Pages

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

How I get some Me time with a toddler around!

Let me give you some background here:

I have a 2 year old high-spirited toddler ( Yes! I put it very mildly as I am the creator of the monster)
I have no nanny.
I have no cooks.
I have no drivers.
I have a maid who thinks giving my house more than 15 minutes a day is waste of her time!
I have the daddy who tries but is away for 12 hours a day and conveniently home only during the toddler sleeping hours.
I have my parents a stone's throw away who are my lifesavers! They love the monster :)
I am doing a distance edu thingie just for the heck of it!
I also take up random assignments to write.
I take up any book review that comes my way. I dont just read books , I devour them.
I give interviews for full time job as a profession currently!

OK now for the free time we like to call Me time! Where should I find that? Most moms like me are from same background as me. They' ll tell you its the most elusive time to have. And once in a blue moon, when you do find that time, you are bound to feel guilty of neglecting something or other in the house or the baby or the daddy!

But then for the sanity of the 'homemaker' as I am fancily called these days, I laid down the rules. I put down schedules. I stick to them. I stay a little sane.

I have toned down my expectations with the toddler to stay sane. Like:
  • Dont expect to get any 'Me' time as long as the toddler is awake. I get lucky to read an article or a blog post here and there while she is awake but thats whats it limited to.
  • 15 minutes per activity is the maximum time the toddler will play alone. Dont fight it. Its a lost battle, already.
  • Dont ever blame the child for the lack of Me time. She doesnt understand it. Period.
So here is how I get my 'Me' time :
  • Nap times and Sleep times are set: So 1 hour in the afternoon and after bedtime at 8 PM.
  • I do not do any house chores during these times. Nothing. None. I wont even pick up a napkin and put it back in place. 
  • I let toddler join into all my chores in the afternoon after nap activity time for her. I clean , she cleans. I dust, she dusts. I cook, she cooks. 
  • Heres a cheat- I read, she reads. I read a novel while she is given a set of 5 baby books. It lasts a glorious 15 odd minutes.
Now my 'Me' times doesnot include the time for me to study or write these blog posts or even the little assignments I get. Thats the tricky part. I call it work. I treat it like work. Thats not Me time.
So these eat into a large chunk or whole of the nap time. At night, I spend some time with the Daddy , our only time with no toddler jumping in between for attention. We bond over dinner and an episode of Grey's Anatomy!
Sleep takes over me at around 11Pm. So where is the Me time? :D
I wake up early. Way too early. Sometimes 5ish or maximum by 5.30AM. So that golden slot between 5 till the time the toddler wakes up i.e 6 or 6.30AM is my real,real elusive Me time :)

What do I do during this time? Nothing much . Water my plants. Read the paper. Read a book. Or just lie down and laze on the dewan. Or do some yoga. Sometimes I even talk to myself. :D Nope I am not crazy, not just as yet.


7 comments:

  1. I hear you Sirisha!! Looks like you have too much on your plate right now! I do the same, wake up at 5 just to get some me-time before the madness starts! Though I never last until 11 pm, thats for sure :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Not really Aparna ... I just make it seem too much :D

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow with a toddler it get that much more difficult. Great that you have nap times and bed times fixed though, that helps a lot!! Loved the bit about never blaming the child, so true :).

    I wish I could wake up at 5 AM, would make my life a wee bit simpler, but I'm absolutely not a morning person and my alarm gets snoozed like crazy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hhehe I am a complete morning person! I cant stay a bit after 11 .. and that too is a stretch .. I can sleep by 9PM if allowed

      Delete
  4. I can never manage to wake up early morning. Guess , either my kid will change that for me or I will make the kid nocturnal like me :P

    ReplyDelete
  5. Totally get you..things have definitely become better once the kid began playschool and I totally love the "me" time then. Gawd, you get up at 5??? I set the alarm at 6 and get up at 6.30..:-(

    ReplyDelete
  6. Its amazing that you do so much with just 6 hours of sleep AND an active toddler to boot! And me-time evolves Sirisha. You'll find the toddler becoming more independent and yourself getting to do several other things you enjoy. :)
    Meera

    ReplyDelete

Key down what you feel , good or bad :) I love reading it