Women In Recovery Get Sh*t Done
I have never met more driven, get-sh*t done women than moms in recovery.
And it makes sense. Truly.
Because a mom with a heavy mental load; a mom who is the family lifeline, general manager, event planner, and logistics coordinator is the hardest working badass there is.
And a mom like this generally needs serious effort to slow down. A mom like this can find alcohol to be one of the few easy buttons for slowing down that she couldn’t find other ways.
Mothers in addiction can be driven by a deep, almost desperate need to self soothe without slowing down.
And alcohol is such an easy outlet. Alcohol is a highly recommended soothing strategy according to magazines, the media, and of course other mothers (have you been on Tiktok?)
In some ways alcohol is the ultimate multitasking mirage. Wine while we cook, wine while we watch the children, wine with dinner, wine while we do the dishes.
Now take a mother in recovery. This is a woman who is working her ass off to try to overcome her demons. She realizes that her drinking has gone from one to never enough. It’s still so hard for her to slow down but she sees her relationship with booze had gone south and is looking for ways to unwind in a healthier way. And sometimes she just needs permission.
It’s OK to slow down mama.
It’s OK to rest, to focus on you.
It’s OK to not always be multitasking.
I don’t speak for all mothers. I speak for me. One mom who thought alcohol was my magic ticket to relaxing without having to slow down. And what I’ve since learned, is that what I really need is to stop non-stop multitasking in the first place.
Moms in recovery are the baddest of badass because we’re driven and passionate, but we are also finally learning how to take a personal time out. How to reflect, relax, and relieve stress by establishing boundaries, learning how to say no, and taking care of ourselves.
Moms in recovery have been through hell and back. They know what a house on fire looks like and they not only lived to tell the story, but to fill buckets of water for others.
The mental load? It never goes away. But a mom in recovery learns to stop trying to numb it out. A mom in recovery knows that no matter how many buckets of water are handed to her, only she can save herself. And dammit she will.
Of course she will. She’s a badass.