Recently POPSUGAR asked
me to check out a new Lifetime show entitled Pretty Wicked Moms, a new reality
television show about a group of wealthy Atlanta moms and how they take on the
challenges of motherhood and parenting. This got me thinking about my parenting
style and how I find time for myself while raising a family.
As a stay at home mother
of two little boys with a third baby on the way it can be difficult to carve
out ME time. My days pretty much revolve around my children and our various
activities. It probably doesn’t help that we are a very active family that
seems to always be on the go either with playgroups, preschool, or planned
visits to family and friends. I also
tend to stick to a schedule when it comes to my children and a lot of the time
fun mommy type activities do not correspond with their schedules.
My family comes first,
and always will. When I decided to
become a mother I knew that I would no longer come first, that my family would
be the number one priority. There are a lot of things that I do not get to do
because I am a mother of little children and I am perfectly okay with this; as
I made the choice to become a mom. My younger days of being able to go out
whenever and wherever I want at the drop of a hat are through, this is my
parenting style and I embrace it. I know other mothers who are much more
flexible and I know other mothers who are much more regimented.
So where does the balance of taking care of one self and raising a family meet. Is
there a balance? As a mom I feel an insane amount of pressure to be the perfect
mom and the perfect wife. While I do cook, clean, and get crafty with my
family; this is not ALL that I am. I am also an individual that likes to
exercise, read, write, and well… the list goes on. Finding the time to indulge
in these activities while being mommy of the house tends to be a bit of a
challenge.
But challenging or not, I am a better mother
for taking the time to take care of myself. How do I do it? As silly as it
sounds I schedule time for myself. If I want to get together with a friend for dinner,
I mark it in my calendar. Before I became pregnant with baby #3 I was signed up
for an exercise class with a friend that met once a week. Having a scheduled
time for ME made all the difference in the world. I actually got to have ME
time! It was something that I could look forward to. If it wasn’t on the
schedule, it usually ended up not happening.
I am also big on giving my spouse ME time as
well. He is a great dad, and even though he is not a stay at home dad – he
needs a break every once in a while too. My husband’s ME time comes in the form
of Fast Pitch church softball and sporting events. He gets out of the house and
gets to do something that he loves.
When it comes to being a mom I recognize that
there is no such thing as perfection and trying to achieve perfection will only
get me frustration. I do what works for my family. I try to stick to a
schedule. I also try not to enter into the competitive mommy groups; you know
the ones I am talking about. I don’t do the whole “I can do it better than you”
thing. I have enough on my plate without
dealing with all of that drama.
I get my drama from my television shows.
While I am not really into reality television, a show about a group of moms and
their various parenting styles sounds like a good dose of drama. Pretty Wicked Moms hands out drama in spades
with the competitive mommy world of the Atlanta upper-class. While I do not agree with some of their choices nor do I have much
in common with their lifestyle, I find how they deal with some of the struggles
of motherhood interesting to say the least.
Tune
in to watch parenting like you've never seen before with the first episode of
Pretty Wicked Moms on Tuesday, June 4, at 10:00 pm ET/PT on Lifetime.
How do
you balance finding time to take care of yourself with raising a family?
FTC DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENT Mom Mart aims to
provide unbiased editorials. However, I wish to disclose that from time to time
I may receive free products or other compensation from companies for blogger reviews.
