Sneaking in Me Time—Literally

In an effort to take some time for myself, I’ve made a concerted effort to get to the gym during the days. I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve been a little lazy when it comes to gym time. It takes so much effort to get the two kids out of the house that I’ve stayed home on too many occasions to just watch Sesame Street instead of sweat. And I hate to call it “being lazy” because taking care of kids all day is work, as is being up with them at night.

But in light of my goal of keeping myself from going stir-crazy this winter, I started taking advantage of gym daycare even more. And of course, the moment I opened my big mouth about how awesome the gym daycare was going, I jinxed myself. Even with the successes, I still get called back to the daycare center often—the kids now just take turns. My daughter is no longer kicking and screaming when I leave, but she gets upset every few times and they have to call me back. Or my son will wake up from his car nap, realize he’s in a strange place and be inconsolable. I had three days in a row recently when I only got about 10 minutes into a workout before having to call it quits.

But, hey, at least if I get to the gym for a 10-minute workout, I’m still getting that 10-minute workout—and 10 minutes to myself. One day the little guy was the reason I was called back. My daughter was playing happily and didn’t even see me show up to get her brother. I held my breath while I sneaked out of the room with him. I quickly fed him and then took another 10 minutes to check emails and write on my phone. Hey, if I’m going to get any balance in my life during these crazy-baby days, I have to start getting creative!

Have you ever done any thing sneaky in order to get a few minutes to yourself? —Erin