A much needed mommy day!

Being a stay at home, working, homeschooling, homesteading mom is a lot of work, you know? It can be SO easy to just focus on the tasks at hand, the endless list of things that need to be done, the laundry that is never completely done (at least for long), the dishes, the lesson plans, the correcting of geometry work, the meals that need preparing and planning, the bread that needs baking...I cold go on and on. When do you take a break and NOT focus on the "To do" list and allow yourself time to relax, refill and refocus? Maybe take a few hours to do something that is totally for yourself? Is that selfish? Does that take away from your "productive time" and your roll as wife and mother? Do you feel guilty doing this?

Let me tell you, I struggle with this all of the time. So much so, that I have not allowed myself very much "me" time in way too long. There is always just so much that needs to be done and if I don't keep working, I'll NEVER get caught up. Is that your thinking too? UGH! WHY do we do this to ourselves? My husband takes every chance he can to enjoy his hobbies, fishing and hunting are very important to him. Very important to keeping him on track and recharging himself. When he isn't able to go for long periods of time he literally gets cranky! :) I used to be jealous of his "time" away, would HATE his week long fishing trips and hunting trips. At the same time that I dreaded it, I KNEW that it was what kept him "recharged" and able to keep going. He needs that time, time to perfect his art, enjoy the outdoors, get away and rest. Do I miss him when he's gone? YES! Do I want him home? YES! Would I ask him to give up this time? NO! So, WHY do I struggle so much with allowing myself that same time? Am I in need of that time any less than he is? NO!

I used to really struggle with this, still do if I'm being completely honest with myself, but I also know that I can only give so much before I need a "mommy day" to recharge. Yesterday I took just that! I have a mountain of laundry, my house is always in need of "something" to be cleaned, there is always baking and work to do, but I needed a day! My kids are off camping with their grandmother, I had no extra littles around to have to chase after, so I took a day. Much to my surprise, my wonderful husband was completely in support of me taking that day. What a man! He knows that I need to allow myself time to work on my hobbies, time to be creative outside of my work in the kitchen and keeping our home. In years past, before we moved onto our homestead, I was an avid scrapbooker. Even sold scrapbooking supplies as a side business and had "crops" at my house once or twice a month for my customers. It was a lot of fun, but when we moved here it all stopped. I was totally OK with it for a while. Just living my dream was enough, but lately I've really been feeling the need to do something that has NOTHING to do with homesteading, homeschooling or homemaking. :) Shocking! I know!

What a fun day I had! A day of being "creative", a day of reliving memories, a day of allowing myself some "me" time....and fighting the "you are being selfish, you should be baking bread or doing laundry" feeling. When Wade came home, the first question he had for me was, "Did you scrapbook today?" Then he asked me, "Did you enjoy it?" His next question was, "Let me see what you did?" He was genuinely excited for me, excited to see what I'd done with my "me time" and was HAPPY I took a day off and just let myself recharge. What a gracious and amazing man I have married! I just love him! :)

It's hard sometimes to take a break, step away, focus on your needs and not on the entire worlds for an afternoon or even an hour. It's hard not to let the "tasks" of keeping a home running, from running right over you and as a result limit your ability to keep doing your job as wife and mother effectively and efficiently. Let's face it, EVERYONE needs a break from time to time....EVEN a mom! Shocking, I know!