There’s a lot of talk about how important it is for moms to have time away from their kids, time with friends or out by herself in order to be refreshed and not feel burned out.  While it is nice for us to get some time to ourselves, I don’t believe it is essential to our happiness as mothers.

There are moms who are in a time in their lives when they simply can’t get away.  It may be that she has lots of little ones and her husband has to work long hours, or she lives on the mission field far from any other women who speak her language.  There are many reasons that could keep a mom from being able to enjoy time away from home.

Hearing from other women, that in order to keep her joy and sanity as a mom, she needs to have  time away from home can be discouraging.  If you are a mom who isn’t able to meet with other ladies or have time away from home on a regular basis, there are other ways to find solace and rest in the midst of the blessings and demands of motherhood.

1.  Naptime –

This is one of the ways I manage to keep my sanity with so many children. 🙂  I have always had a set time each day when the kids are resting or doing something quiet by themselves.

Quiet time in our house is from 1-3pm.  I can count on a two hour break everyday to regroup and feel refreshed.  There are some days that things don’t go as planned; a toddler who is growing out of their need for a nap doesn’t want to stay in bed, or the baby is fussy, but the majority of days I have two hours to myself.  This time refreshes me and helps me get through the second half of the day.

2.  A Regular Bedtime –

Putting the kids to bed at a regular, decent hour gives you some down time before bed.  Also, having the children in bed allows you and your husband to have time alone together.

Yes, it is a blessing and an encouragement to fellowship with other women.  But, if you are in a season when that is not possible, take heart, there are other ways to gain renewal and refreshment.  There will be a day again in the future when you will be able to have extended times of fellowship with other women, but for now, I encourage you to find ways that help you feel renewed from home.

In the past few months I have gotten away from a strict quiet time in the afternoon and it has slowly become less quiet in our house than it used to be.  So, this week that is one of my goals, to get back to having a very quiet, restful time in the afternoon.

To read why I started setting goals, you can read this post. Here are the rest of my goals for the week.

Last weeks goals:

1. Continue reading through the Bible in a year: in Isaiah now, still just doing 1 chapter a day, planning on increasing to 4 this week.

2. Lights out by 10pm and up by 5:30 to join Hello Mornings which starts this week. (Got a bit of a head start on this last week, was up most mornings before the kids)(was up every morning but one)

3. Make sure house is straight before bed (made some progress, could use some fine tuning though)

4.  Don’t eat after supper: have done pretty well with this; adding exercising for 30 min. M-F this week. (exercised 4 days this week)

5.  Read aloud to the kids: we started a book, but haven’t gotten very far.  The new goal is to read three times this week. (Didn’t even touch this goal :()

6.  Write down a to-do list each morning and post it on the fridge:  recently started doing this, it’s been huge in helping me get everything accomplished that I need to.

This Week’s Goals – 

1.  Get back to a more rigid quiet time in the afternoon.

2.  Make sure house is straight before bed.

3.  Continue reading a biography on William Carey aloud to the kids 3 times this week.

4.  Only go to the grocery store once this week. (I am notorious for forgetting things I need when I go on my regular shopping day, even though I have a list, so then we make multiple trips back to the store which ends up adding a lot more to our grocery budget, I’m trying to break myself of that)

5.  Start doing a Bible study again with my girls. (I normally go through a Bible study with the girls, but have gotten away from it these past few months with the pregnancy)

How about you, have you set any goals for the week?  Or do you have other ways you have found to get renewal and refreshment as a mom without leaving the house?  I’d love to hear about them in the comments. If you have questions you can email us. You can also catch up with us on Facebook and Twitter

This post has been linked to:  Road to 31, Teaching What Is Good, Mercy Ink, Growing Home, Walking Redeemed