Tonight I lost my patience. Yep. I completely lost it. Bedtime came and went and my two little ones were no where near being sleepy. They drug bedtime routines on and on and on. I was exhausted. It had been one of "those" days. A day without any sort of break from very young children (both at work and home) and I had no more patience left in me. My daughter asked me to lay down with her for just "one more minute" (even though I had already been there for many, many more minutes) and I lost it. I began the speech of why mommy wasn't going to lay there for "one more minute" and then I walked out leaving a teary 3 year old in her bed to sniffle and tearily fall asleep. And then the guilt set in. You know the kind, mom guilt. I shouldn't have been so hard on her. I should have just taken the extra minutes of laying with her. They are only little for such a short while. The whole guilt speech was going through my head.

I took a few moments to re-group. Got a shower. Had a very small glass of wine. And pondered how I got to this point. Bingo! My entire day, every day,  for the past week has been about other people.  I have been the care giver, teacher, maid, laundry service, cook, and full time Quickel household CEO day in and day out for weeks with no break. Everything I've done over the past few weeks has been to meet a goal or need. There has been no down time. No time to "stop and smell the roses."

Rarely do I ever partake in activities that are meaningless or relaxing. I almost always am working towards completing a project, knocking something off a to-do list, or meeting a goal. My brain and my body just keep going. And today, at that awful moment during bedtime, I realized something had to change.

I need some "me" time. Am I as good to any one else I come into contact with if I am running on empty? The answer is a clear, No. I need some time in my week to re-group. I need some time to meditate on the positives in my life and on the blessings God has given me. I need time to reflect on my wants, my desires, my goals, and my priorities. And most of all, I need some time to reflect on God's plan for me.

Starting this week I am going to pencil in the time to do those things. Each week I am going to find 2 hours of time where I can set apart some time to reflect on these things and also relax a bit. (Do I dare?) Perhaps there will be some shopping trips? Books read? A walk taken? I don't know yet what it will look like and I am sure it will be different every week. I'll miss spending that time with my family. But this is needed. I can't be the best wife, mommy, and friend without spending a little time apart from those responsibilities to re-group each week.

What about you? Have you taken time for you lately? How do you work this into the "schedule" and what does it look like? Please leave me a comment on Dearly Domestic's Facebook page. I would love to know!