Take Time for Yourself

I wrote this in June of this year.

Take time for your self. That is what “They” say. Take time for your self. It’s important to put your self first. If you don’t take care of your self who will? Blah, blah, blah…. Do any of these experts have children? I try to do things for myself but really, when do I have time? My kids are pretty little and this time is precious. They need me. And I have to admit, I’ve almost forgotten what to do.

There was a time when given a free Saturday afternoon I would just take care of myself. You know, naturally, like breathing. Now I’ve been known to sit in the car and think, “Where should I go, what should I do?” I HAVE NO CLUE! How many times can you get your toes done? I’m not really a movie girl. You can’t go to a wine bar in the middle of the day….by your self….without getting stares. Trust me there. So what to do? And if you have an accidental bit of free time…. Whoa, that really throws a kink in the deal. It’s like winning the lottery with out buying a ticket. (I have heard that you need a ticket to win.)

So today my two oldest ones had a day camp. I tried to get my little one in too but the teenagers running the camp insisted that he be potty trained. Come on, I’ve been changing diapers for 8 years now. An afternoon won’t kill you. Anyway….. We ran errands and honestly, after he calmed down from being mad about not being included, we had fun. He was adorable and a good traveling companion.

After a couple errands we went to Fred Meyer. One of the greatest things about Fred Meyer is Play Land. A small child can go in there for an hour free of charge, FREE OF CHARGE! The lady who runs Play Land knows us by name and gets out our sign in sheet by the time I hit the desk. Her name is May so Coulter calls it May Land. She likes that so she likes him and now his brother, Kees. Kees just recently decided that May Land is a fun place.

For the first 9 months of his eligible time he wouldn’t go to Play Land. This killed me because I had been waiting for him to go there since the day he was born. If you have kids you know shopping by yourself is almost as good as a spa day. Seriously. So we go, he goes in no problem and I head to Starbucks. The Starbucks inside, not outside. Yes, our Fred Meyer has two Starbucks because we live in the northwest. I get my coffee, grab a Fred Meyer ad flier and head to the furniture section. Fred Meyer has some really comfortable furniture. Oh, I am really hungry. I swing by the dairy section and pick up some string cheese. I eyed some sushi and a sandwich but it isn’t my furniture and I am watching my weight so string cheese it is.

I plop down on a big fluffy couch and spend an hour with my coffee, the flier and oh, I should call a friend. I am having a fine time. A couple people give me funny looks but I do not care. Seriously I couldn’t care less. This is living. Yes, I have found my “quiet” place in the middle of Fred Meyer. For me this is better then the spa because it is fairly spontaneous. It is an hour of me time that I was not expecting in the middle of the day on a Monday. Awesome.

Oh crap, my hour is almost up and I only have one thing in my cart from my list. An hour goes pretty fast when you are having fun, by yourself, in Fred Meyer, on a big fluffy couch. I get up, get Kees, he’s happy and a good companion again though he does demand a cookie as hush money. I feel rejuvenated, I get him a cookie, get the rest of the stuff on the list and have a pretty good rest of the day. Yes, sometimes to take care of your self, you have to do it spontaneously, even if it’s at Fred Meyer.