'Me' time

[Naomi]

Do you get time out, or a break from your every day routine?

What do you do with any 'down' time you have?

I find it hard to switch off and have a break mentally - I might read a book or something but I've always got half my concentration on what I could/should be doing or what the children are up to. If I am physically away from them, I seem to find it hard to not think about them constantly or feel like I'm 'missing' something. I'd really like to use my down time properly so I can recharge and have more energy when I'm with them but I just find it really hard to do. Is it just part of having small children? I assume it gets easier?

[Heather]

Naomi....I don't think I ever had down or me time until the TT was about 7 years old.
That was the first time I ran away with a GF for a weekend....and it was bloody marvelous. The next year we ran off together (sounds naughty), we discovered that 3 nights and 2 days was the perfect amount of time....we were then missing the family and were looking forward to being Wives and Mothers again.

[Naomi]

I don't think I can comprehend an overnight just yet but a few hours on the weekend would be nice. I'm just not sure what I'd do with the time. That said, I do have a course coming up over the weekend in March so I guess I'll have something else to think about with my time. It will be a good litmus test for me!

[Heather]

First time is horrendous......let's face it, do we really trust anybody with our Babies?
Persevere....and each time it gets easier until the guilt is just a bad memory and you actually start enjoying yourself.

[Cherie]

It will happen Naomi, but you may just have to wait until the children are a little bit older. I never found my feet until I was 35..went home for the weekend ( Interstate) wow That was the best break I had in about 8 years.
The only thing I can suggest is to get out with your GF's more, Morning Coffee etc. even if you do have the kids it's a break.:D

[Supa]

Naomi I was the same when mine were younger, now when they go toa friends house or a sleep over I make the most of it & sloth about, eat bad foods on the lounge & watch trashy TV!!

[redrobyn]

I met my d.h. when I was 26, he had custody of his 2 boy's, the second date we went on was to the drivein and we took them with us, 8 month's later I moved in and started to help take care of his then 4 year old, and 6 year boy's, when I was 30 had my d.d. she moved in with her partner when she become pregnant and had her baby when she was 21 year's, had 7 year's to myself except for babysitting, now her and her nearly 7 year old are back home, would kill for some me time as we have a small house, meant to be for our retirement, I go to work but don't consider that quality time. So Naomi I think all mum's deserve some me time, even a few hour's is a bonus.

[crashtestwoman]

From about 1pm each week day (usually after I've fed the kids), I sit and read or cross stitch or paint for a few hours untill about 3pm. That is my break. Even if people are working out of the home they need time for lunch so I don't care that I spend 2 hours each and every day doing what I want to do. I sit the kids down with a dvd and spread some toys around for them, when they were little that was when they had their sleeps and I didn't let them out of there rooms untill 3, so all my kids are well and truly used to mum doing her own thing for a few hours each day. And because I'm doing something that I really want to do I'm a lot more relaxed around them in the afternoon and night when sometimes they are at there rattiest.

[mummyof3babes]

I'm exactly the same. I think of all these things I can do when I don't have the girls (which is not often, last babysitter I had was when mum was down on holiday over a year ago, otherwise just a couple hours here and there) but I don't actually get around to doing them.

If it's to go to a movie, get nails or hair done or whatever then that's what I do, (which I normally do in school hours) otherwise if they're with their father and I'm at home I twiddle my thumbs until they're back home. I'll lay in the bath with a book or magazine or whatever but wont actually get any reading done! I can't just switch off either.

I'm totally lost without them bugging the crap out of me, I can't remember life before children (even though it was only 10 years ago before my first pregnancy) I must of been soooooooooo bored!:hehe:

[Patricia]

I remember feeling the same as you Naomi when the kids were small.

I had no family that lived closely to help me and there father was about as useful as a chocolate teapot. Friends often offered to help, especially when my health deteriorated but I think that made me even more determined to "do it all myself". Anytime apart I spent wondering what they were doing and if they were alright. Took me many years to realize that time apart can be a good thing for both mother and child/ren :)

[July]

I thought coming on here was "me" time! LOL

[Rachel]

I joined curves a few months ago as an excuse to get out of the house at least 3 times a week. As soon as DP gets home from work I am out the door and quite often I will head to the supermarket after to get whatever bits and pieces I may need on my own..
I use to read a lot before DD was born but now I find it harder to get in the right head space.. ie- I read a chapter and then realise I hadn't actually absorbed anything I have read! :hehe: So I have given up on that for the time being (except when we are on holidays and I managed to read 2 novels in that week! :D )

[miss kiki]

as of now i have my me time during the day when DF is at work and the kiddies are at school. i try to get everything done when it comes to my school and the housework before they come home, because that's when my day pretty much dwindles down and i don't have time for anything else!
i was thinking of signing up for a dancing class a couple towns away. it's a decent price too and it can get me out of the house for an hour once a week, which even that little time will do heaps for me! :) and i also agree with just going out to get your nails done or your hair done..that too i consider me time. :yes:

[PreSchool Mama]

and i also agree with just going out to get your nails done or your hair done..that too i consider me time. :yes:

I agree. A couple of hours pampering myself is my idea of me time. A facial, hair color to cover the 36,289 gray hairs I seem to have sprouted over the past decade, and an eyebrow shaping...ahhhh....Bliss!:yes:

[mel76]

What is ME TIME ?
OMG i wish i could get hubby & wife timeLMAO
By the time we run our business hubby on the job, me office, kids screaming to get feed, hubby getting home, bathing kids, getting them to bed, read to them, then it's around 10pm when we actually get to put our feet up IN BED WITH EYE"S SHUT!!!!!!!!
so you see our days are very full & the answer is THERE IS NO ME TIME!!!!!!!!!
I do get a bit annoyed about that sometimes but you know what i wouldn't change my life for anything, Hubby & i are just hanging out waiting very patiently for the day the kids are old enough to do their own thing & then Hubby & I will take off on a Harley Davidson YEAH :hehe:

from a busy mum

[kezabelle]

I get quite a bit of me time really. My older two are at school so I make sure I spend time while bub is asleep either reading or on the computer. I also read almost every night before bed - I rarely watch tv. There are times I feel like I've had none in ages, but then it comes around again pretty soon. Of course, in a few more weeks, I'll have a new bub and no me time again... :)

[miss kiki]

mel-i can agree to that..the harley part! :hehe: DF wants one so bad! my mom's fiancee has one and it's gorgeous! :)

i find me time here and there, even when the kids are home and even if it's only a few minutes to myself! just to sit down, read and catch up on here, whatever little it may be..i'm not going 24/7, but i do have to agree that at times i want more me and DF time. :yes: there's definitely not enough hours in the day for all of us time, me and DF time, and me and kiddy time, and me time, LMAO if only! :D

[Patricia]

Get the Harley now Mel..don't put off til tomorrow etc...

Says she ..the wife of the man with more things with wheels and engines than you can poke a stick at..including two motorbikes :blink:

I have learned the hard way that you should live for the moment...use your good dinner set and your good linen, ride that motorbike, swim with the dolphins....Go for it Mel!!

[lucyloo]

It is hard when the children are little. I had my two older children only 20 months apart, and when I think back to those days, when they were both little....:blink:
Now its not too bad. I actually joined a gym, and after tea, I leave the DH, DD and DS to clean up, and 2-3 nights a week I toddle off to the gym. I go with my sister, and thats my time. And I love it!!!:D