I just need five minutes to myself! How many times have you thought or actually said those words? Just five minutes and I’ll feel like a human being again and can deal with all of this. As a single mother there isn’t any downtime, unless you make it.
I know many single mothers who wait to read, or sew or watch TV until after the kids are in bed. Then once the kids are in bed and they’ve picked up the family room, washed the dishes and threw in a load of laundry, it’s time for bed and they never find time to do the things they enjoy.
I truly believe that a mother needs time for herself to recharge her batteries in order to be the best mom she can. When Hailey was little a friend and I took the kids for a walk in their strollers every night. We would be gone about an hour and a half and fifteen minutes into it, the kids were asleep and we could just talk. Those walks were great, we didn’t have to leave our kids but we still got out of the house and spent time talking about adult things.
One of the best things I ever did was take classes through the local community education. These classes are inexpensive, meet once a week and are usually an hour long. The great thing for me was that they are usually held at nearby schools so once Hailey was old enough to be left alone for short periods of time I could take a class knowing that I was just a few minutes away if she needed me.
Community education offers so many different classes. To amp up the fun take a class like belly dancing with your best friend, you will not believe how much you will laugh.
The bottom line is that while tending to the needs of the many small people around you, don’t forget you have needs too. Find a way to get out of the house, even if it’s only an hour a week. When Hailey was younger I traded with a neighbor, she kept Hailey for two hours for me, and in return I kept her children for two hours, we did this once a week and it did wonders for our happiness.
Where there is a will, there is a way, don’t say you can’t, find ways that you can, you’ll be glad you did.