Figuring It All Out

Every mother out there can relate to this blog post. As a mother I (as I am sure you do too) try to be everything and do everything for Maxim and my family. I want to be there for Maxim for every moment of his life. I don't want to miss out on anything. I want to be there for his first crawl, tooth, step, word, etc. With that said, I also am a career woman and I love what I do...and I also have a wonderful husband. Besides Max, husband and career I also need to somehow find time for me. What's that? Time for myself? Since I have such an amazing husband I could easily find time for myself because I know he would watch Maxim any time, but then I am going to miss out on time with him. This past year I have learned how to be a mother, wife and career woman, but now I am trying to figure out being me. I am trying to do it all while having it all and not jeopardizing one precious minute with my sweet Maxim. That saying "they grow up fast, so cherish all your time with them" is so very true. I can't believe one year has gone by, so I am, and have been, cherishing all my time with Maxim. I do not take it for granted at all. I do not put our time aside so I can go do me time.

With that said, how am I going to find "me" time when there are only so many hours in a day? Pre-Max I loved my me time. I used to shop, workout and catch up on DVR during my me time. This is not important stuff, but it was how I spent my me time and regrouped. How am I going to fit that into a day when I have Max time, husband time and work time? There is just not enough time in a day. I was starting to get defeated and think that I can't do it all and I was going to have to give something up, but then I figured it out. That's what mommies do, they figure it out.

To catch up on DVR I started getting selective on what I was recording and only picked a couple things (instead of everything) and watched them after Maxim went to bed. This is normally when I would clean the house, but I started managing my time a little better so I could squeeze in a good hour of crap TV a couple times a week. I figured out the shopping issue too. I signed up for Stitch Fix. I gave up my me time of shopping by myself for an hour or two and swapped for a personal stylist with Stitch Fix where they send me 5 items a month (will switch to bi-monthly soon) for me to try on and buy what I like. I then send back the items I don't like. So far I have received two boxes and this is a great service for someone like me who has zero time on her hands. Finally, I figured out my me time with exercising. I have always enjoyed exercising and have been doing it regularly since I joined a gym when I was 18, so to give it up would be complete torture. It's what calms me, gives me energy and overall makes me feel really good. In order to fit it in, I now get up at 5am to work out. Yes, that is 5 in the morning before Max wakes and before work. Anybody who knows me, knows that I am NOT a morning person so this change was a big deal for me. I have been doing this for over a month now and it's going great. I actually really like it. The first week was rough, but now I am in a routine and I really like it. I think it's a great way to start my day.

I have learned that with a little compromising and thinking out of the box I am able to be super mom, super wife and career woman. I am able to have it all. It took a good year, a little anxiety and some self doubt, but I figured it out!