Me Time For Moms: The Dailies

I take time for myself everyday. And lest you think that I am a selfish mom, I don’t think you will when I share the what, how and why I do this.

As I shared in this post, I believe we can have me time if it is centered on Godliness instead of selfishness. These things that I am going to share with you are things that we have implemented into our home because they further our purpose, they keep us focused on our vision, they help us to reach our goals, and help us to live out the Godly lifestyle we are striving for. Here are a few simple things I have implemented in our home as  “me time”:

Daily Quiet Time:

Each morning, I awake before the children and spend some quiet time with a hot cup of coffee and my Bible. Even if I don’t wake up as early as I would like, I have trained my children to respect this time. When they see momma reading the Word in my big comfy chair, they are welcome to snuggle up beside me, and even encouraged to grab their own Bibles and read too. If they don’t want to join in, they know to go play quietly in their rooms until I am done.  I have trained them not to interrupt mommy’s quiet time. Even when they were as little as a year old, I would pull out a blanket and some quiet books if they were up before I read the Word, and had them quietly play while I read. It was training time that was well worth it!

Mommy Planning Time:

After I read the Word and at some point before our day begins in full force, I take a few quiet moments to look over our calendar and schedule and make out a to- do list for the day along with some goals. I usually do this while my children are doing their chores. Because I do a weekly planning day (I will share more on that later), this only takes 10 minutes or so, but it has gone a long way in helping our home run smoothly. I find it amusing that my older girls have their own “me time” planning too, making out their own lists while I am doing mine!

Afternoon Rest Time:

This is where my introvert personality shows the most. By 2:00, I begin to feel that pressure that I need some quiet. After several hours of home schooling, cleaning, cooking, laundering, and redirecting, I am ready to just sit and clear my thoughts for a few minutes! My children have been trained that for an hour each afternoon we have quiet time. I often use this time to pray, read an inspirational book, and sometimes even take a power nap. It is amazing how refreshed I feel after this simple hour. And the pay off is huge. Once I started doing it, my husband noticed a big difference in the atmosphere of our home when he came home after a long day at work. I was refreshed and so were the children, and we were ready to greet him with lots of hugs and big smiles. This has been by far one of the best “me time” things I have ever done!

So there you have it, three simple ways that I have “me time” in our day. I don’t get away from my home, my children, and my duties but I use this time to empower and encourage my spirit in my roles. By taking this time each day (for the most part, some days I don’t get to do all of them, but I try to make it a priority) I find that I am better able to perform my duties and glorify the Lord in my everyday walk.

Maybe you like all three, maybe just one, or maybe you have desired a different method to have some “me time”. It doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Before doing any of these things, I asked myself:

What’s my motive?

Is this helping me reach my goal to be a Godly wife, mother and homemaker, or is it hindering it?

Is this blessing my family?

Am I honoring God with this time, or pleasing the flesh?

Then my husband and I discussed them, we prayed, and then gave it a trial period. (Of course time in God’s Word is a no brainer, but how to implement was more of our focus than “Should I do it?”)  We tweaked a few things, tried a few different things and finally came up with what works for us.

I encourage each mom to especially take time each day to be in the Word of God. If you do nothing else “for yourself”, you should really make it a priority to pray and study the Bible. Make it a priority, and you will find that God will open up a way for you to meet with Him

I hope that this shows you there is a way to take time to refresh your spirit without buying into the world’s philosophy that you have to “get away from your family because you deserve it”. Sometimes just purposing to have a little down time each day that keeps you focused on God will leave you feeling refreshed enough that you won’t ever again think that you need a break!