As mom, we all know that it’s important to take time away from our kids (and our husbands!) and do something for ourselves every now and again.
But, we also know that is a feat much easier said than done.
There is rarely a moment that I don’t feel there is something I should be doing, from finishing up that next story or that last load of laundry to cleaning out the crevice between my refrigerator and stove, or chasing the dust bunnies off of my fan blades. (All things I should be doing Right This Minute.)
Still, there is a reason why every woman’s magazine sends the same message in virtually every. single. issue. Because if we mom’s don’t take a few minutes away to decompress, we eventually blow up, burn out, or melt down. Either way, it’s not a pretty sight. (Just ask my husband.)
So, this week, I am determined to take a strong dose of my own medicine. And, I have the perfect place to do it. After nearly a year of our master bedroom looking like it could be from a movie called “Tom and Suzy Go to College,” where the main stars (us) live in a virtually empty room with nothing more than a mattress and a stack of cardboard boxes for decor (sad but true), I am finally finished decorating. A fitting movie title for the room now? “Tom and Suzy Grow Up and Buy Bedroom Furniture.”
Isn’t it lovely?
For some moms, a pedicure, a massage or an afternoon out shopping may do the trick. For me, it’s closing our bedroom door (and with it, the cares of the day), clicking on our new hand-dandy remote-controlled candles and settling in with one of my favorite magazines. It may only be for a few minutes, but it makes going back to being a wife, a writer, a mother, and a maid feel less overwhelming somehow.
So, let me join the throngs of woman's mags and urge you to make a point of taking time out for yourself this week. Or, better yet, today before the holiday hustle and bustle starts. I promise you’ll thank me later, and your husband and kids probably will, too.
