Reclaim Your "Me Time"

Prioritizing regular leisure, play, and rest to support the lives we want to live (instead of reserving the goodness for special holidays)

Last week, I was driving to my office after dropping the baby off at school and really bummed about it. It was a gorgeous morning, with crisp air and the sun shining – I wanted to be outside! I didn’t have any meetings or urgent work to attend to so I made the snap decision to take the Rainier Avenue exit and found myself parked and in line at The Flour Box.

I stood (in the sunshine, basking in the crisp air and warm sun) reading my book, taking occasional breaks to respond to emails and messages that came in for me, and after 45 minutes, I left with donuts and a Hillman Cinny.

It was one of the best decisions I’ve made in a long time. 

I arrived at the office an hour and a half later than I had originally planned but I was in a good mood! I had taken myself on a little date, gotten a treat, spent some time outside in the sunshine and fresh air, and was ready to focus on getting work done. And I did! The mental and physical break helped me do some great work that day and no one was fussed by my morning absence.

We’re all exhausted

Yesterday, one of my friends texted our neighborhood mom thread polling the group about Mother’s Day plans. Overwhelmingly, others responded that they were taking time alone – a spa appointment, a solo overnight (or an entire weekend!), and other versions of me time.  

“...a key part of Mother’s Day is time to myself.”

While reading all the responses in the group chat, I was struck by the pervasive narrative that Mothers must wait until their holiday to take time for themselves and I was so frustrated for all my mom friends! We’ve all seen the social media memes proclaiming, “for Mother’s Day, I just want a break!” and I remember seeing it back in December, too. When a holiday comes around, the moms just want a break. 

We’ve talked about how hard it is to take a break. Not just for parents! We’re all grinding the proverbial pavement during the work week, limping to the weekend, when we crash. On particularly full weeks, I know I can’t think more than a day or two in advance, and then the weekend comes and all I have the energy for is to exhale. 

And before we know it, Monday’s here again and we haven’t recovered. 

And sure, it’s great to take a full vacation, but that’s just like waiting until Mother’s Day for “me time.” I need some sort of intentional break from regularly scheduled programming as part of my regular, weekly life so that the daily grind becomes less… grinding? We all need to build in small breaks so that we can sustain and thrive. Don’t we want to be thriving? Not merely surviving?