mom sick days to your self-care plan? Yay! I am glad.

P.S: If you need any help at all in coming up with a self-care schedule, Get Mom Balanced has created a wonderful self-care calendar printable for busy moms to get started! Have a look.