Sew Much Free Time

I've been getting much more free time lately thanks to a paid babysitter and a babysitting swap with a friend. Sew much free time in fact that I've been sewing ;) I've made a few outfits for my daughter Lauren. You can check out more pics on our family blog at www.laurenmouse.com. I find this creative outlet incredibly energizing. Usually I'm beat by 10pm, but this week I've wanted to stay up and keep sewing until almost midnight! I even created a store at Etsy.com to try and sell some of my handmade things. If you haven't ever been to Etsy before you should check it out. They sell all handmade items (and a tiny bit of vintage stuff and crafting supplies). My store is at www.mommysaidsew.etsy.com.

Mary Kay Party

Yesterday I got to attend a Mary Kay party. We got free facials plus a makeup trial with application instruction. We also got some free gifts, and we had lots of fun. Of course, I made some early birthday purchases while there...but I also got to count 2 1/2 hours of Pampered Princess time!

More Free Time on the Way

I was excited that this project came into being right when I had decided to take advantage of a friend's nanny to watch my daughter 4 hours on Wednesdays. That has been going pretty well for the last month now. Every other week I go downtown to meet with my therapist and then browse in a shop or sit outside with a cup of coffee. The rest of the time I try to do something for me, like put pictures in photo albums or work on sewing or craft projects. I haven't done as much sewing as I had hoped to, but I think that's about to change. A friend of mine needs to have someone watch her 1 yr old while she teaches a pre-school class. I agreed to do a time swap with her. So now I'll have 4 free hours on Tuesday too. The trade off is that I will have 2 toddlers every Thursday, but I'll manage. It's worth it to think of all the projects I can get done, knowing that I can start on Tues and finish on Wed and then it won't be sitting around all week (things are cramped in our 2 bedroom condo - but that's city life). I've posted some pics of some hair clips I've made. Tell me what you think!

Back in the Game

Thanks for your post Heidi. I have been preoccupied with the loss of our baby, but I've also finally hired a reliable sitter. She starts tomorrow and will be coming twice a week for a total of 10 hours, plus date nights for Andy and me. One thing that I will be doing with my time is going back to Weight Watchers. Since we're not planning on getting pregnant for another year or so, I would like to work on getting back to a healthy weight. Other things I plan on doing are: working on my photo albums/scrapbooks, reading, and painting/decorating the house.

I wish I could say that I have spent 5 hours every week doing something just for me. The reality is that some weeks I get 5 hours in, and some weeks I'm lucky to get 5 minutes! But the important thing is that I know that it is possible to have time for myself, and that it's a choice that I get to make. I have to decide that it's important enough to make time for, and for me personally that requires support from family and sitters. I know that when I take time away from the daily grind to do things that I enjoy, I am a better mom and a better wife. The world won't end if the laundry waits another day or the toys stay out all night, but lives are definitely affected when I am burnt out and resentful that I haven't had a moment just for me.

A little perplexed

im not sure how this project is going for anyone..haven't seen any posts lately. The last time I posted, i followed some advice, asked for what I needed in my relationship in an adult manner..and the relationship ended..Now, thats to say thats a bad thing. I think it prevented wasted time in something that wasnt going anywhere. But what do we do when we do take care of ourselves? and things dont turn out as expected.
The thing is, I know have 5 hours a week exactly to spend by myself. Three hours on friday night and two on Tuesday while she is at drama. Now that I have the hours, I am a little frightened at what to do with them.

Im jsut wondering if and how this project has changed others lives. If its changed it for the better I am all about hearing that as well.

I Need a Break!

It's funny to me that as soon as I decided to make this a project for my friends and family, my babysitter went on a perpetual vacation and is still not back. I have been trying for over a month now to find a new sitter, but I've had no luck. This weekend though I finally heard back from a girl that sat for a friend of mine. She's away too, but she'll be back in a few days. I can't wait to meet her and put her to work immediately! I think about the project and being a pampered princess all the time, and sometimes I find myself just settling for what I can get instead of what I really want in life. I have been noticing how much I don't ask for what I want. I wish for it, hope for it, hint about it and sometimes even demand it, but I rarely just ask. I guess because there's always a chance that I'll hear "no." But so what? Why is it so hard to hear a no? It doesn't stop my 2-year-old from asking again, so why should it stop me. From now on, when I want something, I'm just going to ask for it. What are you taking on this week?

Feeding My Family = Love

I love to cook, but I rarely get to do it. I do prepare three meals everyday, but they don't count as "cooking" in my book. This past Sunday I got to prepare a yummy meal for our extended family. I spent hours in the kitchen and was in absolute heaven while I peeled potatoes, simmered green beans and made miniature meat loaves. For me, cooking is relaxing - almost a meditation, and to serve that food to the people I love makes me truly happy. While I was preparing this meal, I kept acknowledging to myself that this is something I love to do and rarely make time for, and I actually thought about taking a picture when it was all done to post on the blog. However, by the time the food was ready there were two very young children who were not interested in waiting for mommy to find the camera (and the memory card) and so you'll just have to use your imagination to picture how it all turned out. Two girls from our play group just had babies, and I signed up to bring them dinner, so I'm looking forward to some more opportunities to take time for something that truly brings me pleasure.

