Mommy Time

I am trying to find ways to fit more "me" time into my crazy, busy, children-centered days. Not only is it a sanity issue (and it IS a sanity issue!), it's somewhat of a feminist issue as far as I am concerned. We women are so busy being everything to everyone that we seldom take time for ourselves. We excel at being good partners and wives and mothers and daughters and sisters and friends and employees. However, we lack basic skills in self-care. As a result, if you are anything at all like me, you wind up frazzled and harried and exhausted....every day. I say, no more! I am determined to find ways to do one small thing just for myself each and every day. Sounds easy enough, right? Yea...not as easy at it sounds.

Unfortunately, my children are not big believers in mommy time. As a result, I have to sneak in "me" time whenever I can find a moment of peace and quiet. Those moments are few and far between, but I am determined to seek them out. For example, Saturday night, I ran out to pick up dinner...McDonalds for the kiddos and Leeann Chin for Ruanita and I. I discovered that I love time alone in my car. So I stopped and got a small chocolate milkshake from McD's. I hadn't had a milkshake in ages and it was a nice little treat. Then I took the long way to Leeann Chin, drove at an extremely grandmotherly pace, and listened to A Prairie Home Companion on the radio. It doesn't sound like much, but it was nice. A moment without a single soul asking a thing of me. Just me, peace, quiet, chocolate, and Garrison Keillor.

I've also come to appreciate grocery shopping as a haven of solitude. I do our major grocery shopping every other weekend. Ruanita stays home with the kids because she does not like grocery shopping. As for me, it is one of my great loves in this life. I wake up on grocery days happy and refreshed...looking forward to the day ahead. I have switched my shopping from the grocery store to the SuperTarget. I love Target, if I haven't mentioned that before. A feeling of calmness washes over me every time I pull into the parking lot. I get out of the car with my reusable bags tucked under my arm and practically sprint through the doors. Ahhhh....my home away from home. I grab a Starbucks latte, find a cart without a bum wheel, and I am off. I take my time at Target, leisurely strolling through the aisles sipping my coffee. I look at clothes...I check out shoes...I stroll through the book section (even though my children have turned me into an illiterate)....I walk through the toy aisles to get ideas for the next birthday on the horizon. I check out the office supplies section...I am always on the lookout for a new pen or pretty notepad (yes...it doesn't take much to excite me). After I have strolled around the store long enough to finish my coffee, I go about the task of grocery shopping. I have to admit that I even enjoy that part of the trip. There is something exhilarating about comparing prices and getting a good deal. I am the coupon queen. A buy one get one free offer WITH a $1 off coupon?? A deal like that puts me into a state of near delirium. Yes, it is sad, but true. I am in my element at Target. It makes me happy. I can walk around the store without a single person talking to me. After a week of talking to crabby people on the phone at work and whiny people in person at home, it is a wonderful feeling to spend a couple of hours talking to absolutely no one. Me time. I will take it wherever and whenever I can get it.