What do you do with your evenings? I’ve come to realise that what we do each evening really shapes who we are, as people (in my case, quite literally). As mums, we only have a certain amount of down time, once they’re in bed, so what we do in those precious few hours each day is important.
Some people plough through box sets of DVDs, feet up on the sofa, properly switched off from their day at work or wrestling with a young child who doesn’t want to sit/stand/walk/eat/sleep/listen. Those people are probably very chilled and un-stressed.
Some people go to the gym or a Zumba class. They re-energise themselves and let off steam built up over the day as they pound the treadmill or shake their booty (I’ve only ever been to one Zumba class and there was a lot of booty shaking going on.) Those people are probably healthy, slim and happy from all the endorphins they’re releasing.
Some people light a candle and curl up with a book – perhaps with the radio on the background (Radio 4, I’m guessing). These people probably have real balance in their life – they’re truly switching off from the world and having some me-time.
Me? Well, I’ve realised that what I tend to do is work. Not in a ‘oh God, look at me, I’ve got to work late and I’m going to tell everyone on Twitter that I’m working late so that I can get some sympathy’ way. But in a ‘working on my own projects that make me happy’ way. I’ve got this blog, for example. I recently created a website for a volunteer walking group my mum is part of. And for the last few months, I’ve been working on a new project – one that I’m really excited to tell you about today, and will do in just a moment.
But what I’ve also realised is that my choice in working most evenings (I say most, because there are at least one or two nights a week that I’m out drinking wine with a friend or two) means that I’m not chilled. I’m not slim and healthy. I’m not switched off from the world. I’m a bit stressed, I’m overweight and I’m constantly ‘on’ which is not good for anyone, is it?
Thankfully, it’s all worth it when I get to reveal stuff I’ve been working on. Please pop across to The Motherhood – a new blog for mums. A team of seven of us have been quietly pouring hours of work into The Motherhood blog since July. It’s taken us this long to launch the blog because we’re all mums with lives that are fit-to-burst already. But somehow, the seven of us have squeezed more time out of our weeks to create this new brilliant blog. And it is brilliant. I feel comfortable saying that, because the women I’m working with are super talented. So go, take a look, follow The Motherhood on Twitter and Facebook, and tell me what you think.
Yay you & all your fellow bloggers on ‘The Motherhood’! Love it, worth all that time & energy. Good luck xx