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Mom makes time for… Mom

Posted Jan 25, 2010 by Beth Gaddis

Updated Jan 25, 2010 at 10:30 AM

You can have the world’s best husband and kids, but every woman knows that it’s your girlfriends who get you through each day.

A year ago, I was in a bad spot.  My husband was recovering from a heart attack and the disappointment of losing his job of 16 years, I was working full-time plus nursing a six-month-old baby and trying to give my older son the attention he deserved, plus trying to keep up with all the housework and laundry and family birthdays and the millions of other details that go into day-to-day life.  At one point, I saw a counselor because I never felt like I could get my head above water.  I remember her teaching me a one-minute breathing exercise and saying I needed to find a quiet time to practice it twice a day – just one minute each time – and I thought to myself, “I don’t have a spare minute to even breathe.”

Now things have turned around.  My kids are older, my husband is healthy, and I’m getting more than 4 hours of sleep a night.  And I’ve realized how important it is to make time for myself.  I did three things for myself in the past three days that I hadn’t done in months:  I had lunch with two friends who are also working moms and can totally understand what my life is like; I went to my neighborhood group’s “Chick Choice” dinner with 12 women who are fun and funny and shared stories that made my side split; and I got kidnapped for a shopping trip with four of those same girls who gave me their honest opinion about clothes and shoes and made sure I didn’t just buy the same old navy and black tops I always do.  Oh, and we stopped to have a glass of wine and appetizers.

I feel great.  It’s not just that I got more than six hours of sleep.  It’s that my soul feels rejuvenated.

I don’t make new year’s resolutions often, but I’ve made two this year.  One is to reclaim myself and my identity.  I think I forgot all the things that made me “me” last year because I was just trying to get through each day.

The other is to pay it forward.  It’s nice to feel like I’m finally in a spot where I can help my girlfriends who are going through their own troubles, just as they helped me last year. 

Here’s to girlfriends – thank you for reminding me that I’m worth making time for!