New Series : Mommy Time Out

Over the past couple weeks I've been realizing the importance of taking care of myself. Being a mom, heck being anybody in this world, isn't a walk in the park! Life is busy, it's stressful, and if your not careful you can easily lose yourself and become bogged down and burnt out.

At a recent counselling appointment we were required to make a list of our priorities, from highest to lowest. As you can see below my priorities differ quite a bit from the "model" list our counsellor suggests we are to live by...

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There's something seriously wrong with this list (well actually a few things...but we're going to take this one thing at a time). The first major issue is not anywhere in my priorities is making time for myself... nowhere... not even on the radar! 

Boom... Mind blown! What? I'm supposed to be priority number two... TWO! How selfish right? NO! 

Here it is people, I'm sure you've heard it before but if not... "you can't take care of others, if you can't take care of yourself" (Mary Mazzer). If your not keeping yourself healthy everything else crumbles... Say hello to a short temper, lack of or no patience, exhaustion, depression, negative attitude, and days full of complaining. Sounds like a lovely person, doesn't it? Say hello to me! 

So this begins my little series, "Mommy Time Out", learning how to value myself and take time out during the day/week so that in the long run I can be a better mom, wife, and person.

The Great Balancing Act

Life has turned into one big balancing act now that we are in Bangkok. It's not necessarily a bad thing it just means we are being challenged as a couple and as individuals to prioritize to keep the important things important, like family time. 

Throughout the week Sevio has his hands full with his internship at the English school as well as keeping up with his third year studies. This typically means from 11am till 8:30pm, Rylee and I are left to fend for ourselves, we have a few precious hours in the morning and about an hour in the evening to spend with Daddy. Needless to say, family time is a priority for us for this season in our lives.

Sunday's (TGIS, Thank God It's Sunday!),  have been an important day for us while overseas. It's Sevio's only full day off, it's our day to rest and reconnect before the next crazy week unfolds. In Chiang Mai we instituted a rule, No Electronics Sunday, this means no computer, no phone (unless for communication purposes), no ipad, no internet... ok ok I think you get the point! There are so many things that distract us and what we invest our time into will be what we see thrive, and I don't know about you but I don't want to be remembered as that person, mom, or wife with their eyes glued to a screen missing/ignoring the precious moments in life. 

There are many things I value, but my family, second to my faith, is top priority. What do you value?

Here's a few shots from our time together on Sunday, after church we went to Chatuchak Park here in BKK to get some "fresh" air (this is also where the latest "bump" pictures were taken). Rylee got to chase birds, one of her favourite things to do. We got to chase her, not necessarily my favourite thing to do. We saw a ginormous turtle poking his head out by the waters edge, we also saw a squirrel/musk rat kind of looking animal. We held hands. We sat in the dirt. We ate leftover pizza. Most importantly, we did family time!