For the past 7 years I have been a full time mom, it's something I love being with all my heart. Two very active and inquisitive kids that are eager to learn and explore their surroundings. Twice the energy that we as parents sometimes have but of course double the fun!
We've learned so much from them, each day a new lesson be it to be more patient.
More tolerant.
Appreciate the little things in life.
More detail oriented.
The list could go on and on, being a full time mom meant leaving my professional career. It also meant leaving my dreams of growing professionally, it's ok I choose this and I don't complain about it. I made this choice and thankfully my husband supports my decision 110% always. However as a full time - hands on mom it means that my days are filled with legos, hot wheels, barbies, homework, diaper changing or ahem now potty training. I used to dress frumpy jeans and a t-shirt no makeup, hair in a messy bun and of course sneakers. Which has now evolved to full makeup everyday, color coordinating tops with shoes and accessories :D
I remember my aunt telling me -she is very wise and knows when to share her life lessons. She said: "remember darling, you must love yourself first to love your family!". It finally clicked last Summer when I began my weight loss journey. I can't preach eat healthy if I didn't eat healthy and love my body, I couldn't say dress nicely if I was being frumpy because I wasn't loving myself. I wanted to give myself alone time so I could read, shop or simply enjoy my thoughts. If you are a parent you know that when you are around kids they are always talking, they always have questions and are always needing attention. However up until last December I wasn't giving myself alone time.
Moving to NoCal meant being away from friends and family and also babysitters. So last December we enrolled our son in a preschool twice a week, on the first day I dropped both kids at school I felt odd. Maybe even guilty, I mean I don't work so why would I need to have alone time?
It was odd to turn around in the car and see empty seats!
After the first week I realized that he {my son} was benefiting from this too! He had made new friends, he was becoming more independent and he was learning all sorts of new things such as social skills. At home we would read and play together, but it was just mommy and him. At school it's him and 19 other kids his age.
19 different options to play with and learn about sharing.
After 2 months of preschool I noticed I had a pattern. I was taking this time alone to clean, run errands and catch up on whatever task I had not gotten to at home. Again not giving myself the alone time to read, shop, etc. Well today that changed, I finally got to do something I was longing for. Something I needed so much: enjoying time with friends.
Isn't it funny how complicated we are as parents? or more how dedicated we are, I mean looking at the glass half full ;)
This morning a friend that I love having conversations with about everything and anything and I made the time to meet at a coffee shop. It was truly lovely. It was un-interrupted fun and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Now about the loud music coming from my mommy-mobile well that's a whole other post!
How do you spend your mornings sans kids? Do you make time for yourself to do something special?
