If you believe hard enough it just might come true. 🦄 There you go! It’s a unicorn and it’s purple. I never said you would be able to ride it and touch it. “Me time” should be approached the same way by mothers of young kids. It might not be what you expect, but if you adjust your mindset, it still counts.
Today I had a dentist appointment for a cleaning that I have been looking forward to ever since I found the reminder on my calendar weeks ago. I get to drive alone. I get a chair to myself. It’s literally impossible for me to talk to anyone. I can close my eyes and not worry about someone stealing snacks or cutting their sister’s hair with confiscated scissors. It also helps that I chose a dentist with massage chairs and HGTV on every personal TV.
I realize most people find the dentist horrifying, but I’m lucky I have decent teeth that I work on grinding away nightly. My point is that “me time” has such high expectations we end up getting no time! It doesn’t have to be an expensive pedicure or a shopping trip. It’s about acknowledging the break and treating it as one.
When I lay on the dentist chair I close my eyes, partially to block out the blinding lights, but also to be alone with my own uninterrupted thoughts. It’s amazing what my mind can do when it’s not pulled 17 ways and interrupted every 2 minutes! “Me time” can be as simple as hiding in my backyard with a cup of coffee when everyone is napping or in quiet time. For me, being outside is rejuvenating and I don’t need to go far. There are plenty of pretty flowers and trees in my own backyard.
So often we complicate this idea of “me time” and by the time we’ve located the buried kindle, distracted all the kids with fruit snacks in a room far from earshot of the front door, snuck back inside for the car keys, found parking, paid the meter, stood in line, waited for coffee, found a not so sticky table, and sat down- 45 minutes are poof, gone. You are now left with 15 minutes to down the coffee and hurry back home to make dinner before ballet. You end up more frazzled than when you started this so-called “me time.”
Remember KISS? No the scary looking band, the acronym for Keep It Simple, Stupid. That's my approach to "me time." Otherwise there won't be any "me time," just wasted time. And I find that an hour of solitude, or half an hour of exercise, or even 20 minutes spent pumping (I can't get up and do anything , I literally just have to sit alone in my room- lovely!) can calm my nerves and keep me from yelling at the girls. So get that "me time" in, don't tell me it's impossible, just Keep It Simple...Sister. I booked my next dentist appointment for 6 months out. Just me, my massage chair, some HGTV, oh and the occasional interruption of, “shkaaashkaaashkaa!!!!” of my saliva being slurped by a little hose.
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