Right before I get into bed, another ritual that I like to do is burn sage and palo santo. I even have some in my trailer right now. It just cleans out the bad energy and then I put the good energy back in, with the palo santo, and then I’ll put on my air purifier. I’m a huge fan of Rabbit Air purifiers. I actually have them all throughout the house. We live in L.A., and let’s be real, the air has not been the best. So I’m all about making sure that I’m doing everything I can to stay healthy. All of the kids have Rabbit Air in their room, and I have one as well. I put that thing on, and then that’s my bedtime routine.
I have two kids that now are doing remote learning. You know, if I’m being very honest with you, we have our ups and downs.
The first week was rather overwhelming for Cree. He actually had his first kind of mental breakdown. It’s hard, because he’s like, “Mommy, I want to be with my friends, I want to be around kids my age.” I was like, “I know, I get it baby,” but it’s hard when you’re a parent and there’s nothing that you can do. What I ended up doing was I put affirmations in his room. We changed his playroom into a school room and it’s loaded with affirmations, just inspiring words that he can meditate on. And trust me: It’s not just for him, it’s also for me.
And then for my daughter, we actually changed a room in the house into her room. I thought it was really important to separate the two kids so that they can stay focused. Cairo, let me tell you—this is a two-and-a-half-year-old girl, and she is a G. She’s doing very well. Of course, she has good days and bad days. She has three 15-minute classes throughout the day. They’ll have music time, story time, and it’s a lot.
But my husband is so amazing. While I’m at work, he’s there taking care of the kids. I was in quarantine for seven months, and then just started work two weeks ago, or three weeks ago. On the first day of work, my husband was so funny as I was leaving the house. He had Cairo on his hip, and he was like, uh, where you going? I’m like, I’m going to work! And I could see in his eyes, he was like, Oh, my God, I got the kids on my own. He’s doing so well. But my point is, I have a lot of help, helping assist and keeping the kids on schedules, and my goal is to keep the kids happy. Everybody’s mental health is important.
I didn’t force Sister, Sister on my son. I did mention that “Mommy and your Auntie, we have a television show.”
He knew of it, but he never watched it. So he started watching it, and for the first time I’m watching it with him, and I just start crying. I was crying because it was such a surreal moment for me to have my son watch a television show that he can watch and that he is watching with me. It was like going back in time. You know, I’m just a teenager, early teen, and he’s watching Mommy. Like, what child has that opportunity, to be able to see their mom back in time when they’re almost his age, you know? And to see him enjoy it and laugh. He finished all six seasons. If I’m cooking in the kitchen and he would be in the other room, I would hear, “Wah, sista, sista!” He loved it! He’s like, “Mommy, why are you and Auntie so crazy?”
I think what’s really important to mention and what I’m passionate about is how important it is for you to take care of yourself. Especially women.
I’m saying this because this is what I’ve personally gone through—this is what I personally have seen with my own mother—we tend to always put everyone first. It’s just part of who we are. We’re nurturers. It’s very instinctual. But what happens is, we tend to forget about us. And we tend to forget about what’s important for us. And what’s important is we take care of ourselves. Because I feel like, if you don’t take care of you, how can you be the best mom? How can you be the best wife? How can you be the best friend? How can you be the best daughter? I’ve learned the hard way, meaning, I was using all of me so that I didn’t have anything left to give. I’ve learned the hard way that it is very, very important for you to take care of you and to take that time for you. I have the kids on a schedule so that Mommy and Daddy have time to love up on each other, Mommy has time to take care of myself, so that when the morning comes, I am well-rested, I am healthy, and I’m feeling great to follow my dreams, to be there for my children, and for my loved ones. It’s important.
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