By virtue of being a mom, you pretty much accept the fact that you’ll have less time for yourself…your hobbies, interests, time-wasters, all that fun stuff you did before you had kids. Add a full-time job into the mix, and my opportunities for “me time” are pretty slim.
While I haven’t yet figured out the secret recipe for creating time, I’ve learned to be creative {and realistic} with my use of it.
In my old life, I considered a summer Saturday well spent if I read the majority of a novel, poolside. I’ve always been a reader, and while it’s harder to fit in long stretches, I’ve come to enjoy an hour or so of peace on the back porch, during naptime, with a good book and a good drink {wink, wink}. A full day spent at the outlet mall versus a much-abridged trip to the local mall. I could go on and on.
What I’ve learned is, like with so many things in life, you have to focus on quality over quantity.
That said, I’ve learned a few tricks I thought I’d pass on:
- Make the most of every minute. I hate to clean my house. Like, loathe it. We recently built a new home and while we’ve been loving the space, it’s literally double the square footage to clean. So, I clean my bathrooms while my kids are in the tub (saving the bleach step for later, of course!). I double-up on other chores, too. I use my crockpot to cook. Sometimes, I say “to heck with it” and we just go out to eat! And I’m ok with that!
- Don’t try to do it all yourself. My three-year old helps with the dinner dishes, and folds the washcloths before he matches the socks. If we waited until our kids were in bed every evening, we’d be awake until midnight.
- Find a creative outlet. My nighttime escape used to be flopping down in front of the TV and zoning out. Since having kids, I realized that our evenings were so crazy, my blood was still racing through my veins even after we put them to bed. It’s ironic, but I actually found that creating a bit more work for myself {via my side-business Two Blooms} helped me to settle down at night and create beautiful things at the same time.
- Decide what’s really important. The laundry basket will never be empty. The sink will likely always have a dish in it {although, I read a brilliant article about how, if you make sure your sink is clean every night before going to bed, you’ll actually end up with a clean kitchen, too…but that’s a post for another day}. The toys can stay right where they are – on the floor. And the world will keep spinning. Your mom can no longer ground you for having fun before you finish your chores.
It’s a learning process, and while it’s so true that we give up a lot to become a mother, what we get back is so worth it in the end.
