Wordless Wednesday - The Beach

ahh......

Finding time for "just me"

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See those beauties? They are my pride and joy. My reason for existing. The loves of my life.
Sure, we love our kids to the moon and back...but sometimes, we need that "mommy time out."
We need those few minutes (or a few hours) when we do something for US - without feeling guilty about it.

Regular readers of my blog know that I struggle with balancing work/home/life and that I'm not ashamed to admit it. I work full time outside the home - after spending nearly seven years either working part-time or being a SAHM, and there are many, many days when I wish I could work AT home, thinking that perhaps I'd have more "me" time.

HA! I can hear your laughter.
I don't know one mommy who ever has enough "me" time - no matter where or how you spend the hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.! Every mommy is a working mommy, and we all struggle with balancing the needs of our families with our own PERSONAL needs.

My "normal" day looks like this: I'm up at 6:15 a.m. and have to get ready for work, decide what I'm wearing and what the girls are wearing to school, make sure my husband has packed Liv's lunch, and then I pack my lunch (ha! who am I kidding?) and try to figure out what we might be having for dinner that night, and hope there's enough coffee left in the pot to get me to Starbucks. By 8 a.m. Liv is on the bus, headed to school. I make it to work at 8:30 a.m. (OK, 8:45 if I stop for Starbucks) and then work until 5:30 p.m. (sometimes I have time for lunch, sometimes I don't). By the time I get home it's 6 p.m. and if I remember to thaw out something then my husband has cooked dinner (and the angels sing from the heavens). Dinner is done at 6:30 if we're lucky, but then it's time for homework with Liv (normally a struggle), then bath time, and then story time, and then if we're lucky at least one of the kids is asleep by 8 p.m. (Emma will be asleep by 8:30 ... maybe).

And then....

This is where I try my best to have about an hour or so of "me" time. Whether I'm watching a trashy reality TV show (Monday night...The Bachelor), or catching up on the pile of magazines on my coffee table, or curling up with my netbook and Twitter - this is my time.

I need this time at night to decompress, to relax, to wipe away the stresses of my day and just be ME.

During the weekend, it's harder to find time for "just me" - between conquering Mt. Washmore and grocery shopping and cleaning the house (you'd never know it if you looked at my house) - my weekends end up being about what the family needs. And I'm OK with that - I love my husband and my kids.

But sometimes I just look at the ensuing chaos in my living room and declare "That's IT! I'm going to Target. ALONE." And for one lovely hour I wander aimlessly through Target, buying things I don't need. And I feel better.

So, how do you take a moment (or two) each day just for you?

Remember, visit http://www.facebook.com/crystallight to learn more about how Crystal Light can flavor your day with 30 refreshing flavors. I was selected and paid for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

Does it seem strange....

....that the most relaxing part of my day was the 45 minutes I spent in the dentist's office?

There I was, in the rather uncomfortable dentist office chair with that bright light shining in my eyes and a dental hygenist scraping my teeth with that damn metal hook thingy...and I was completely relaxed.

They had CNN on the TV [my dentist rocks..there is a TV in every room and you can watch any station you want]. Yes, in fact, I am a news junkie. Hence, CNN...so I was able to catch up on the news of the day. [As an aside: The floods are HORRIBLE! But they keep saying it's the "second 500-year flood in 15 years". Um, then it's not really a 500 year flood, is it? Cuz if it is, it's like 485 years early...but I digress].

Now, I hate getting my teeth cleaned -- I have very sensitive teeth and gums...and so it often hurts. And yet....today I blocked all that out and just focused on the fact that I was (1) semi-laying down, (2) watching something other than "The Suite Life of Zach and Cody" or "Hannah Montana", and (3) no one was yelling "mama!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Actual conversation:
Dentist: How is everything?
Me: Good. This was probably the most relaxing part of my day.
Dentist: Well, I can give you the keys and you can just hang out here and watch CNN and lock up after we go.
Me: Thanks, but the daycare might wonder where I am if I don't show up soon.

Let me just say this: I love my girls more than life itself...but sometimes Mommy needs a timeout. And well, today my timeout was a teeth cleaning. Hey, I'll take it where I can find it.

Now if only there was a Starbucks in the dentist's office......