Tell me, moms, how do you make time in your schedule to take some time for you? If your life is anything like mine, you most likely have little to no extra time in the day to add anything else. I am learning that it is up to me to make the time so I am able to take the time for myself.
Life is full. The life of a mom is overflowing with an abundance of activities, tasks, expectations…Shall I continue? Whether we work outside the home full-time, part time, or stay at home, we keep our lives filled with more than enough to get done in one day. Unfortunately, the last thing on the list tends to be anything remotely related to our own selves.
In short, there is no extra time, moms! You have discovered that, too, haven’t you? I have learned that in order for one thing to happen, something else has to be sacrificed. In order to have a little bit of my own time, I need to carve it out. It is a decision. Time for you will not just present itself out of thin air. This is why it is so hard to take time for oneself.
For example, if I choose to exercise, I take from somewhere else. I may sacrifice sleep to take advantage of my best window for exercise, early morning. I do not recommend cutting sleep, but it is something I have chosen to do at times. Another example, I love to write. What mom really has time to find a quiet spot and write? I choose to let my home be a bit messier (maybe a lot messier) and will use my evenings to write instead of straighten up. If I decide to wear make-up and fix my hair, my kids are lucky to get breakfast. I’m kidding. No, I’m not. No, I really am kidding, a little…Mrs. Fussypants phrases it perfectly, “We can’t both look good, it’s me or the house.”
I make these choices because I need to have an outlet or two that extend beyond my role as mom. Though my role as mom is the most significant role in my life, it is not the only role. I have found that I need to make time for these things…so I can take the time.
My question for you is, what do you do to work in time for you? Do you feel you have to trade to fit in time for a thing or things outside of your role as mom? Do you feel it is important? If it is important, it may take a concerted effort to make the time so you can take the time to — write, have girlfriend time, exercise, craft, read, learn an instrument, take a class, go on a date…
Jenny Ingram is the mother of three children and lives near Seattle in Washington state. She loves writing here at Type-A Mom, for her own blog, and has a passion for encouraging moms in this journey…for she has been encouraged.
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