Time

There is only so many hours in the day, and I am sure I don't have to tell if you are a mama you are always busy.  I have only recently starting writing this blog and reading others. I never thought I would have the time to write and read blogs but I do.  It is easy to make the time to the things that we really want to or enjoy doing, most of the time.

Reading blogs is like a little window into the lives of others.  It could make you feel that there are so many things that you could or should be doing, and make you feel that you do not use your time constructively.  How do people manage to do all the stuff they are writing about, write about it and look after their house and children.  Rather than making me feel inadequate it has been food for thought.  I have, as result, decided to try to use my time more wisely.

I have recently returned to reading something that I have always loved, inspired by a regular gathering of blogs on a Wednesday over here.  I had been reading the weekly posts and thinking every week, I would love to join in but I am hardly reading these days.  Hardly a good reason.  So now I have taken it back up again, it takes a while to read a book but I am enjoying it.  If I find that I have a spare few minutes, I pick up the current book and read a few pages.  My youngest woke me early the other day and I could not get back to sleep, so I headed downstairs, made a cup of tea and sat on the sofa in the peace and quiet and read for a whole hour.  There were loads of other things that I could have been doing, but it was great and I felt raring to go for the rest of the day, instead of feeling really tired.

I have also managed to spend more time in the garden, competed a few knitting projects and sewn a few things.  If I go to friends houses now I always take something to do with me, usually knitting as it is easy to pick up and put down and talk at the same time.

I would say it has has been about thinking differently.  If I have a small amount of time, I may spend it doing ten minutes weeding.  If I was to do this every day it feels like a smaller task than doing it for two hours a month.  If I want to read a book I can no longer expect to be able to read it in a couple of sittings, but there is time to read, a page here, page there.  It may take more time, but hey I am reading a book and getting to the end, albeit slowly.

Of course there still needs to be time in the day to spend on all the other stuff such as doing things with the children, cooking shopping and occassionally housework but it feels good to be able to include some of the other stuff to.