Seven years ago I had an incredibly intelligent coworker who made regularly made errors on seemingly simple tasks. She always blamed it on mom brain; she said it was the easy tasks that seemed to suffer on a day-to-day. As a young and kid-free woman I, sadly, had little patience for these errors and certainly no framework for understanding.
Flash forward a decade and I finally understand what she was talking about. There are days I am amazed I made it through graduate school and managed to write a thesis with the dysfunction going on above the neck (although I sometimes re-read first draft papers and am reminded why I regularly visited the program’s writing advisor). It really is the little things… like packing a lunch but forgetting to put it in Tiny’s backpack …or forgetting to hit send on a text message …or writing a school paper and leaving simple conjunctions out of sentences … all because my brain is simply not firing on all cylinders.
Today’s post is about recognition and acceptance that my life – and my physiology – have changed since expanding our family. I accept that there are days that I truly feel insane in the mom brain.
It’s also an opportunity to commiserate with and support other moms who are struggling with ‘mom brain.’ Know that you are not alone!!
Just like I did a few years ago, there are a lot of people who disbelieve that ‘momnesia’ is real. So for those of you dealing with disbelievers, there is plenty of information out there to help you educate those around you and encourage them to have a bit more patience.
Pregnancy hormones, stress, sleepless nights, and the generally endless demands of parenthood do impact your neural circuitry and emotional health. Although there is some disagreement about the overall impact on actual cognitive health and function, it’s pretty clear that there are changes in the way moms think. (There is also evidence to suggest that many of these impact fathers, too.)
Today I am choosing to accept that I’m having a hard time concentrating. While I will continue to do my best to eat well, exercise, get a good night’s sleep, and use my day planner religiously (which I’ll be talking about more soon), my life has expanded significantly in the last few years and I need to be gracious with myself on rough days. I’m using Young Living’s Highest Potential blend, which harnesses the uplifting and inspiring power of Blue Cypress along with other oils including Ylang Ylang, Frankincense, and Royal Hawaiian Sandalwood.
I really love to use Highest Potential as a fragrance, rubbing it over my heart, behind my ears, and/or on my wrists. The scent of these combined oils can help enhance your sense of self confidence, calm, soothe, and encourage mental focus. I used it when I was struggling to concentrate while in school. Hubbin uses it as part of his PTSD support blend. I really love this blend. It smells good and I definitely start to feel more calm and able to tackle the tasks before me after rubbing a couple drops over my chakras points.
So next time you’re having a particularly hard day, mama, just be patient with yourself and give yourself the grace and space you need. We all have rough days. You’re going to be fine.
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Today’s image of Highest Potential came from the Young Living Facebook page. You can find more information about Highest Potential in the Essential Oils Pocket Reference by Life Science Publishing (I am currently using the fifth edition) and Healing Oils of the Bible by David Stewart Ph.D., as well as the The Young Living Website.
You can also check out this post about Blue Cypress, the primary oil in Highest Potential, on the Young Living Blog and this Young Living Facebook posts. This one talks about the emotional support provided by the individual oils that make up the blend.
If you are looking for a little support or information about mom brain, here are some articles from a variety of sources:
This article by The New York Times is pretty easy to read. This article from Psychology Today is also helpful and easy to read.
One of the first crunchy blogs I ever followed, Mind Body Green, has a good entry on mom brain as well.
There are also plenty of parenting periodicals that discuss Mom Brain
If you want a little humor and support, Mother.ly, Mother Haggard, and Scary Mommy will definitely get your attention.
If you’re looking for suggestions to help you, especially on the bad days, I really recommend reading Wholehearted Human, She Knows, and Playground Parkbench. Each of these posts shares coping skills that these moms have successfully used. Read them and chose the ones that work best for you. I definitely use some of these myself.
Tired & Crunchy 
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