Padded Princess

So the lactation factory (which closed for business a month ago) is officially shut down. I decided to spend my free hours today - today is the first day Lauren is with the nanny at our friends house - shopping. Bra shopping. What I really wanted was a racer back bra to wear with tank tops. What I realized in the dressing room mirror is that it is possible for A cups to sag. Boo hoo. I know that there are large breasted women (even relatives of mine!) on this blog, so I'm not trying to open a flood gate of how much worse it is to have large breasts post nursing. I bet it is worse. At any rate, I bought three new bras in my "padded princess" mindset! Oh and somehow, two new shirts made it into my cart too :) Trying things on the dressing room without having to worry about your toddler crawling into the next booth = priceless!

Step One- Self give to self

I decided to cancel the gym membership where I am currently enrolled. This gym is actually a family oriented club with a restaurant, kids pool, grass, Friday night BBQ's. Sounds great right? I pay for the membership and my boyfriend, Dylan and my 12 year old daughter Kyla, and I go and "hang-out" there, swim a little, eat a lot and lounge. I joined the gym to get into shape! I decided to stop taking care of everyone else in this area and am looking into other gyms that are more appealing to me as far as the "work-out" environment goes.

Stay tuned.

I have two children Vivien, 7 and Max, 5. At this age it's pretty easy to take time to myself. I work from home writing for Stretching Canvas and International Tattoo Art Magazines, run an art gallery called Big Car. This fall I'm going back to school for nursing at University of Indianapolis. 

The first 4 years of having children were difficult. Vivien was colicky and I don't think I ever put her down. As a matter of fact before I had Vivien I thought co-sleeping was creepy but after having Vivien I couldn't see why anyone wouldn't co-sleep. Our families thought we were freaks. As Jim said "I was never allowed in my parents 'secret do it room.' But we never had any problems getting them in their own beds or finding time to have sex. We just didn't do it in our room at night. Our children aren't needy or clingy. Quite the opposite. I personally don't think there is one right way to raise children or that everyone should sleep with their kids. It's what worked for us. I believe good people raise good people. 

In 2003 my mother got very ill with cancer soon after Max was born, she went through numerous surgeries, chemo and radiation. So the children grew up seeing my mom very sick and Max thought she looked like a skeleton, he would run his finger along the cuts on her neck over and over. The children and I stayed out there. Max became rather preoccupied with skeletons in general.  Vivien who was 4 by then would say to my mom, "I remember when you looked normal." It was the most difficult period in my life. But my mother slowly got better and in 2004 I started writing freelance. I also started running more art and music shows at Big Car.

It was a gradual process the way the children and I have become more independent of each other. I think that must be what parenting is, this constant process of them letting go and you letting go but never completely. And I suspect I'll always need them more than they need me. 

The Reason...

I decided to put up a picture of my girls: Sophie and Zoe. I consider them the reason that I can not seem to find even 5 hours each week to do something just for me! The truth is that I love spending so much time with my babies, but I find that just like in romantic relationships, a little bit of absence makes the heart grow fonder. One of the things that I took time for this week was working on Zoe's first year album. I made one for Sophie, who is now two, and she loves to look at it. It includes pictures from her first year of life, and I wrote a little something about each one. Zoe is now 13 months old, and I'm only up to her 5th month of life in her book! I love working on her book because I get to relive those moments, and I just marvel at how much she has changed! I also used 2 hours yesterday for a much needed nap. This week I plan to have a pedicure. I may not get to go somewhere to get it done, but even if I have to do it myself, I promise to take time to make my toes look pretty, cause they're looking a little scary right now!

In the thought process

A whole week went by and I put this project to the back of my mind. I woke up today feeling like I've spent another week with my tires spinning. I do a lot for the other people in my life and take care of myself last. It was for that reason alone that I was excited to join this project.

This week I am researching new gyms to join, something that will inspire me, a new place to workout. I am also going to go food shopping today and buy food for me so I can cook and bring my meals to work all week. I am an RN and health and diet are very important to me. These are things I have not been paying attention to. I am using some of my time this week for these things.

I also want to attend yoga classes and start running and swimming. A few years ago I was competing in du-athalons (swim and run). These all seem ambitious but have been obtained by me in the past and I know I can get there again.

Thanks for this blog. I look forward to reading about what others are accomplishing.

Hi From Liz Mouse

Hi everyone. I'm Mara's sister-in-law (big Andy's little sis!) My husband and I live in Chicago with our 13 month old daughter Lauren and our retired racing greyhound Indy. I am going to be pampering myself big time starting next week. A good friend who lives in my neighborhood is going back to work part-time and she has hired a nanny to work in her home several days a week. I will be sharing her nanny for 4 hours a week by dropping my little princess off at her house. I look forward to seeing how those hours can be used to help me feel a little more pampered. I promise not to spend the whole time running errands or cooking and cleaning. Here's a picture of us.

I really look forward to reading what everyone else likes to do to pamper themselves! Thanks, Liz

Why the Blog

Hello to all my fellow pampered princesses! Thank you for participating in the project. I am really excited to hear about what everyone is up to. My vision for this blog is that it will be a place where everyone in the project can connect and share about what they are doing with their 5 hours. I would love to see pictures too! So if you get a pedicure for the first time in 5 years, take a picture of your pretty toes for all of us to see! This week I have been using my time to get some extra sleep. I almost never nap during the day, but the other day I rested for almost 2 hours. It made my evening much more enjoyable!

I look forward to hearing about what you're all doing and also to getting to know those of you who I haven't met before!

Standing in the possibility of Dreams Come True-- Mara

Welcome to the Pampered Princess Project

Details on the Pampered Princess Project are coming soon - stay tuned!