
Ask any mother what she wants for her birthday, Mother’s Day, Christmas, whatever and I’m guaranteed the answer would be something like “a good sleep in and some peace and quiet.” Trust me when I say she’s only half joking.
Like most working mums life is crazy busy. I’m not putting down stay at home mums though, cause I’m one of them too. Being a mum, whatever your situation, is hard going. So when my husband presented me with the rare opportunity of some alone time over the weekend, party poppers started going off in my head (Not the annoying string versions some people put in party bags. I mean, who do you think would have to clean that up!)
He’s a good man, my husband, so as he packed up the car with the older two children, he gave clear instructions to “relax”. Sure, I had the baby with me but she was due for a sleep so really, it was looking good.

Everywhere I looked there was jobs that needed to be done. Image: istock
I walked back inside and breathed in the quiet. It was still and I was free to do whatever the hell I wanted (within reason, I mean. There were no strippers on speed dial or anything).
But what exactly did I do for fun these days? I stood in my living room. Staring back at me was a couch load of washing that needed folding. There were toys everywhere. The dog looked longingly at me through the window, sensing that he may get a look in for some attention without the older kids in the house. The kitchen was a bomb and dinner needed making.
Back in the day I played sports, I was crafty. I went shopping with friends and met up for coffees and chats. But as the children started multiplying our available time, money and energy has reduced which meant that things like this fell to the wayside. A lot of the time it's about survival. Of course we enjoy our children, don't get me wrong, but when you're going through one of the hard stages of no sleep, tantrums, finances, work blah blah blah, some days can feel like a survival of the fittest.
But it was quiet for the time being. I looked around. All I could see was things that needed doing and part of me knew that if I didn't use this relaxing time to get them done, it was on me to do it with three children hanging off me.
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