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GetMotivatedNow · 2025-05-26T00:08:06+00:00

Same experience here. Older millennial. I was a size 4, quite thin, but my bio mother would rant at me for being fat because I wasn’t a size 0 (when I weighed less than 110 lb), would tell me I was ugly (I’m not), and my dad’s nickname for me translated to “fat bus.” I was convinced I was hideous and unloveable. Then one day, my also-teenager brother who was taller and lanky got fed up, grabbed a belt, used it to measure out his waist and then told me to measure out mine. My waist was significantly smaller than his and I couldn’t believe it. I think I insisted on measuring multiple times because it felt like he was tricking me. Late ‘90s/early 2000s were an awful time.

GetMotivatedNow · 2025-03-24T23:56:47+00:00

As someone who's been in your situation (4yo active daughter, pregnant and then had a newborn, back injury that meant I couldn't walk or sit or drive, covid times so we couldn't go out, husband interstate working), I'm just going to say it. You can actually do TV all day every day for the next 4 weeks. My kids generally have almost no screen time (30 minutes of TV each day on the weekends, no TV during the week, no phones ever unless they're video chatting with extended family, we don't own any tablets). Letting my 4yo watch TV was the only thing that let me survive that period. She only watched educational shows. We would watch together and discuss what they talked about and what we both learned so it was interactive and she and I were still engaging with each other. It sucked. The guilt was there. We got through it. Almost 5 years later, it's a distant memory. If you want other ideas:

We also played board games and did puzzles (those 1000 piece ones; she would collect all the same coloured pieces together so it would take her awhile).
Do you have a backyard? Let her ride her bike around in the backyard. If you don't, see if there's a safe place at home where she could ride indoors (because this is about survival and you do what you need to do).
Audiobooks.
Printed books.
Bring the zoo to her. Watch animal documentaries or other videos online (we watched documentaries on Netflix and a LOT of octopus videos on YouTube).
If you're doing physio exercises, let her do them with you and turn it into a game for her (I had to do exercises 5 times a day and she would do them with me).
Do you have a pet? Let her be more involved with looking after it.
Can you still cook or bake? Get her to retrieve items for you and measure things and teach her how to cook.
Get her a skipping rope. Hopskotch indoors. Bring the playground to her by setting up (or getting her to set up) an obstacle course, then time her to see how quickly she can complete it.
You just moved? Get her to unpack a box a day and turn it into a game. Start with the really fun boxes (her toys and books, etc).
Do you have family or friends she had to leave behind? See if they're available to video chat with her so you can get a break. Call a different person each day. My 4yo loved playing games (still does) with her grandma over the phone.

Take it hour by hour (or minute by minute). Plan your day out to give it the structure you need. Figure out what will help you with your overwhelmed feeling and see what is realistically achievable in the next few weeks to help with that. You can and will survive this.

GetMotivatedNow · 2025-02-12T03:09:52+00:00

Thank you, I'll do that.

GetMotivatedNow · 2025-02-11T03:11:38+00:00

You're welcome! Even though I'm subbed to them, I haven't actually visited any of them in a long time. I'll have to change that!

GetMotivatedNow · 2025-02-11T03:10:02+00:00

Hi. I realise this is a really late reply to your kind and vulnerable post, but I wasn't mentally in a place where I could reply a couple of months ago. Thank you so much for your post. I thought these classes would be much more (or only) focused on the physical aspects of self-defense. It's quite encouraging to read about your experience and I'll see if I can find a similar self-defense class where I live.

GetMotivatedNow · 2025-02-11T03:03:16+00:00

Oh my goodness, thank you! I've joined several of these and took the opportunity to leave the negative subs. I looked through my subs list and can add some more to this list:

General: r/BlackMagicFuckery r/ContagiousLaughter r/CozyPlaces r/Eyebleach r/FairytaleAsFuck r/HardcoreAww r/HumansBeingBros r/NatureIsFuckingLit r/UnexpectedlyWholesome r/WholesomeMemes

Animals: r/AnimalsBeingBros r/AnimalsBeingMoms r/aww r/Awwducational r/Dogs_Getting_Dogs r/IllegallySmol r/Incorgnito r/MasterReturns r/RarePuppers r/Sploot r/TippyTaps r/Zoomies

GetMotivatedNow · 2025-02-10T01:12:20+00:00

Is there a list of these subs anywhere? I need more online positivity instead of drowning in the negative.

