When You Need a Time-Out to Balance It All

A re-publish of one of my Embracing Motherhood posts. Linking up with Kayse today for Balancing Marriage&Mommyhood.

I’ve written about time outs before. The difference between mommy time outs and kid time outs here. How sometimes life hands us a time out that’s not necessarily what was planned.

I’ve learned to embrace a lot about motherhood, time out for myself included.

So why don’t I use it more often? Instead I stretch myself to the breaking point, I build up frustration, and I collapse under pressure.

I know that at the end of the day, no one is going to congratulate me because I finished everything on my to-do list, and no one is standing by with a stopwatch to track how many moments I actually played with my kids.

But at the end of the day if I’ve been cruel with words or short with patience or drained with fatigue, there are four little pairs of eyes and ears who have noticed and who have been hurt and who deserve better.

So if better means that sometimes I take a break from being a mommy to spend some time alone, or with the Lord, or with my friends, or even with their daddy that is being a great mother.

Do you hear me? Take a break. Don’t be a martyr. The laundry will always be around, the puzzles will eventually get put together, and most kids delight in being left with someone else for a bit, especially if that someone else has different toys or books or snacks.

When I chose to embrace the wonder that is motherhood, I also chose to accept that somedays I would need to walk away from crying and diapering and whining.

And He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a lonely place and rest a while.” For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.

~Mark 6:31

Isn’t that a picture of motherhood? Jesus knew. He knew what it was to be pressed in on all sides and to need a moment to breathe. He knew what it was to have no time to even eat.

So put yourself in time-out every now and then. Breathe. Eat. Sleep. Rest.