It is easy to get lost in the world of endless diaper changes, food preparations, baby feeding, potty training, spilled milk, dirty dishes, dirty laundry, clean laundry, appointments, and all the other things that go along with being a mom.
The best advice I was ever given as a new mom was to make some time and do something for myself. It's not always easy, especially when the family grows or money is tight, but it is well worth the investment.
My first "mommy time" activity was learning to cake decorate. I took the first class and enjoyed it so well, I took another, and another. It turns out I'm pretty good at it too, so I made a few as gifts and sold a couple. Eventually, I got tired of making and eating cake all the time, so I had to figure out something else to do.
Later, I tried revisiting an old hobby of mine, scrapbooking. Scrapbooking takes a lot of space that my house does not have, so this was very short lived, but I do plan to pick it up again someday if I ever have the time and space.
My current activity is gardening. I really enjoy watching my efforts grow and produce amazing results in a relatively short time. Since I'm in Ohio and don't have my own greenhouse yet, gardening is a seasonal activity, so in the winter I put my time into exercising.
Would you know that each of my activities, though taking a little time away from the household duties actually blessed my family?
Mommy is happier.
Mommy somehow has more energy to give to the family (especially when exercising).
Mommy's cakes actually made a little spending money and even provided much needed income during a slow work time for daddy.
Mommy's scrapbooking acted as a journal and documented parts of our family history. It's much easier to go back and look through pictures with a few blurbs that describe what's going on than to sift through pages and pages of written word.
Mommy's garden is a vegetable garden that helps us to eat better and takes a cut out of the weekly grocery budget.
I encourage every mom, grandma, aunt, sister, and daughter out there to take some time for yourself and see how it can bless your family.
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Anna is a stay at home mom to 3 little children and a wife to her best friend. She blogs at One Income Family Living where she shares her family's attempts at living providently.
Photos by Anna
Labels:
advice,
making time for yourself,
motherhood,
talents,
time management