Well hello, I am new to this site. I am a single mom to my one year old daughter. She is absolutely amazing, but as many of you know it is really stressful being a single mother, never having time to yourself. So my question, what do some of you do even with the little one around to catch some peace, a little relaxation?
Welcome to the group. Take naps when she does. Take advantage of the time she plays alone to kind of meditate, while keeping one eye on her of course. It takes a lot of practice and patience to relax with a 1 year old, but it can be done.
I read, walk, paint pottery to relieve stress or make a call to my "friend" for adult fun.
I would firstly suggest not ever forgetting what you like to do. For me, crafting is an easy stress reliever and it can be fun with a little one! You can get some crayons and a piece of paper or some foam sheets and stamps and cut her out some shapes to play with in the bath. I would have my daughter sittin there with me while I was doing crochet or my own sewing project. She would be coloring or "painting". The new things they have come out with these days are amazing. The markers that only color on the certain paper and nowhere else are good for little ones. They are non-toxic too, so if she sticks it in her mouth for a minute it won't hurt her :) Just remember that you need to have fun sometimes too.
My daughter is going to be 6 years old in 7 days but I remember the horrors of infancy like it was yesterday my dd was very needy and clingy so I literally carried her the entire 1st year of her life I had her in a bjorn around the house so I could have my hands free to do dishes and laundry. Showers were almost nonexistent and I couldn't afford a babysitter so I had to get resourceful I found out that I qualified for a sponsored membership at my local YMCA which means my initial dep was only $40 and I paid $20 per month so I borrowed the money from my parents and everyday took her to the daycare there just so I could shower they offer 1hour free and then $1 for every half hour after that I never even worked out then one day after doing this for about 5-6 months I was thinking what the heck Im here anyway and I do need a break from her so I went upstairs and worked out and man I loved it! Great stress reliever I felt healthier I looked better and best of all I was a more patient mommy
I just wanted to add its ok to need a break from your kid and its healthy to get regular breaks my child was always challenging very high energy so finding child care for her is always hard and my parents are getting older and cant really handle her plus my dad has OCD and goes nuts if she touches his stuff and its just not realistic to expect a child to sit like a little soldier with her hands in her lap so I dont usually ask them to watch her but I have found little ways to steal a few minutes to myself here and there cause if i didnt I would go insane frankly i do not know how sahm 's do it i love my little girl but I also need a separate identity outside from just being her mom and it provides a good example to her that its ok to meet your own needs to be independent and like I said above when I get back to being LogansMommy (which of course i never stop being but when I am in her presence) I am way more patient and way more appreciative of her company cause I start to miss her when I am away from her for too long
Welcome to the group! It's great to meet you. :) Take advantage of her naps or bedtime to do something for yourself. While she's engrossed in playing with toys, pick up a book and read - it's good to let them see you taking time to do things like that, too. :)
Welcome to the group. You have many ideas to choose from and they are great. I'd just like to add that you can find good ways to separate yourself from your child just so YOU have special time, too. I did a lot of what everyone suggested when my DD was one year old.
Scared to get out of my comfort zone
- Denisebrad1990
on Jun. 19, 2012 at 2:36 PM