Finding Me time, Your time, and Our Time

Recently (like in the last 2 weeks) I've been finding the importance of going out with friends by myself.  Usually I'll do a playdate or a lunch date and I've got the kids with me.  But with school ending and friends moving, I've needed and wanted to catch up with some friends who I won't see for a while. I've been out to dinner a few times by myself. It's been nice to have to only worry about what I'm ordering and not have to worry about a timeframe.

I realized that this is an important part of motherhood: reconnecting and staying connected to your friends.  Maybe you've already figured this out.  My life revolves around my kids (in a good way).  I'm always with them and I look for activities that they will enjoy and I love being involved and helping out. But it's good to take a step back for an evening and relax.

Before when my husband would call from work telling me that he might go to a Happy Hour (which he rarely ever does) I would be frustrated because I would be home all day with the kids and then have to do all the bedtime routines with them and not have a break until after 8pm. 12+ hour days are loooooonnnng days.  But I realize that my husband needs an outlet as much as I do. Recently (and for whatever reason) we've both have taken time to go out with our respective friends.  It's been nice. We both feel like we are a part of a social group again. Since we're both taking turns doing it, it just evens itself out.

In addition to going out with friends, Hubby and I have made a point to go on a date night at least once a month. I love this time together. We get a babysitter and we just enjoy an entire evening talking and spending quality time together.  Just two nights ago we had nothing that had to be done immediately and we decided to watch a Netflix movie on our Wii. No planning required. It was great.  It's been a while since we've had a low key evening.

Me time, your time, and our time....good times :)

5:30am

This is what time I've been at the gym, in my seat and spinning. It's crazy.  My husband isn't even up yet and I dress in the dark, grab my water, and go.  Class has started by the time my husband's alarm has gone off. I'll will probably have been spinning for about 15 minutes by the time he rolls out of bed.  Crazy!

So I've done for two mornings now. It's a little weird too know that I've done more in the last 3 hours than I  usually do...all with the kids still asleep.  Yesterday was my first day taking an early morning class.

 I was so tired by 2pm and barely standing when my husband came home.  Usually my hubby is home by 6:30 and I'm ready to hand off the kids, have dinner on the table, eat dinner,  and then get a few minutes of "me" time while he does the bedtime routine before I go up to join them for bedtime prayers. "Me" time usually entails me cleaning up from dinner while listening to the radio or a book on CD. I'm totally okay with this. It's my time to zone out, bop along to music, or catch up on my "reading" without stopping to attend to someone else. Last night Hubby had to work late and didn't get home until after 7:30pm.  I had just finished getting my daughter ready for bed when he walked in the door. I was totally done by then.  Getting up at 4:30am makes Discombobulated Mommy a very tired mommy.

One of the neat things I got to see last night was the way that my kids greeted my husband. Usually I'm trying to get dinner on the table and I basically shoo them all out of the kitchen so that I can get things done in 5 minutes instead of 20.  Last night my husband came up the stairs, I heard my son shriek with glee, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!"  My daughter came to the top of the stairs and sat down on the top step, patted the area next to her and said, "sit."  Which he did.  Then my son came bolting up the stairs and landed in my husband's lap and gave him a huge hug and my daughter followed suit and tried to share the lap and wrapped her arms around him, too.  There was my husband, sitting on the stairs, and covered in love...his head sticking out between the two heads. It was really sweet and I know that my husband loved being greeted with so much enthusiasm.

5:30 is a difficult thing time for me to get things done, but it might work out for us in the long run. I am able to get more things done during the day while still getting my work out in.  I don't know how long I will be able to sustain this kind of lifestyle, but I'll try it for now...if I'm still standing ;)