Now that you know what to do with your child (see previous entry) without forking out insane amounts of money, let’s shift our focus a little. We women always tend to put everyone else before us, but in modern society, I feel that a shift of ideals is slowly happening, to the benefit of us mums!
A couple of generations ago, ‘alone time’ probably didn’t even exist in a diligent mother’s vocabulary and the idea of leaving children behind with a babysitter or, so help me, their fathers, was tantamount to blasphemy. Thankfully, this has changed, but somehow mothers seem to sport guilt as a great big accessory whenever they go out and treat themselves. I’m no exception. However, the idea that in order to be good mum you must take care of yourself first is quickly catching on and who knows, perhaps when this century’s over and our great granddaughters are new mothers, this guilt trip will be but a faint memory of times long past.
So what can you do to treat yourself when money isn’t exactly burning a hole in your pocket, and time is limited as well? This is going to take some creativity.
Number 1
Exercise! I’m serious! Exercising stimulates endorphine-production in the brain and you get plenty of time to think for yourself whilst trotting on the treadmill. If treadmills and pumping iron is really not your thing, yoga classes and pilates classes offer a super alternative for the tired mind. Gyms come in all sizes and price categories and I was lucky enough to find a cheap one with brilliant facilities. It even has a sauna. So get prowling, find a gym that suits you and GO THERE.
Number 2
Read books that are not a part of your curriculum at school. Seriously, if you have time to watch TV for 2 hours a day, you have time to read something you WANT to read. If you don’t want to buy books, there are libraries galore. If you feel stuck and really don’t know what to read, ask your friends about what they’ve found interesting and possibly even borrow their books. If you have a slightly out-of-control imagination like I do, you’ll quickly lose yourself in the imaginary world reading a good book creates in your mind.
Number 3
Stream episodes of your favourite series online. Hey, perhaps not stricly ethical, but they’re out there and they’re free. If you really really feel uncomfortable with streaming, you can wait for your local TV stations to pick up the series and watch diligently every week, with your plate of fruits and veggies, which costs about the same as crisps and soda, and much much healthier. Or just treat yourself to crisps and soda if you feel like it. All for the greater good.
Number 4
Knit! I’m serious! Knitting is the latest fad, it’s calming and you actually have something to show for time passing. Besides, it’s an excellent way to fill the gap in your child’s (or your own) wardrobe. Buying the correct sizes of knitting needles is the most expensive part of this new hobby, but when you’ve got your start kit, you’ll be virtually unstoppable. There are recipes galore online, you just need to look for them. Yarn doesn’t have to be expensive and apart from that, knitwear is just so hot right now.
Number 5
Pamper. Pamper, pamper, pamper. Go to your local chemist’s – shops like Matas aren’t that expensive most of the time – and get some facial cremes, masques, nail varnish, nail files, eye-brow colour or whatever floats your boat. Take a long, hot shower and get that skin glowing. Afterwards, you’ll feel energetic and confident and pretty relaxed and you didn’t have to dish out wheelbarrows of cash for a professional to do the same thing you can at home. Going to a professional salon should be a special thing, right, so only go there sporadically and do what you can at home. I’m telling you, life gets so much brighter when you take care of yourself.
Number 6
Don’t underestimate the power of girl time. Sure, you can talk to your partner about most things, but nothing really beats having a really girly heart-to-heart. Even though you don’t have to talk about girly things, girls can just listen to you in a way most guys can’t. Go to a nice café with a girlfriend, order a cup of hot chocolate (normally not terribly expensive, and since you work out all the time it’s no biggie) and just sit there and yap to your heart’s content. If you have a good friend, you’ll end up feeling refreshed and satisfied.
Number 7
Go see a film in the theatre that you wouldn’t see with your boyfriend – or rather, a film that you would feel terribly guilty over making your boyfriend sit through. You can either go with a girlfriend or just on your own! Really, there’s nothing wrong with that. You get to choose the seats, no one is reaching into your bag of popcorn and no one is whispering to you throughout the film. Two hours will just fly by, and add to that, your partner gets to stay at home and spend some quality time with the offsrping, so everybody wins.
Number 8
When I was not mum, I used to love getting into my car and blasting some serious heavy metal music while cruising around. Just because I’m a mum doesn’t mean I can’t do that anymore! Granted, petrol prices are pretty insane right now, and if you don’t feel like wasing fininte resources or if you don’t have a car, charge your mp3 player and get on your bike and just cycle round, listening to your favourite music. It’s so much fun.
Number 9
Find a hobby, like photographing, drawing, painting or writing, and set aside some time during the week to do those things you love. I’ll point out again – if you have time to watch telly for 2 hours a day, you have time to shift your focus to your hobby.
Number 10
Go out with your partner! Find a babysitter that you can pay to take care of your sleeping child every now and again, or ask your friends to babysit for you. Go to a pub, or see a film, or just take a walk, and be a couple for a while. We all know how our relationships seem to suffer with the new adittion of children to the home life, and while those children are welcome and loved to bits, we musn’t forget to nurture the relationship that brought those blessed little pattering feet about to begin with. I know that around this house, everyone’s pretty exhausted during the evening and we tend to just sit there in front of the computer or telly and waste away, but grabbing a deck of cards, a boardgame or just having a conversation is so much better than that and we do feel a difference when we leave technology haning and enjoy each other’s company.
Got anything to add? Let me know! Let your friends know! Let’s take the time to improve our lives, shall we?
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