ME, ME!!! (Jumping up and down with hand raised!!!) (Any old-timers here may now shut off; they've heard this PLENTY in the past!!!) When my kids were younger, they all took naps at 1:00, for about 2 hours. As they grew out of the nap stage, they were permitted to take a half-hour "rest"; if they fell asleep, fine. If not, after a half-hour they were permitted to look at books for an additional half-hour. Now, since even my "baby" is beyond naps, they all go upstairs for a half-hour of silent reading time. DAILY!!! This is my "mom's time". I am not permitted to do housework or work relating to school. I can read or have my Quiet Time, or gab with y'all here!!! (Actually, I should not permit myself on the computer!!!) Ideally, I would also have me a cup of tea, and force myself to actually sit down. My kids know they are not to bother me during that time unless it's an emergency.
I do not make "me" time. I get a few minutes on the weekends when the kids go to the grandparents to visit. And, sometimes dh takes one or both kids for some reason or another. If I do get these rare alone times then I usually clean house, shop for groceries, run errands, or do some school work. Very rarely I sit and watch a movie or take a long hot bath. I have to force myself to just take time to color my hair or paint my nails. I think I might get a hair cut once a year (if that). My hair is long so I usually end up cutting it myself. I really need to work on this area. I kind of find myself lost if I don't have a thing to do. I guess movies (like Lifetime) would be my first choice of relaxation.
My me time or my time alone with dh is Wednesday nights when the kids are at church. We drop the kids off at 6:15 and dont pick them up until 8:30. If dh is working it is me time, if he has off it is our alone time together. Sometimes we go out to dinner and other times we just go to the grocery store. I also am pretty stern about bedtime. The kids must be in bed at a certain time every night. That also gives me my alone time.
:?: You mean we GET to have time to ourselves???!!!??? :-? I didn't get that memo!! Not much "me" time -- like so many others, I want it, I know I need it, but I feel guilty when I get it. Usually my "me" time is going to the grocery store (pretty pitiful, huh?). I work at night from home Sunday thru Thursday (12midnight to 6a--but off each Friday and Saturday night) so there's never enough time!! My dh is great about letting me sleep in on Saturday mornings, the only day I get to sleep in. He gets up with the kids and makes them breakfast and they watch cartoons or play games together until I get up. I have a friend at church and everyone once in awhile she'll call up and say "Let's get a Coke when the kids get in bed!" We wait until about 9pm (where the kids are either in bed, or Dad can get them to bed soon) and she picks me up and we go the ice cream store and get an ice cream cone and a drink and talk for a couple of hours. It's always so nice!
AMEN!!!!!!! I heard at a conference once that homeschool moms tend to put their life on hold while the kids are home. Then once they're gone, the kids don't really "know" their moms. Didn't know they enjoyed quilting or painting, or whatever! We give them a much more rounded view when we take time for ourselves, plus a burned-out mom is NEVER a plus for her family!
Well, I think we all NEED time to ourselves every once in awhile. So, if you're not getting it- START!!! I get some "me" time every night after everyone else is sleeping- I take an hour or so to just lay in bed and read. I love to read, and it's the only time that it's quiet. I enjoy it, and it's a good calming-down tool in the evenings. I am a Designer for Home & Garden Party. So, when I go out to do a party, I get "me" time. DH is happy to spend some quality time with the girls, and I enjoy getting out among some adult company and "partying"- it's a great job for that- doesn't feel like work, just feels like fun- and I get a nice pay! (I just spent the past 5 nights at a local fair, so I got 5 nights of "me" time in a row!) Also, my best friend and I enjoy late-night trips to Wal-mart. We usually make them closer to the holidays, but try to slip one or two in throughout the year as well. We wait 'til our families are in bed, then head off around 10 o'clock. It's a different crowd of people that hang out at Wal-mart in the late-night/early-morning hours! LOL But, we enjoy the time, just the two of us. And, sometimes we'll stop for coffee or a snack on the way home. Now, I sound like I get out alot, huh?! Sometimes it doesn't seem that way! Especially when I'm trying to get a bath, and almost always have an audience of some kind! Oh well........
I don't have an official "me time", but ds goes to bed at eight p.m., so unless I've got a deadline (lesson plans, lessons for Sunday school, homework, etc.), dh and I enjoy watching a movie together, reading our favorite books, or having a nice heart to heart talk. I really enjoy that couple of hours of peace and quiet before bedtime! I love my son dearly, but he talks constantly! ;-) Once in a while, I get really frazzled and need some extra "me time". Dh is great about taking our son to the park or somewhere and allowing me several hours to relax and enjoy being "me" rather than "Mama, teacher, etc."! I'm an avid reader, so I have to be careful when I start a new book. I tend to read into the wee hours of the morning, which wreaks havoc on my mood the next day... (I'm not a morning person, ds and dh are!) I used to wear my hair long and never went to the salon, dh would trim it for me. But now it's shoulder length and I have a great stylist, so I treat myself every couple of months. I really should soak my feet and give myself a pedicure fairly often, but I end up doing so once every couple of years..... Yikes! Same for manicures, I just keep my nails trimmed, since I make a mess when I try to use my left hand to paint my right hand nails... "Me time" is mostly reading, playing the piano, or going through curriculum! The last could be considered "work", but it's so much fun! Also I love to cook and bake, so I guess I have a lot of things built into my day that I enjoy that aren't necessarily "me time"... Blessings,
Heidi: Your job sounds wouldn't and fun. Maybe I should do something like that for ME TIME. I didn't know there was think call ME TIME till I seen this thread. Guess I need to take some.
