have you given yourself time?

Time is what every Mom craves... extra time in the day. But if you had extra time, would you use it to cram in more work or more play? Would you allow yourself to sit back and relax or would you hop online and finish another project? Imagine if the day was 25 hours instead of 24... an extra 60 minutes... sounds like bliss to me but it also sounds like a potential waterfall of wasted time. How you ask? Because often when we are given something that we crave and it becomes part of our routine, we don't embrace it with the same energy anymore. Example:

- A friend who is used to managing and controlling her families daily life down to the minute shares that her husband was doing more cooking to help out, so she could have more "play time" with her kids that didn't involve errands. At first she was excited beyond belief and then it started to ware on her. She shared she got agitated with the meals not being healthy enough, or couldn't completely relax when playing with her kids since she felt she should be cleaning/writing a brief/helping with homework. All she wanted was more "easy time", yet she couldn't handle not being in control. We talked about it a bit, and what steps she could take to relish the time verses complain about what is/isn't being done. What would you suggest?

My suggestions were:
*Create a project just your kids and you are involved in. It could be creating a train set, making handmade
valentines, writing a short book together...or a myriad of other activities that involve letting go.
*Take a bike ride with your kids to the park and play tag. Then play wallball or hopscotch.
*Walk to the library to find some chapter books you can read with your kids. Often when you start reading you get lost in time.... and can relax. Take the book to the park and read it laying on grass.

I am actually finding time in little pockets throughout the day. When I find that time, I feel a sense of excitement and joy bubbling through. I realized that if you have at least 15 minutes you can really get "lost to relax". I am now almost done with a book started a few days ago, have gone to bed earlier, played endless games of Polly Pocket, and enjoyed tea while Makenzie was reading Harry Potter to me.

Mind you, do I feel that I need more time in the days? You bet; sometimes I do, but I have learned to switch around my time and make it the most quality time possible. My phone is turned off and computer not checked for these pockets and the feeling of relaxing and relishing in the current moments overflows.

Now step back. evaluate your day. Are you checking/playing/fiddling on your phone all day long?? Put it down for at least an hour. Even when working, if able to focus on your task at hand verses hearing a vibrate and ring you will be more productive and efficient.

Try it, see how it goes. And when you find the extra 15 minutes here or there, embrace it since you don't get it back...

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]