| Finding time to accomplish something for myself | Motherhood |
Do you ever just get a hankering to do something you used to do when you were younger? This urge or fixation if you will to play a game, or draw, or even listen to a song you used to love..?
For me lately, I’ve been really wanting to play The Sims like I used too when I was young.
My Step-dad used to get paid every Thursday and he would always buy my brother and I a little gift before he came home from work. I'll never forget the day he came home with The Sims for me! I Think that was the most excited i'd ever been in my life.. I would sit there for days on end designing my characters facial features and the clothes they would wear. But then the really exciting part for me was designing the house! I would lose all interest in actually playing the game, for me it was all about the design factor. Strategically placing everything the way I imagined my future home to be one day. Perhaps this is what led me to work in the building industry.
I started to pursue a career in Drafting and Architecture but somehow I ended up in Estimating which was a total surprise to me because I completely failed mathematics at school.
I thrived working in a male dominated industry. I’m not sure if it was because I always did get along better with male company or if I just got some kick out of telling all the men on site exactly how it’s going to be! I absolutely loved when a bloke on the phone would ask to speak to an Estimator and they got handed me. Somehow, a lot of men still believe the construction industry to be a males fore-tay and not a place where women belong but I certainly reeled in the fact that they had to take advice from a woman. Insert smug face here
Anyway back on topic, I often feel this need deep in my bones when I want to do something, I just have to do it. I think I was reminded of this personality trait by my husband who also absolutely must do whatever pops into his head at the time. He can’t wait for anyone or anything- the thing must be done. Unfortunately for me, being a mother means I won’t have time to play The Sims probably for another 5 years when my kids are at school and by then I probably won’t have the urge anymore. I would love to buy an original Super Nintendo and play all the old games one day too! But I bet they will be as rare as hens teeth when I get the chance to do that.
I can however take the small wins for things I want to do for myself here and there.
Just the other day; I had the urge to grab all my little plants around the house that have failed to thrive lately and re-pot them into bigger pots with fresh soil. They have been sitting neglected for a really long time. At least a year or more I would say!
I was not letting anything stop me from getting it done. I knew I had to work against the clock to do it too because I was alone with my 6 month old and his nap count-down was 1 hour away.
So I got to work and started taking the plants out of their pots and massaging all the old dirt from their roots. I was right in assuming they were root-bound and had no room to grow anymore! But I quickly realised I didn’t have any new soil laying around and I didn’t have enough within the pots to evenly disperse them so I had to stop work there.
I ran out to the shed to check if there were any bags of soil that had been forgotten about in there but, no Bueno.
I swiftly called my husband since he often stops at Bunnings to see if he was already going there and could pick me up a bag of soil, and if not I was prepared to jump in the car with baby in tow and get one myself because it was a matter of life or death for the plants whom I had just uprooted.
He of course agrees to grab me the bag of soil on his way home and I was spared the trip myself.
I was able to complete my little project that afternoon while he looked after the baby and the toddler who was now home from pre-school.
So with dirt under all my nails, I was sat on the grass in the backyard happily re-potting my little green babies in one hand and grasping a light beer in the other and absolutely beaming with the feeling of accomplishment while my husband and brother in law watched the baby happily bouncing in his jolly jumper on the grass and my daughter gleefully prancing around the yard.
What a beautiful afternoon it was to do something for myself with the ones I love all around me. To feel the afternoon sunshine on my face and see the smiles on my children’s faces, all while doing something that has been needing attention for so long.
I guess that hankering feeling is my body’s way of telling me I need a break from the mundane. That I need to do something that I enjoy. To fill my own cup so to speak.
Like my plants, it has been a long time that I’ve been neglecting myself. I’m always doing something for someone else and there’s never any time for me. We often hear that too, when it comes to motherhood how important it is to fill your own cup but it is damn near impossible sometimes.
I don’t even know how I find time to write these blogs, honestly. Most of them are just pre-thought out in my head and when I get a spare 20 minutes I write it all down and then spend 5 minutes here and there editing them throughout the week before I publish them.
And I use the term “spare” lightly as there’s never any “spare” time- its always in lieu of something else I should be doing, like cooking, cleaning, eating or playing with my daughter while the baby is napping.
Anyway, I want you to take this entry as a reminder to do something for yourself today. Take time out of your busy schedule to draw a picture, or paint some artwork. Play the playstation or re-pot some plants! Whatever you have a hankering for- Fill your own cups.
You will feel so good!
Love, Trina x