Mama, Take The Little Moments For Yourself

I had a revelation recently – I like getting up early and doing the dishes after dinner.  

Stick with me for a minute, I’m going somewhere with this. 

I get up early with the baby, I feed her, and then she sits on the floor and plays. In the morning, when she’s fed and happy, she’s pretty quiet and self-sufficient for a little bit.

During this time, the rest of the house is quiet. My son’s not begging for food and there’s no loud toy fire trucks all over the floor. During this time, I can drink my coffee without reheating it five times. I can do my devotional or Bible study uninterrupted. I can turn on the TV and watch a little Gilmore Girls or Fixer Upper before it becomes PJ Masks and Paw Patrol.

It’s my time before the chaos.

And then there’s the dishes. Well that’s a weird one, I know, but it’s my time at the end of the day. After dinner is over with, my husband will take the kids and entertain them while I do dishes and clean up. Sure it’s still loud sometimes and it’s not like I’m reading or watching T.V. and most nights, it’s not more than 10 minutes, but it’s still my time. My time to think and decompress. My time to not have to have eyes on the kids to make sure he didn’t push her over and she didn’t chew on a cord or something. 

My little moments of the day.

Don’t get me wrong, my husband offers to get up with the baby so I can sleep in. And he asks me if he can do the dishes (and sometimes he does because I do get sick of them too) but I don’t let him most days. He thinks I’m weird but it’s the little moments that can change your whole day.

Today, I didn’t get my alone time. My son was up at the crack of dawn, wanting to play with his new toys from his birthday.

I struggled to get my Bible time in as the noise of fire trucks filled the living room.

My coffee was reheated three times and I didn’t even get my second cup until after 11 a.m.

I didn’t get to watch a little T.V. to help me ease into my day. I just got the immediate, “Mom, I’m hungry!”, yelled at me.

I was cranky the whole morning (and if I’m honest, the whole day). I felt cheated out of my time.

If I don’t get a little me time in, it sets the tone for the whole day. If I don’t have a few minutes to think and a few moments to myself, I’m not taking care of myself.

So this morning, the baby woke at 5:30 a.m. and fell back to sleep right away but I didn’t go back to bed. I read my Bible, I wrote a little (including this), and I watched a little T.V. while curled up under a blanket and the whole house was still dark. I’m not sure if the rest of the day will be perfect but I’m smiling as I write this.

Mama, take the little, quiet moments you can get. Whether big or small, do the little things just for you.