And They Wonder Why We Don't Go Out Anymore

A day in the life of a working mother: 6:00 am wake up and work-out 7:00 get kids up and eating breakfast 7:15 take a shower 7:30 leave house to drop kids off 8:00-5:00 work 5:30 pick kids up 6:00 prepare dinner 6:30 sit down with kids for dinner 7:00 give kids baths 8:00 homework time 9:00 put kids to bed, now check email, read mail, write checks out, etc,. 10:00 clean up the mess that the kids made 11:00 pass out on the couch 1:00 wake up sweep and hop in the bed. 6:00 wake up and do all over again Now this is the basic day in the life of a mom. Now throw into the equation that a lot of us are in school at night or online. Some have side businesses that require us to be up mixing, making or sewing something. Then we are involved in ministries at church which require time during the week nights, The men in our lives need attention. Somewhere in there we are expected to loofah, scrub, paint, and shave ourselves. When the weekends come, our childless friends come by and ask us if we want to go out. They notice the enormous pile of laundry and the faint smells coming from the trash that hasn't been emptied in the trash. They see our hair looking a mess. And they wonder why we don't go out anymore.

Tell me about it!, but you know, somewhere in between all the productive chaos in our lives as single or married working mothers, we must give back at least 10% to ourselves no matter what. Whats 10% of 24 hours? We must use this time to refill our tanks or our human motors will get sick or even worse, die. I am a work at home mother, and what I do is instead of eating lunch on my hour lunch break, I curl up and read a good fiction book, inspiring magazine, or take a spa bath while treating myself to a manicure or peducure. To combat hunger, I eat a good breakfast and a light snack before lunch time. I find that this really helps alot. When I clean house I incorporate my children into this equation. Yes "Delegate Sista" and kill the perfectionism when it comes to cleanliness in our homes unless you can afford a housekeeper. So when it comes to giving back to myself so that I can continue to be a good mother to my children and a responsive girlfriend to my significant other, Would I have time for this if I didn't make time. NO!. Bottom Line. We must make room for tithing in every area of our lives. Don't you agree?

Replies

Chandra November 14, 2008 at 3:08am

Oh, I can truly relate to this. I am a middle school teacher, a mommy to a 2 and 3 y.o., married to a football coach (the regular season ended last Thursday and off-season started this week), i have my own business, in school, and both girls go to the doctor once a week EACH and many times not on the same day or the same doctor! We are also trying to complete a 4 week new member orientation at church that we have been members of for a year! My husband and I were supposed to have 2 dates a month, but the last one was in ... uh... well, it was cold and we had to wear coats. Whenever, First Sunday came out. That was the last date we had.
Jamie Brown April 3, 2008 at 6:52pm

Yes, I totally agree with you. I work an 8-5 job myself and I have to get up 2hrs early to finish cleaning up and prepare breakfast and getting him and me ready. Is hard work, by the weekend your boyfreind wants to go out but you be soo tired or, you have to clean the house, or go grocery shopping.
steelblacknolia October 10, 2007 at 6:17pm

Tell me about it!, but you know, somewhere in between all the productive chaos in our lives as single or married working mothers, we must give back at least 10% to ourselves no matter what. Whats 10% of 24 hours? We must use this time to refill our tanks or our human motors will get sick or even worse, die. I am a work at home mother, and what I do is instead of eating lunch on my hour lunch break, I curl up and read a good fiction book, inspiring magazine, or take a spa bath while treating myself to a manicure or peducure. To combat hunger, I eat a good breakfast and a light snack before lunch time. I find that this really helps alot. When I clean house I incorporate my children into this equation. Yes "Delegate Sista" and kill the perfectionism when it comes to cleanliness in our homes unless you can afford a housekeeper. So when it comes to giving back to myself so that I can continue to be a good mother to my children and a responsive girlfriend to my significant other, Would I have time for this if I didn't make time. NO!. Bottom Line. We must make room for tithing in every area of our lives. Don't you agree?
- Jamie Brown > steelblacknolia April 3, 2008 at 6:56pm
  
  Well its hard to beleive me and my boyfreind are just now doing things together. Our son has just turned 4yrs of age. And I said we got to do something, so we went to McDonlds for breakfast and took our son and on my lunch break from work we meet somewhere for lunch. And that is our time to ourselves. We are both busy people and its hard to find time for yourself, your mate, and time for your child is the most important. And God has a major part as well.
- Janovia > steelblacknolia October 10, 2007 at 6:44pm
  
  I do agree that we need to take time for ourselves. It's unfortunate though that many of us feel guilty when we take time for ourselves and often end up doing things that need to be done. For single mom's like me, when we don't get things done, the chaos multiplies exponentially. You see that picture. That is how I have to do mosth things. There is almost always one child on my lap or somewhere attached to me.
  - Joi Hall > Janovia October 10, 2007 at 10:11pm
    
    I had to laugh at the picture and your comment about it............................So true! But yes, we do need to take time out for ourselves. Ya know I ran across AOL TV the other day, you can watch all the good 70's, 80's, and 90's black sitcoms. Me and "What's Happening" have re-united! and I try to watch an a few episodes a week just to be able to let go and laugh for 30 min.
Joi Hall October 10, 2007 at 5:44am

I work at home and I homeschool my kids. So I am doing school work, running my business, and on the phone conference calls, cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and homework, and keep the house clean. Then, when my husband comes home, I put all my work on hault, even though I know I still have a thousand emails to send out. I wait for him to fall asleep around 10:30 - 11:00pm, finish my work around 1am, go to sleep and then awaken again at 6:30 am by two kids telling me its time to fix breakfast all over again. Oh Yeah, I forgot, my son has homework every night as well.
- Janovia > Joi Hall October 10, 2007 at 4:50pm
  
  What kind of work do you do from home? How is homeschooling?
  - Joi Hall > Janovia October 10, 2007 at 10:08pm
    
    I own a real estate investment Consultant company. I find investment properties for people nationwide and also help sellers sell their properties as well.
    As to homeschooling, I actually like doing it. It's hard with working at the same time, but I love being the one to teach my kids academics. Homeschooling is good because you can get very creative with it, and the children seem to learn a lot more than in a school environment. I started my son in Kindergarten at 4 and he is now in the 1st grade and way above the public school kids. My daughter is 3 and she is doing school work to. I believe kids are smarter than we think. The key is making their learning environment fun. I also get to include them on my daily activities for example, I have my son to write notes on a post it for me (name and number of a contact) and then I'll have my daughter to put it up on my message board. I talk to them about investing and setting goals for themselves.
Shawnta Porter September 25, 2007 at 3:54pm

lol! So true! My friends call me an old lady because I told have the time or interest in the party scene.

Been there done that.

I'm so focused man!

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