Me Time

As a new mom, especially in the first year, the concept of “me time” pretty much escaped me. Not for lack of trying, it’s just how it was. Me time, for most of the first year, was Mon-Fri getting a shower before Matt went to work. A stress-free shower. Amazing how simple hygiene suddenly became a 15-minute oasis of peace.

But, as I’ve mentioned before, I decided to embrace the things that I couldn’t change because it just took more energy to fight than to accept. And I found that when I accepted that “me time” might not be the same as it was before Kylie was born, I found other ways that I could have time for myself.

Kylie’s naps, to which I was also bound as a co-sleeper, became my time, too. While Kylie napped, I read lots of books. I could catch up on TV programs that I enjoyed. (thank goodness for DVR! It has changed the way we watch TV – no longer at the mercy of the TV schedulers.) I could write in my journal. I could meditate. Or, I could nap.

And now that Kylie is older, Matt and I have found more ways to give each other “me time”. It’s just as important for Matt to have time to himself. We worked together to come up with time when he’ll watch Kylie so that I can go to the gym, do my coaching, or do my other work. He has designated time, too, to do things that make him feel a bit better and taken care of.

If you’re a new mom wondering how to find time for herself, I challenge you to get creative and try taking a different perspective, like I did with Kylie’s napping. But it is so important to have that time to focus on yourself so that you don’t feel like you are disappearing and exist only as mom. Nurture yourself, as well as your little one.

Language Arts (17 months)

At 17 months, Kylie has a vocabulary of maybe 20 words or so? Now, when I say “vocabulary,” I mean words that someone who doesn’t know Kylie might not understand. But Da-Da and I know. “Kha-ka” means “cracker”. “Please” sounds an awful lot like a Roger Rabbit impression “prrrease”. “Be-auw” is “bear” for our dog Teddy Bear. “Ba-ba” until a couple weeks ago was actually me – mama. (I’ve since graduated to Ma-ma, and I can’t get enough of hearing it. I get so excited that Kylie just goes on and on… Ma-ma! Ma-Ma? Ma-ma! And most recently, “O-e-o-e-oooo” has taken on a new meaning…. Prior to Christmas (Kylie was 14 months), it meant “Cinderella.” She LOVES that book. After Christmas and meeting my sister’s American bulldog Zoe, it also means “Zoe.” We all thought it was very funny that the bulldog and Cinderella shared the same name. Well, now, “O-e-o-e-ooo” has a 3rd meaning – “I love you.” Awwwwww….. Seriously. Isn’t being a 17 month old, amazing?! To have one word that means different things…

It reminds me of something I heard once about the Eskimos having like a hundred different uses for the word snow, or maybe it was a hundred different words for snow, but the idea was that it was because snow was so important to their culture. So, if I go with that idea, does that mean that Cinderella, Zoe and I love you, mean so much to Kylie that she uses one word to cover them?