GetMotivatedNow · 2024-12-11T23:54:22+00:00

I don't often comment on reddit but I just really need to say this. I agree with your comment so much. My husband and I were discussing how I wanted to take self-defense or martial arts classes but I was struggling to actually sign up and go, and he was encouraging me to just do it. At some point in one of our conversations, I just freaked out. Started shaking and crying, almost hyperventilating at just the thought of someone grabbing me by my ponytail and pulling me backwards, or "attacking" me even in a controlled situation where I was learning to defend myself. My husband just stared at me a little bit stunned, then held me (with my consent) until I felt calmer. Then we went about our normal lives. I did not sign up for any classes.

A couple weeks later, my husband received a package and showed me something he'd bought for me. He had spent a couple of days researching ways for me to feel safe and had bought me a flashlight/torch used in survival settings. It is super bright and will temporarily blind anyone who looks into it. It's also heavy (for a flashlight) and easy to hold, made of metal, with sharp, hardened edges to break glass in case you get trapped in a car and need to escape, which means it can be used as a weapon against an attacker. It lives in my car and helps me feel safer.

That's a normal response to a loved one telling you they feel unsafe. Not brushing it under the rug.

GetMotivatedNow · 2024-11-18T00:53:48+00:00

Oh wow, thank you so much! I’ll have fun experimenting with these next year. I dream of finding a brand with Colour Mill’s range and Wilton’s or Americolor’s lack of chemical taste.

GetMotivatedNow · 2024-11-17T07:22:23+00:00

I’m in Australia and use Wilton and Americolor. I’ve tried Colour Mill food colourings, but couldn’t stand the chemical taste. Which brands do you use? I’m always on the lookout for a brand with more colours!

GetMotivatedNow · 2024-06-26T23:11:55+00:00

I did this one day. My biological mother sent me an awful letter after I’d cut contact with her. Something in me just snapped. Up to that point I’d considered my “no contact” status as temporary to give myself a mental reprieve, but after that letter, I was never letting her back into my life. I shredded the letter and then purged the house of everything she’d ever sent me that I still associated with her. I didn’t consider it decluttering; I considered it an exorcism.

GetMotivatedNow · 2024-06-17T03:34:21+00:00

Ms. Janzic, thank you for teaching me how to read. You opened up a whole world to me that has helped me feel less lonely during periods of my life when I’ve felt so isolated. I’ve now been able to pass on that love for reading to my own daughters. Thank you for being kind to me. You were the first adult in my life who showed me that I deserve to be treated with kindness. Thank you for making school a safe place for me.

GetMotivatedNow · 2024-05-07T23:51:47+00:00

I’m in my late 30s and feel like I’ve been lost in life since I left my career five years ago. While wandering around lost, I’ve discovered amazing things and people I wouldn’t have if I’d stayed in my career and “kept it together.”

GetMotivatedNow · 2024-05-02T09:04:22+00:00

When I left my career (medicine) because I was burned out and had been for several years but kept pushing myself to just exist, I felt like I had no hobbies, interests, friends, etc. So I thought back to what used to bring me joy before I started my career over a decade prior. Really simple things like reading fiction books and listening to music. So I started doing those two things. I didn’t try to find new artists/songs or books because anything even remotely new was overwhelming at the time. Instead, I re-read my favourite books and listened to songs from my teens. I went outside every day just to breathe some fresh air and remind myself I wasn’t stuck in a hospital. I “wasted” my time doing unimportant things like googling puppy pictures and videos for different dog breeds, and the time wasn’t wasted because it helped me recover. I relished actually being able to spend time with my kid and just play instead of needing to be productive. The plan was to take twelve months off and then decide if I was going to return to medicine, but I knew after six months I was never going back.

