“Take the days off that you need to be in the best mental shape.” ~ Joshua Kissi

Days off are a necessity. Whether it’s a weekend away, a week’s vacation, an hour without kids – – it’s all necessary for mental health.

While I love my kids to the moon and back, I was a person before I was a mother.

I love my job and count it a joy to be able to provide care, but I was a person before I was a nurse.

I clearly remember a homeschool conference many years ago. The particular speaker for this session was a veteran homeschool mom. Her admonition was for the mother’s who were spending the majority of their time teaching, planning, looking at curriculum, and caring for the home. She encouraged these mother’s to partner with other mother’s and create a childcare co-op, taking turns watching each other’s children. The goal was not to give one mom time to clean without children present, it was intended to provide time for her to keep up with her own personal interests. The one thing that stuck with me the most: “You were a person before you were a wife and mother. If you do not pursue your own personal interests until your children are grown, you will find that you are a very boring person.”

As many young mother’s find, the guilt associated with leaving your children with a sitter or a grandparent or even a Mother’s Day Out program to go do something personal for yourself is overwhelming. To go shopping, or get a cup of coffee, or see a movie or have lunch with a friend feels selfish.

My children are older, certainly old enough to stay by themselves.

I still need time away. In a few years, they’ll be old enough to be out on their own and I’ll have all the days off I need. In nursing, the normal schedule for hospital nurses is 3 days on, 4 days off in a 7-day period. So it isn’t as though I don’t have days off from that job.

Just time away to sleep. Read. Blog. Research. Walk. Run. Shop. Eat. Drink. Relax.