I have to admit there are days when I wish I had the house to myself to sleep in, take a long bath, read, and write. Then I think . . . what would I have to write about???
Kids have deepened me. They’ve shown me how to love deeper and give more. I’ve also learned how to be patient, watch my tongue, and not become overwhelmed by emotions on days I just want to hide away with a half-gallon of ice cream and have a good cry.
They’re a lot of work, but now that my oldest is twenty, I realize how quickly the time goes.
“How do I set my priorities when all things seem equally important and/or urgent? While our children were living at home, their needs came first,” says author Elizabeth Lowell. “After all, they didn’t ask to be born. We asked for them. For me, that meant writing part-time around the kids’ schedules.”
Your priority may not be writing, but I’m sure there are those things in you life that make you think, “I wish I could have more time to . . . “
Hopefully, I’ll be writing for the next forty years. And over that time period you’ll have time for some of those longed-for interests too.
So enjoy that important time you spend “just for you” . . . but enjoy the kids more.
What about you? How do you enjoy your kids?
Thanks for this post, Tricia! I am a homeschooling mom, and people look at me like I have two heads when I tell them that I don’t need “me-time”.
I love my kids totally and I really do want to do everything…well, almost everything with them during this period. It’s hard to do this, but I love every minute and I actually hate when I do have to leave them home or ignore them for a bit to get something else done.
Thanks for the encouragement to keep them as my priority.