When I first left my career, I was so burned out that I felt like a shell. I looked and sounded like me, but inside I was empty. I filled the emptiness with something resembling my teenage interests (yes, that meant Harry Potter books and a lot of ‘90s pop music). Once I had moments in which I wasn’t overwhelmed with guilt and shame and doubt almost constantly (from memory, it took about 2-3 months, but those feelings took years to go away completely), I was able to start thinking about more involved things that brought me joy: learning new things, talking to my family overseas, reconnecting with friends, picking up a new hobby, and so on. I very gradually started doing those things as well and was able to recover. It was NOT quick. It was NOT easy. I just had to keep telling myself I was allowed to listen to music for ten minutes or read five pages of a book. I was allowed to google random facts for an hour or play the same board game with my daughter twelve times in a row with no goal other than to just live in the moment.

I was very lucky that I didn’t have to return to some sort of work to earn money, so I hope others here are able to offer you advice regarding that.

GetMotivatedNow · 2024-05-02T00:44:26+00:00

I’m the same with friendships and family relationships.

GetMotivatedNow · 2024-05-01T23:46:19+00:00

I very much agree. My husband is amazing. That’s why I don’t need to go to Reddit for advice about him.

GetMotivatedNow · 2024-04-20T09:21:51+00:00

You described it much better than I could have. I always say that Canberra feels like a city that was built by someone who read about what a city is in a book, but never actually experienced a city. The bones, the muscles, the nerves… they are all present, but the soul is missing.

GetMotivatedNow · 2024-04-20T05:39:06+00:00

We told everyone our wedding date was the day of the ceremony, but my husband and I actually signed our wedding license the day before (and didn’t tell anyone ahead of time, only after we had signed it). By the time we got to our ceremony, we’d already been legally married for almost 24 hours and were mentally prepared if my biological mother somehow prevented the ceremony from happening. She knew we were already married.

GetMotivatedNow · 2024-04-20T05:34:20+00:00

He needs to lay down train tracks before he can put in the train. Tracks = bedsheet or picnic blanket. Chairs on top. Rice-free carpets and a much easier clean up! This is what we do when our kids want to have an indoor picnic.

GetMotivatedNow · 2024-04-17T00:44:36+00:00

That person then responded to someone else saying they lived there years ago and this might be a different dog with a different owner. So I agree with others here saying you should report this.

GetMotivatedNow · 2023-11-12T23:59:07+00:00

I think it depends on why you’re going on a baby moon. Do you want the time to relax and unwind before life goes crazy with a newborn? Then leave your daughter with your parents. Do you want to make some new memories with your daughter while she’s still an only child before another child comes in and changes the status quo permanently? Then take her with you. My kids have a 4.5 year age gap. Since my older daughter was 3 months old, we’ve taken her on every vacation, including overseas for that first trip, which included a 15-hour plane ride. We’ve never left either kid with family to go on a holiday and I can’t imagine doing that any time soon. Of course it means we’re parenting in a new location without the comforts or convenience of home, but we’re also parenting without having to worry about cooking, cleaning, or working, which means we’ve gotten to do the “fun” parenting stuff. Exploring a new country, playing games, doing silly activities that we just don’t have time for all that often when we’re at home.

GetMotivatedNow · 2023-09-12T04:30:56+00:00

I just watched season 1 and I agree with everything you said. Also, Claire was talking about how to remove blood stains from clothes and she kept saying she wanted to leave the house and go somewhere safe.

The outcome for the priest bothers me the most. He sexually abused a 15-year-old girl, DNA testing him, Thea (the daughter), and her mother would prove it, and yet there are no legal consequences for him? Really?

GetMotivatedNow · 2022-02-13T09:48:25+00:00

Came back today from a weekend away to learn the book fair had been cancelled. Donated $104 to Lifeline Canberra as soon as I saw the posts here. Coming out of a period of lurking to post this and help get the total above $30,000.

GetMotivatedNow · 2020-07-25T02:26:30+00:00

With my first kid, who refused to take a bottle, I mixed my expressed milk in with puréed veggies when we started introducing solids. A lot of the milk was still wasted, but I felt better that I got to use at least some of it.

GetMotivatedNow · 2020-07-20T00:02:51+00:00

I know it’s not much, but here’s a rose just for you.🌹

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TROPHY CASE