I Need Alone Time

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The days are full, the list are long, and the responsibilities of being a mom can be daunting.

I remember the day so vividly….My husband was out of town for the week, I had several big deadlines at work and my parents were coming in town for the weekend. I had just dropped one kid off at school and had the one in the back seat. I thought to myself, “I don’t remember the last time I was alone with no responsibilities.” I teared up in the car just thinking about the pressure of being responsible for so much.

Just out of curiosity I googled around, as any resourceful mom would, and found the following statistics about moms and alone time. Here are a few highlights:

  • The average working mothers puts in 98 hours each week
  • If you were to pay a stay-at-home mom, she’d make nearly $115,000 due to the amount of overtime she puts in each week
  • Most women get approximately an hour and seven minutes to themselves on a weekly basis. All the rest of the time is spent doing things for others.

All of these not so fun facts left me feeling a little disheartened. I need time in the week where I have zero responsibilities. Time where my phone doesn’t buzz asking me if someone still needs a bath, or an email needing something urgent that wouldn’t have been urgent two days ago, or a phone call from a parent asking me to explain medical terminology that I have to google to understand myself. (I do lots of googling in case you hadn’t picked up on that!)

So, for more than just an hour a week, I’m walking away from it all. I’m leaving my kids, and my phone, and my responsibilities behind. I have a very capable husband, excellent babysitters, and schools that are responsible for my children when I am not there. I don’t know what I’m going to do during this glorious time, but I’ve got to find some time in my life to think, to recharge, and just to sit down in one place without any interruptions. I’m committing to myself that it’s okay to take a break and not feel guilty about it. My guess is I’m going to come out on the other side of this a better, happier person for myself and my family.

I Need Alone Time

What creative ways do you get this kind of time for yourself, and what you do with the time alone? I’m in need of some ideas as I jump into this new venture just for me!

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Erica Rabhan
A South Carolina native, Erica is originally from the Upstate and has moved back to Charleston with her family after a 10 year, traffic-filled hiatus in Atlanta, GA. Having lived in only two states she likes to explore different cultures through travel and food.  Of all the hats Erica wears her most important roles are as a wife, mother, daughter and fundraiser for her alma mater, College of Charleston. She has been married to her college sweetheart for 13 years and together they have to kiddos that keep them on their toes.  She prides herself on being honest about motherhood and enjoys learning from other moms who tell it like it is. When life offers a little down time Erica enjoys wave jumping at the beach, unapologetically watching bad TV and organizing and re-organizing everything from the dishwasher to the sock drawers to help calm her inner OCD.