Moms Need Free Time

Moms Need Free Time

I have noticed a trend and I don’t like it. Moms not having any free time for themselves. Not having any time for any little break ever. No time to watch a tv show, read a book, go exercise, have coffee with a friend or go shopping. That their days are so full that there is simply no time for any downtime.

Moms need free time. It doesn’t have to be hours or even every single day, but it needs to happen. But here is the thing about free time, sometimes you HAVE to plan for it. It might not just be able to happen, especially if you have small babies and/or a deployed husband. You have to figure out how to give yourself a break. And not feel guilty when you do.

Free time really isn’t free. It is usually planned. When you are a mom, you have to make sure your kids are safe and with another family member, your husband or a babysitter. You can’t just leave and go for coffee if you don’t have that part figured out. Even though your husband is just as much a Dad as you are a Mom, in a lot of causes you are the default parent. This is even more common in Military families because the Military can be quite demanding.

Free time can happen during the day, during nap time, if your kids are in school, after they go to bed or even while they are awake. Something as simple as reading a book while your kids are playing with their toys.

Find something for you that doesn’t have to do with your kids. Read, write, sew, train for a marathon, garden, volunteer, etc. Find something that makes your soul feel good and allow you to relax a bit. You need it. We all do. Leave the kids with your husband and plan a dinner with your friends, take your mom up on her offer to watch the kids to go out with your husband, join a gym and go when your husband gets home from work, join a book club, stick the kids in the stroller and go for a walk, there are so many things you can do to take some time out for you.

And stop saying you don’t have ANY time for yourself. If this is true MAKE time. Figure out a way to get it. Moms need free time and that includes you too. The refresh will make you a better mom, a better wife and will add balance to your life. I know we are all so busy with being a mom, with our jobs, with our church, with sports, making dinner and everything else we have to do. But a balanced life includes a little bit of time just for ourselves, a little bit of time to think and regroup.

How do you make time for yourself? Do you think moms need free time too? What do you like to do in your free time?