During school breaks my son gets to spend that time with his dad. I love it for many reasons; one being that B gets that quality time with his dad, and two, I get some “me time”. This past week was spring break – which meant I had 3 full nights with no kiddo! Every time I get a break I tell myself I’m going to take advantage and go out every night. But more times than not, I don’t do it. As the day (or night) gets closer, I end up longing to be at home either just lounging or during work around the house. However, I rarely am social with friends when my son is home with me. I don’t get to have him at home all of the time, so I want to soak it up as much as I can. Plus, I have crazy mom guilt when it comes to leaving him; especially at bed time. He’s in a phase where he really wants me home to put him to bed. I figure this isn’t going to be forever, so I do want to make the conscious effort to be there whenever I can. However, he was gone this past week so I chose two nights at home and one night out with friends… hey, it’s a step!
In my twenties I worked at a restaurant in Laguna Beach with some of my best friends. Many of us worked there on and off for many years; it was essentially our home away from home. If we would have been allowed to sleep there, I think we would have! The owners are a sweet married couple that always had their arms open for us to return any time we wanted. I had a lot of fun during that time of my life. We all did!
I was lucky enough to meet up with a few of my old friends/co-workers at our old stomping ground. We laughed so hard remembering all of our crazy adventures… Well, what we could remember of it anyway! Life before kids was such a different time. It’s always so interesting to look back on what our lives were like and how far we’ve come. You never think your life is going to change that much, but it does and it becomes a blessing.
While I got to escape from being “on duty”, I never feel like I’m “off the clock.” I don’t know if this just happens to moms or if it’s a parent thing; but my mind is never too far from my mom responsibilities. It’s really hard for me to turn that switch off and completely let go. Not that I’m being paranoid or I’m worried about my son, but it’s more that my whole being is a mom now. While I have an identity outside of being a mother, “momming” is a huge part of my soul and I genuinely love that part of my self. But, I know I really need to work on being more social in adult setting. It’s really hard for me to do that – but I’m working on it!
When or how do you make time for yourself? And when you do; do you ever feel like you can just turn off being a mom? If so, how do you do it?! Leave a comment below – I’d love to hear!
Avila’s El Ranchito in Laguna Beach.
Grab a seat, order a taco and sip on a marg.
My Party of Two 
I work out. That’s my me time. I joined a local workout studio and go 3-5x a week. I currently have zero social life. Having two young and very needy kids makes it hard to justify just going out and being “social”, but somehow going out to workout seems more “necessary”. And no, the mom switch never turns off. It’s like my brain has been rewired to see all things through Mom glassses. That’ll probably never change. But I’m glad, cause my mom glasses are way more mature and reasonable then my “me glasses” that I used to wear 😉
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I can totally relate! I think the first year of my sons life, I only had “me time” when I went to the gym. It’s so important to have those moments to regroup, but it is really hard to truly let go and leave the kids at home.
Thanks for sharing!
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