Being a mom is all about balance, or at least you hope you can find some. Today I met up with a good mom friend of mine, Kyra, of The Scribe's Desk, and while our kids played at the school playground (for almost 3 hours!) we chatted. Of course there were many interruptions, like "mom I want a snack" and "mom help me" (the four year old was stuck up high on the monkey bars), but we did get to talk a lot. We talked about life and parenting and blogging, and the many difficulties of balancing everything. And it's funny how after about an hour we said to the kids, "five more minutes" and then ended up staying and chatting for almost two more hours, we were enjoying the conversation that much!
Sometimes it feels like we give up everything we are to be parents, and have nothing left for ourselves. With all of the cooking (I despise dinnertime), cleaning (arg dishes, my nemesis), juggling appointments (school, doctors, lessons and veterinarian), grocery shopping, yard work, and looking after the kidlets, it's hard to find time for anything else. And then on special days, we get to see our friends and be outside and it all feels good again. I know I go through little phases of not being social or being too busy to meet up with people, and we rarely have anyone over (I think that's because my house just always seems too messy to have company and I don't have the time or energy to keep up with it all) and being a stay at home mom starts to feel isolating and stressful. But then I get to do park play dates (now that that the warm weather is here, yay!) or specially planned girls' nights out and I feel whole again.
I have come to realize over the years, that I am a very social person, and I need those adult interactions and conversations to feel sane. There is only so much answering kids questions, mediating kids arguments, playing kids games and reading children's books that one person can handle before they start to feel a little crazy. And when hubby comes home from work and he's too tired to talk because he's been talking to clients all day (or if he's been gone for half a week on business) well that doesn't help any. So thank you to the all of friends that break up the hustle and bustle and housewife monotony, and help provide balance in my life. They remind me to slow down and think about myself once in a while, and that in turn enables me to be a better parent.
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