WAHM: Time for You

We're almost halfway through Women's Health Week 2007. How are you doing? I'm sleep deprived and facing another chock-full day, but this article by Holly Swantek has given me a new perspective.

Holly is a fellow WAHM who has found a way to make time for herself no matter how full her schedule is. Enjoy! Thanks for sharing, Holly!


A favorite indulgence of mine is a deluxe midweek brunch, seating for one. It's the kind of brunch that's usually reserved for Mother's Day. An omelette cooked in olive oil, with broccoli or asparagus, maybe some purple onion, whatever I have on hand. I grate fresh parmesano cheese over the top, add a grinding of black pepper, surround it with thick slices of a pretty red tomato, add a crusty roll or english muffin smeared with hummus or cream cheese...maybe some cantaloupe or Girl Scout thin mints for dessert...and a big glass of OJ. I eat at the coffee table -- where food is not allowed! -- with only the cat stretched out to watch. Scrumptious, I say to myself! The best meal of the week!

But then the phone rings. The computer beeps. Someone's at the door. And I'm off and running again. How am I going to get to my next brunch?

Soon after becoming a WAHM I realized that "time for myself" was slim and on the way to none. Caring for my family and managing my business leaves me very little time or energy for myself, so I've learned to squeeze out time for myself where none really exists. It's a matter of perspective.

When I begin to feel like a role rather than a real person -- the driver, the baker, the candlestick maker -- I use perspective to turn a situation that doesn't feel like it's for me into some time for myself.

Here's what I mean:
Three times a week I have to waste 45 minutes on a hot, honking rush-hour drive to take my son to baseball practice.
OR
Three times a week I get to spend 45 uninterrupted minutes with my son, a cold drink, and a John Mayer CD. It's time away from unplugging a drain or unglue-ing the cat's mouth... Gee, honey. You'll have to do it. I'm in the car. Can't find your book report/gym shorts/brown shoes/boss's number...? Can't help ya. I'm in the car. By midweek, I can't wait for the drive to baseball practice for some time to myself.

When I'm in my mobile office (piled up in my lawn chair with a stack of client work, my cell phone and the land line from the house) I'm also outside enjoying the fresh air and watching the kids play. That counts as time to myself.

One of my sisters has a toddler, a newborn, a dog, and recently completed an online course from home to advance her Montessori teaching credentials. Yesterday she leaned over her kitchen sink and ate a Fat Boy ice cream sandwich with her kids swarming underfoot. "Everyone was still around, but it only took 30 seconds to scarf it down!" she reported. She counted that as time to herself.

Most WAHMs don't have enough time for themselves. But if you harness the power of perspective, you may find that you have more time than you think.

As I reclined in the dentist's chair with a gas mask over my face and the TV screen overhead I realized that I was kind of excited about this alone time. "Are you comfortable," the dentist asked as I began to relax. "Are you kidding?!" I mumbled. "This is the first time I've ever gotten the remote all to myself."
Holly Swantek

Contact Holly at Holly Swantek Public Relations - swantek@bellsouth.net.

Sally Bacchetta - Freelance Writer
Freelance Writer
Parenting
Motherhood