Anne, do you and your DH read together? Carl and I do! Actually, he's suppose to read TO me so that I can work on my quilt (started it BEFORE we were married, more than 12 years ago!!!), but usually that doesn't happen. We've also listened to stories on tape. The Wednesdays during AWANAS is our "date night". Sometimes we go out to dinner (not often) or to Starbucks, or grocery shop at Meijers. Sometimes we go to the library!!! But whatever, it's "our" time and we try to hold on to it. Don't know WHAT we'll do next year when Rachael is out of AWANAS!!! I always ask for a "day off" during summer break, or spring break, etc. Usually I don't get it, though <SIGH>>>>>>! The teachers that I use to teach with have a monthly "dinner night". I don't get to go every month, but they still send me the quarterly schedule and I go many four to five times a year. I'm going this Thurday, because with my Mom in Intensive Care, it's been really stressful. DH is wonderful about letting me go when I want to!
I really think me time is important, but when I get some I am so tired all I want to do is sleep! LOL Actually dh is really good about whenever I want some time he will watch the kids. The problem is I cant relax b/c I have a million things that need done so it turns into- cleaning, canning, laundry. SO its my own fault, but I just cant relax with a messy house, knowing I need to start dinner and a pile of laundry there! I cant wait till my children can help with some of this stuff-- OH WAIT maybe I can b/c that will mean they arent babies anymore!! ='( ok better than me time---- a nanny, a maid, a cook and a gardener! Thats what I'll take!! LOL The nanny can do the child care I dont want too-- like poopy diapers. The maid can do ALL the cleaning and laundry. The cook can do all the grocery shopping and cook when I dont feel like it. (I like to cook most of the time) and the Gardener can pull all the weeds, till the garden, fertilize and all the yucky stuff while I will pick out the plants, plant it and take all the credit for how fabulous it looks!!! Sounds like the life to me!!!=)
EEEWWWWW.....I needed to hear that, Jackie, about the kids not knowing our interests. I have the guilt, but I've also gone through depression in regard to "loosing myself". I need to be a bit more careful in this area. I have an extremely supportive hubby, so now the only hinderance is ME. How encouraging a thread!
I think it's wild how some of you look at grocery shopping as an 'activity', something to enjoy. It's not that I mind doing it, especially if I find good deals, but I don't see it as a leisure activity. I do like to see it through Jeannie's perspective- looking forward to a piece of cheese at the deli, a cookie from the bakery, and seeing the lobsters in the tank.
I felt so guilty about my "me" time that I stopped getting spiral perms and let my hair go straight again, sitting there for hours getting my hair curled left me guilt ridden. I have finally been able to do more me time since my boys are bigger and they go work and do their own thing during the day.
THOSE LOBSTERS!!! Isn't it amazing how the kids get so excited about them? Also, different stores have different quirks. One passes out suckers at the checkout, another usually has sample cookies, specifically for the kids, etc.
I wish they'd shove those lobsters!! The lobsters we see are usually trying to fight each other, but with their claws bound all they can do is bump each other. I've been telling Jeannie they're playing. That will work until some older scamp comes along and tells her the truth.
That they really are fighting or that we toss 'em in the pot while they are yet living? My kids always ran to the lobsters, too. It's like taking a zoo break! And they are always at just the right point--almost done with shopping but still the produce section to go! :lol:
My "out time" is usualy a few hours on the weekend, but while it was supposed to be just for me,----after away for almost a week out of town for a funeral, my husband learned how important it was for me to get away for a while. is now usualy me and just 2 of the kids, with my mom. (I have an extrordonary fear of driving) We go out to lunch and shopping. I love this time out of the house, but would love to get out more with just me and my husband, but my mother doesn't offer to much to watch them all at her house. But when we do get a night out we love to go out for dinner and then usualy a store or the used book store. I do try to get a little Me time during the, day, where the kids all are supposed to have a little quiet time in their rooms after lunch but, just like when I take a shower or go to the batheroom, some one is always fighting over something, some one is always getting into some thing they shouldn't, or they have something that just can't wait for them to show me. and talk about laundry piling up, this weekend, I saw that my sons had shoved some dirty clothes in the closet with the toys, oh man, what a pile they pulled out! no wonder they could never find any clean underwear!
I'm the same way! I could never go to a slaghter house and pick out my meat. No thanks. Animals are too cute so I can't bare to think of what I'm eating sometimes. I'll be in the middle of eating a burger and if I think of a cow, I'll have to put it down. I know, I'm a wierdo. Heidi, I have been to a Home and Garden Party before. They have such inexpensive nice things. I have several of their items. As far a 'me' time I am treating myself to the hair salon this Saturday before I have to partake in a wedding on Sunday. I'm getting mixed red and blonde highlights. I did this last year and I really liked it, but I'm not going as short again this time. My hair just grew out and I want to keep it longer now. As for regular 'me' time. I'm not sure if I get that enough. I take Tanner to lunch on the Saturdays my hubby works, but that's more 'mommy and me' time. I like to shop actually, but not grocery shop. That's no fun. I'm a mallrat. I like to go clothes shopping, even if it's just window shopping.
