A good ten years ago I had this thing I was craving. It was called "an hour of freedom", or even "the ultimate freedom".
It entailed sitting at Starbucks with my notebook, writing for my blog - or just scrolling mindlessly through social media ;-)
Looking back I think not having any quiet time to myself - plus the lack of sleep - was the worst part of being a Mom to a baby, toddler and young child.
Before you dare to say nap time, be advised that with all the wonderful qualities my son had, being a good sleeper wasn't one of them. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
Anyway. Fast forward ten years. Not only has he become a sound sleeper, especially when he should be getting up for school, I also got my freedom back. When he first started at his new school I thought my days were going to be long and lonely. Interestingly, the time I was supposed to gain? It's been absorbed. More work at the office, my new assignment at the town's magazine, boom, here I am, desperately scrambling to carve out time to write this blog post.
I have 30 minutes of power writing before I have to leave for my gyno appointment.
And I want to take up this concept of en hour of freedom.
It came up twice in the past few days. First I saw a post by a lady I have been following on social media. She calls herself The Orange Rhino, and when she first started posting - it must have been a good ten years ago - she made great efforts to work on herself so that she wouldn't yell at her children.
Of course these kids aren't toddlers anymore, but she is still very conscious to do everything possible to be a great Mom, and I am sure she is.
These days she posted that she did one little thing that literally took five minutes, and it had an uplifting, comfortable and confident effect on her entire day. (It was to blow dry her hair.)
What would you do for yourself if you had five minutes?
She asked.
I may have taken this question too literally and answered
Five minutes doesn't cut it for me. That's not nearly enough time to brew and drink a cup of coffee.
She agreed that we all deserved more than five minutes.
It wasn't until later that I remembered that I used to dream to have an entire hour to myself.
Today I saw an anonymous post of an anonymous member of a Mommy Group on Facebook who said
Dear Moms,
From April I have some time for myself (1x 2 hours in the morning)....What do you do during this time? What hobbies do you have?
I would also like to do some sports, but don't feel like going to a gym...any ideas?
Many thanks for your ideas!
Wow. She's been so busy doing everything for her family that she wouldn't even know what to do if she had two hours to herself. Two full hours!
Without knowing anything about this person, I suggested swimming and Zumba. Random thoughts. She sent me the heart shaped eyes emoji and wrote "OMG, YES! I love to swim!"
She must have forgotten.
What is the bottom line here?
Don't forget what you are passionate about and carve out time to do these things!
What will you do with an hour (or two) of freedom?
My half hour for today is almost up, I have to leave.
PS: the picture collage at the top of this post was my take on the Dolly Parton Challenge. You were supposed to share your four public personalities, according to the social media platforms (I linked my profiles, you're invited to connect!)
Tinder - I am not on there. I just assumed this would be my picture ;-)
I am, however, on Pinterest and YouTube if you'd like to support me and subscribe.
I don't like it if I cant have alone time. So I totally get what you say there.I just subscribed on YouTube and when I get an hours free time ,I paint or write.
ReplyDeleteI remember those days. The only way I get anything done is if I make an appointment with myself. Reading which I LOVE gets 15 minutes every morning.
ReplyDeleteSent you a LinkedIn connection request and started following you on Instagram!
ReplyDeleteI read regularly and when I'm really making time for myself I'll knit and listen to an audiobook, it's heaven.
What adorable photos of you and you social media sites. I'll let you know what I would do with 5 minutes or even an hour of me time when I come up with something. LOL
ReplyDeleteTamara, I was desperate for alone time while my husband was ill for years. I am gradually recovering from that deficit! I treasure my solo time so much! Maybe one day I will be so caught up on alone time that I am actually seeking an activity! I'll let you know. Thanks for a powerful post.
ReplyDeleteAs you're constantly busy, any amount of free time would likely be cause for celebration, but definitely, more than five minutes! I used to be a corporate workaholic before starting my dog business, then went through a highly stressful six-year period of caring for my elderly parents in San Diego (imagine THAT commute, over 4000 km!) I'm retired now and lead a fairly stress-free, leisurely life, spending a lot of time on photography and blogging, or hanging out with hubby (who's also retired). Our high-energy rescue dog also keeps us busy, as she needs daily exercise. I followed all of your social media long ago. ☺ That Dolly Parton challenge was fun, and I even did one for our Dalmatian.
ReplyDeleteAlone time is important to me - probably because for years when I was raising my 3 sons I never knew what that was. Now I’m an old lady and I am living the dream. No not traveling. I can now carve out quality quiet time whenever I want. I think motherhood turned me into an introvert in my old age.
ReplyDelete