Parents Deserve Me Time

Disclosure

From the very beginning, we encourage our children to find us. We all do it. It’s a game.

Let me spell it out for you for you in a way you’ve probably not considered. As parents, we doom ourselves from the day we start playing peek-a-boo. Can you see me? I’m right here behind my hands! Here I am! Now I’m gone. Oh, I’m back again!

It doesn’t take long for children learn that they’re supposed to track us down. Of course, it isn’t unusual to get into a little mischief while mom is trying to take a shower. That’s normal, right?

Then we graduate to hide and seek. You hide and I’ll find you. Yes, I may take a little extra long looking in the same way that I might not win when we play board games. I know you’ll get better at hiding when you figure out that peek-a-boo doesn’t work like you thought it did.

Eventually we set boundaries like “Hide and seek is not a game we play at the store.” We need to do that to preserve our sanity when kids laugh about how freaked out we get when they hide in a public place. Who taught them that it’s a game? Oh yeah. We did. What were we thinking? Eventually, they grow older and we ding-dong-ditch as we “Boo” the neighbor’s house during Halloween. It’s fun to leave treats for the neighbors then run and hide.

So let me ask a question to anyone with kids. What made you think that you could ever truly hide from them? At what age can we stop yelling “I’M IN THE BAAATTTHHROOOM!”? It must be beyond age 14 because that’s how old my oldest is and I’m still doing this on a daily basis.

So when I want to sneak away and watch Breaking Bad, I don’t hide in the bathroom. I head to the treadmill. I wish I could say I run the whole time and watch a couple episodes, but I mostly walk and am happy each time I can get one episode under my belt. For some reason, the treadmill is the one place the kids don’t track me down! It’s a little slice of me time.

I have a multitude of shows on my Netflix watch list, but I’ve dedicated my treadmill me time to Breaking Bad. Apparently watching Netflix is good way to connect with your teens. So not only am I getting a little me time on the treadmill, but I’m also multi-tasking by doing mom research. Yay me! I’ve been told (by my mom among others) that raising a teenage daughter is difficult. I’m going to need all the treadmill time I can get!

Next on my treadmill watch list is GLOW because, well, it seems appropriate since I’m exercising! I’m anxious to wrap up Breaking Bad and move on to watching the gorgeous ladies of wrestling. I’ve been told the show is fantastic! So many awesome choices of what to stream. Maybe I need to stay on the treadmill longer. It’s okay to have me time.

Being a parent is a 24/7 job. Everyone needs some time to recharge, to step back and take a breather. So don’t feel guilty when you set aside time for yourself. Check out the infographic with details on why it’s okay to give yourself some me time then enter to win a 6-month Netflix subscription.

What do you do to recharge and regroup?

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