I did this last week and I’m not ashamed

When I first started trying to live a more eco-friendly life a few years ago, I put an immense pressure on myself to do better. 

Truth be told, I’m somewhat of an “all or nothing” person so sometimes I go a little bit overboard and it’s like—soon is just not fast enough. So I end up stressing, fretting and obsessing in the hope that I’ll reach my goals faster.

But as I grow older and I learn to believe in myself more, I find that it’s easier to take a step back. My mom actually used to tell me that as you grew older you actually felt better—and trust me, it’s true 🙂 So, I wanted to share this little slice of life with you.

Last Thursday, I got up at 5 AM like I always do—I love planning out my day with a warm cup of coffee and watch the sunrise before everyone else wakes up in my home. It’s my only assured (almost) moment of solitude and calm in the day (3 kids at home—all boys) and I’m honestly super productive because there are literally NO interruptions at that time of day!

But that morning, at 5:25, I heard Laurent’s (3 years old) high-pitched screams coming from downstairs… And I got a sinking feeling in my stomach thinking, it’s probably gastro. So I ran down—met my sleepy husband halfway—and yep (mom instinct), Laurent started being sick. Every five minutes. For 3 hours. 

Around 7 a.m. (my 14-year-old had already left for school at this point), I had to wake up Olivier (9 years old). He’s not a morning person but that morning, he looked a little bit grey and as he was making himself breakfast (he’s our sports buff and he scarfs down two or three eggs every morning!), he admitted that his stomach hurt and his throat was sore. Since there was clearly a virus in the house, I sent him back to bed. And … turns out he had come down with Covid. Again. 

Anyways, later that day, I headed down to the village to pick up a few things for the kids: sparkling water, ginger ale, crackers, chicken noodle soup, white bread and the likes… Well, guess what: I went straight to the point, purchasing full-on plastic-packaged crap with no nutritional value—the only goal being to get my two boys to eat and hydrate in the next 24–48 hours. 

This may sound completely normal to you—but a few years ago, I would have felt super guilty for not being able to buy a package free, healthy food to get them back on their feet. I would have put pressure on myself to make them homemade apple sauce, homemade broth and I would have gone the extra mile to purchase bread from the local baker and dried goods from the bulk store a half hour away. 

Now on a daily basis, I’m big on buying local, encouraging small businesses, bringing my own produce bags or jars and getting organic dried goods in bulk when I can! But given the situation, I felt that this was the best option for me and my family that day and for the first time in a long time, I felt NO GUILT. And I wanted to share that with you, because I often get comments from my entourage, with friends feeling shameful for their consumption habits or declaring that they could never do as much.

My point here is that your efforts matter—you don’t have to be perfect. And the process is a long and bumpy one! So do the best you can and that’s ENOUGH to be proud, I promise!