Hope everyone had a wonderful christmas and enjoyed your time with family and loved ones. 2014 is just around the corner and I can personally feel it is going to be a fantastic year filled with love, happiness and all things good. Now is a time to reflect on 2013 and think about what you would like to achieve or accomplish in 2014 for your family as well as personally. Sometimes as a parent, you tend to forget about your own personal needs and focus so much on the children and the family but it is so important to focus on yourself, take time out for yourself and spend time with your partner. Just a monthly dinner out without kids is such a treat and I am trying to do that with my hubby – a good way to reconnect and catch up – even though we tend to talk about the kids most of the time, but it is so important to do that and share thoughts and feelings. I recently joined a gym with childcare and I get to sit on the exercise bike for an hour and read in peace.. thats “ME” time too.. just think of ways you as a parent can recharge your batteries – its so important to look after your own health and wellness – as the saying goes – ‘Put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others’ ..and here are some ideas to get you started 🙂

• Schedule Monthly date nights with your Partner – dinner, movies, drinks, theatre..
• Organise a monthly outing / meal with friends while your Partner watches the kids
• Join a Bookclub
• Join a Gym with childcare
• Take a language course with onsite childcare
• Keep a book in the car to read when waiting for kids on school run or picking them up from activities
• Sign up for a class in arts and crafts or a course to further your studies
• Get up a little earlier and do something you enjoy doing for yourself – read a good book, surf the net, do some yoga
• Start blogging
• Make a date with yourself – go shopping, have some lunch, watch a movie, sit in a bookshop and read books
• Treat yourself to a spa treatment or better yet a day spa
• Get your hair done
• Book yourself for one night in a hotel in the country without kids, either alone or with your Partner (get a Proxy Parent for the night)
• Have a nap when your chid naps (if they still nap!)
• Swap babysitting with friends – your friends watch your kids for one afternoon and you watch theirs for another
• Try and get as much sleep as possible (I am also lacking in this department) i.e don’t go to bed at 1am every night.. try get an early night a few nights a week..

Hope some of these ideas have inspired you to take some time for yourself, even if you implement one idea it will do you wonders.

Make it a  New Year’s resolution for 2014!