Finding Time for Mom

As a Mom, we’re on 24/7.   We don’t get breaks from Motherhood very often.

When you’re in the throws of motherhood and taking care of kids, it’s hard to find the time to take care of yourself.  When we do get a free moment, many of us use that time to fold laundry, meal plan, or work on whittling down our ever growing to do lists.

Hopefully, we all know how important it is to take care of yourself, not just physically, but emotionally too. When we are spiritually full, we can then give to others.  When we are empty, and we have nothing left to give, we fall apart.  Read more about Mommy Self Care here.

In order  to be the best parent we can be, we have to take the time to take care of ourselves.

But how?

First of all. Make it a priority.  Finding time to spend on you needs to be right up there with finding time for your children.  It’s important and you are important.  Leave the laundry, do the grocery list later, and do something that makes you happy.

Here’s how I do it:

• Nap time:  Both my boys take naps in the middle of the day, and that’s when I really take time for myself.  Even after they drop their naps, I hope to keep some sort of quiet time in the middle of the day…which means we  probably won’t be doing room time anymore.
• Mother’s Day Out:  I send J once or twice a week for 3 hours to a local church for MDO.  He loves it and it gives him time to play with other kids.  I love it because Baby E sleeps during that time at home, so I get a few hours to myself!
• Room time:  I set up a time during the day when both my boys play in their rooms alone.  They need the alone time, and I need it to.  It gives me time to get chores done so that I can have some me time later.  My 3 year old gets 30 minutes and my baby gets 15.
• Wake up early:  I really enjoy my early morning time with a nice warm cup of coffee.  I wake up before the kids and either shower or spend some time getting organized and prepared for the day.  It’s glorious.
• Switch off with my husband.  On the weekends, my husband and I always have list of things we’d like to do, kid free.  So, I take the kids one morning and he gets them that afternoon.  We both get a good long stretch of time alone, and it’s great.  We still do lots of family time, but I know that pretty much every weekend I’ll have a good 4 hours to do my own thing.
• Go outside!  I will often take a fun activity, like painting or water play, outside for my boys to play with.  Usually they are so engrossed in their play, that I can sit and read my book with a cup of coffee uninterrupted (for the most part).

A few other tips.
• Call in family support.  Have them stay with grandparents for a few hours or spend some time with an aunt or uncle.
• Trade off babysitting with another Mom.  You watch their kids a couple hours one week, and they watch yours the next.
• Hire a babysitter to come buy during the day for a couple hours a month.

How do you find time to take care of you?