5 Ways to Find More "Me Time" to Read within Motherhood

5 Ways to Find More "Me Time" to Read within Motherhood?
Yes, please; sign me up!

When I was a new mom any down time I might have had to call my own was spent watching mind-numbing television. Why? I was tired ya'll! Infants don't sleep through the night, little one's wake-up and need a diaper change, a midnight feed, another hug, etc. There's bed-wetting and illness and any number of reasons why we as moms are sleep-deprived beyond measure. My mind wouldn't have been able to comprehend a book. Television shows, with music, or some sort of "reality" I didn't need to pay close attention to was about all my brain cells could take as I went between my babies every day, and every night, insuring their needs were met. 

Then, my kids, they got older; and, as they aged I read to them. Every day, multiple times, with our favorite being over mealtimes. Amelia Bedelia to Usborne Illustrated books, to variations of Bibles for kids to Sophie Mouse, to the Bug Brother Series. Classics to new releases. We read. 

However, it wasn't until the Fall of 2018 that I began to find time to read again just for me. When my energy had returned and almost every night the kids stayed sleeping the whole night through which means I was able to too! Kids that if they had to get a drink, or go to the bathroom, were no longer scared of the silence or the darkened halls but capable of taking care of themselves! Amazing! (It only took a decade).

The magic took place in my home when my youngest was 6.5 and my oldest 10.5 with a 7.5 and 9.5 stuck in the middle to boot. 


No longer sleep deprived here's how I squeeze in reading for me throughout the day 7 days a week: 

1.) A healthy, helpful, habit. The easiest reading I do is when the kids are in bed. I read myself to sleep every. single. night.  I might only get 1 chapter read, or have to shut it down mid-way through a chapter instead; but, a chapter read is a chapter ahead. I'll take it!


2.) Rewards! I reward myself. I set a goal. If I get the dishwasher loaded and running, a load of laundry too; or, I fold a stack of laundry and get it put away, I receive the gift of time for myself to read a chapter (or two) of a good book. 

3.) Technology Free. Sundays are technology free days in my home. No television, no computer, no tablets, no Nintendo Switch. It's board games, playing with toys, and reading. The kids may be extra-noisy, playing "Marco Polo" as they run around in circles on our main floor; but, my bedroom upstairs is an oasis. A peaceful place for me to close the door and read. I can still hear what's going on but the kids, and their noise, are muted. My version of a Sunday miracle? I can read for an hour straight undisturbed!

4.) Goals! As a home-schooling mom, with kids at various ages and stages and grade levels, I've gotten to the point where I home-school each one individually. To help me see the day through, it's just like doing the dishes or laundry - goals! In between kids I get 15 to 20 minutes of "me" time to read or write, have a warm cup of cappuccino, or make a brief phone call. (Although, I mean brief! There's something about the phone that still brings the kids running my way just like a dinner bell and a cattle stampede.)

5.) Freedom within Perimeters. If you're not a home-schooling mama then what about the lunch hour at work, or the pick-up lanes at school, or an few extra minutes before you shower and dress to greet a new day?

When you're no longer sleep deprived, and your brain is fully functioning again, reading becomes a choice of how to fill the little pockets of time we all are able to find here and there. 

Reading is nourishment for the soul. We learn, we grow, we travel; the world becomes bigger - Just like those PSA's from long ago... The more you know.

1 Response

Leave a comment

Name *

Email *

Comment *