The Elusive Downtime
It's only Tuesday and I am beat, worn down, tired. On most nights, it's after 9 pm when I can slip away from the kids in their room reading or sleeping. But by then, I barely have enough energy to do more than hop on the computer to peek at my email or Facebook and then it's off to bed for me. Many chores are left undone; the piles of laundry, toilets needing a good scrub, and rugs that could use vacuuming. I could go on and on. I used to be a night owl and treasured the few hours after the kids were in bed to get a couple of more chores done, do more work, or unwind with a glass of wine. I traded the couple of late night hours for an early morning workout. And when I mean early, I mean that my alarm goes off at 5 am. While it's become routine and I don't think I can sacrifice it, I do struggle with not having much downtime in the evenings. Do you have downtime during the week? How do you spend it?
As far as down time at night during the week...no not usually. If I do stay up later I am dragging the next day. I usually don't stay up past 10:00pm. In fact a lot of times I fall asleep while reading my daughter a story ( so I go to bed when she does). I am thinking part of this is because it's winter. During the summer I stay up later and seem to have endless energy....lack of sunlight? I don't know, but I am in hibernation mode too!!
Posted by: Sheila | February 06, 2013 at 07:01 AM
I noticed that I get my deepest rest in the early morning hours and that I need to take advantage of my well of energy (sometimes it's deeper than other times!) in the evening hours after kiddos go to bed. This is especially the case for me while pregnant, which I am right now. If I wake too early, I am a complete wreck that day. If I can sleep until 7 - feeling good! Because I am only 6 weeks from my due date, my present downtown is spent checking off my last minute to-do's of things I want to get done before baby arrives (taxes, organizing our throw-stuff-into-and-forget-about-it-room… err, guest room, getting the pantry/freezer stocked/organized). I guess the one upside of subsequent babies arriving is that you know you need less for them in the first months and you already have most of it in storage usually, so getting ready for baby in that regard was checked off early on.
One thing I did to save my sanity this time around was to hire a cleaner to come once a month to just clean my floors. It's been almost painful to accomplish on a regular basis this pregnancy, but with the floors clean, it means I can concentrate on the rest of the house and I'm feeling pretty good about the overall tidiness and organization (minus the above mentioned guest room).
Of course, when I get downtime after the baby comes and my early morning sleep desires will go all out the window here soon, so I'm sure I'll have to re-evaluate when that time comes and try hard to re-establish when I can take advantage of downtime versus much needed sleep time!
Posted by: jena | February 06, 2013 at 10:03 AM
I am adamant about my down time and would go crazy without it. I typically put my daughter down to bed by 7:30 and have a housekeeper to take care of the weekly cleaning. I have approximately three hours per night to do anything I want, like go to the gym, read books, watch TV, and just spend quiet time with my husband. We are adding another baby to the mix, so that will change things for awhile. With any luck, the new baby will also be a great sleeper and we can get back on track quickly.
Posted by: Angela | February 06, 2013 at 12:44 PM
I find that if I don't get sleep, then I get every single bug that the kids bring home, and spend the whole winter with a cold. So, right now, I am letting the housework go just a tiny bit so I can get a little extra sleep.
My son has a health condition that requires no processed foods, so I do need to do scratch cooking every night to prepare for the next day. I try to get everything done by 9pm, so I can have an hour to wind down before bed. My wind down at that point, since I am so exhausted, usually consists of channel flipping from one terrible sitcom to another terrible crime drama.
I have tried to contemplate making room in the family budget for a housecleaner. But I think it would come down to either saving a little for retirement and college or having someone clean for me. So, I remain the family housecleaner.
Posted by: SJ | February 06, 2013 at 01:58 PM
I get little downtime (at least alone time) due to being a cosleeping, working mom. My down time when the kids are awake includes zoning out in front of the tv or reading while simultaneously feeling guilty about not being fully 'present' as a mom when I am home. I also wake up super early I guess to counteract the lack of alone time during most of my day.
This sounds ridiculous as I type it, but I have a strong awareness of the fact that time is short and I want to make each moment count, but I am also not feeling very rejuvenated a lot of the time!
Posted by: Amanda | February 06, 2013 at 07:36 PM
There is no downtime. I volunteer like crazy this year at school (switching to volunteering a church next year= not so crazy!). Husband has two jobs so I feel lucky if we have time to talk about our life, our children's school/life or get out and have free fun together. I might be able to sneak some time on the weekend, if I get all my chores done during the week- fingers always crossed on that one. Media of any sort makes it harder for me to fall asleep, reading is my first choice if I find myself awake after night chores are done. Sometime this will change, training kids to do more. Always looking for ways to have helpful grandparent/family visit!
Posted by: carie | February 07, 2013 at 05:01 PM