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What do you do when you need a break?
By lizmcg | August 16, 2008
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It’s the dog days of summer — meaning that everyone is hot, crabby… especially me.
I don’t know about you, but I feel like I have an entourage with me wherever I go. We’ve been running everywhere during the last week, trying to get everyone (including my husband) ready to start back to school. It’s been a little crazy, but I’m happy to report that the lunchboxes are ready and waiting.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my kids dearly, but sometimes I just need some “me” time. Know what I mean?
I didn’t even notice how accustomed I’ve become to my group-activities mentality until last night I had an opportunity to take the dog for a walk around the park by myself. Then I went out to the grocery store by myself — wow, such a treat.
In the checkout line I realized that during the last couple of hours no one had fallen off a bike or gotten upset. No one had begged for anything princess-related, requested gum, or complained about not being allowed to hold the Jewel member card (which gets you the discounts at the grocery store, if you don’t live near Chicago).
It started me thinking… how do you take a break? What works best?
- Personally, my favorite break is to ship the kids anywhere with their dad or grandma, and chill out for a couple of hours with a movie (one of my few opportunities to see something non-animated). If it’s football season, on rare occasions I get to watch an entire football game uniterrupted. Heaven.
- For a quicker getaway, I keep a copy of Vogue on the shelf in the kitchen. Even a couple of pages and a cup of tea (or a cookie) will sometimes do the trick. I guess there’s something about seeing things like Prada and Ann Taylor that reminds me why I gave up my professional life for comfortable shoes!
- I’m also a big reader, and this summer I’m slowly working my way through a biography of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and also through Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I highly recommend both.
What are your favorite, most treasured ways to just take a break from the kids?
Let’s share… and shall we make a pact to do sneak one of these into our “mommy schedule” today?
I will. After all, I’m way behind in my Vogue reading for the month!
Topics: parenting |