SOooo, I woke up this morning with a game plan: Treadmill for 20, weights for 20, shower, mail, volunteer @ historical society. Reality bites. This is what actually happened.
Treadmill for 20. Well, okay it was close to 20 but more like 10 minutes. The first 5 minutes of my walk/jog I was occupying my mind with guessing who would come into the bedroom I was in. See we don't exactly have a workout room. The treadmill, weights, yoga mat, ... share space in the spare bedroom. The spare bedroom is rarely used by guests so most of the time it is a place to workout. You say,"What's the problem with that?"
Every mom in the world can tell you that when you need to have time for you, it is nearly impossible when you have a husband, kids and pets sharing the house with you. For instance, when I need to make a call, almost as soon as I get the person on the line that is when the kids and pets argue with one another. It's almost like a warning shot before a race starts. If the kids are outside playing then it's the dogs that start going after one another. You think by now I would make all phone calls in my closet.
Disturbances, distractions also happen when I need other types of alone time to read, workout, or meditate. Working out is the worst time though. Imagine, you are on a treadmill. You are jogging on an incline on a treadmill for 5 minutes and suddenly you hear a knock or the handle vigorously jiggling. Sometimes I hear my kids try to quietly pry the door open to the bedroom. What is so stinking important that you just have to come in right now. This is a pattern. They do know I am in there. They also know the standard applies, "Unless there is blood or an obvious broken bone do not come into this room when I am in here." A door with a lock on it is a necessity for me, but even then what's going on beyond the doors can be a distraction.
A closed/locked door means nothing to another person (AHEM husband) who isn't so quiet. When I workout at home I always need to make certain both doors, the one leading into the hall and the one leading into the bedroom (where the treadmill is), are both locked. Why? My husband will keep trying doors until one pops open. It's nice our guest room has an adjoining bathroom. It's nice for our guests. Usually we get guests once every three years or so. Which brings me back to my bright idea of what a necessity a guest bedroom was. "It will cost a little extra in the long run, for that extra bedroom, but it will be worth it for our guests." Funny how your perspective changes when reality bites back. Seriously!!
SO when I hear my husband trying the door leading from the bathroom to the bedroom I recognize what I did wrong. My fault for not locking the bathroom door. Oh wait a minute, I can't lock it from inside the bedroom because there is no lock on this side. He wins because he can still get in. SO, when he can't unlock the hallway door, because I can lock that one, he will knock. It's like rapid fire knocking. Really! To get my head back in the game after this in nearly impossible because now I have the dogs to contend with. Three dogs barking their heads off because they don't realize where the knock is coming from as well as who is doing the knocking.
Then today nothing. I kept waiting for it but nothing. Then I really started to get paranoid, took a break and made signs, out of Post-it Notes, letting everyone know not to come in. I now ate up some more of my time being concerned about others taking it away from me. That was an AHH HAA moment. Not a soul tried to steal my time. Today my distractions were all in my head.
I walk out of the room, sit in my chair to go through emails I need to respond to. All 3 dogs are nearby. The puppy, now 9 months, is using the older dog as a chew toy. No really, it's pitiful. She drags him around by either his collar or his neck. The bigger dog comes over to me wanting a little attention. She trys to put her nose under my arm, lifting my arm up to initiate a petting. I begin to pet her and along comes the puppy. The oldest dog flies up into the chair next to me. He is shaking and his eye is draining. He has Horner's Syndrome. Poor baby. The vet assures me he isn't in pain but he is quite a sight.
Shower and off the the Historical Society for 3 hours. I love going there, helping to document history. So much to pour through and piece together. After I leave at 12 it's lunch and then home to wrap things up for the day. You know the usual phone calls and bills to pay. Before I know it the clock says,"Time for dinner."
Every mom in the world can tell you that when you need to have time for you, it is nearly impossible when you have a husband, kids and pets sharing the house with you. For instance, when I need to make a call, almost as soon as I get the person on the line that is when the kids and pets argue with one another. It's almost like a warning shot before a race starts. If the kids are outside playing then it's the dogs that start going after one another. You think by now I would make all phone calls in my closet.
Disturbances, distractions also happen when I need other types of alone time to read, workout, or meditate. Working out is the worst time though. Imagine, you are on a treadmill. You are jogging on an incline on a treadmill for 5 minutes and suddenly you hear a knock or the handle vigorously jiggling. Sometimes I hear my kids try to quietly pry the door open to the bedroom. What is so stinking important that you just have to come in right now. This is a pattern. They do know I am in there. They also know the standard applies, "Unless there is blood or an obvious broken bone do not come into this room when I am in here." A door with a lock on it is a necessity for me, but even then what's going on beyond the doors can be a distraction.
A closed/locked door means nothing to another person (AHEM husband) who isn't so quiet. When I workout at home I always need to make certain both doors, the one leading into the hall and the one leading into the bedroom (where the treadmill is), are both locked. Why? My husband will keep trying doors until one pops open. It's nice our guest room has an adjoining bathroom. It's nice for our guests. Usually we get guests once every three years or so. Which brings me back to my bright idea of what a necessity a guest bedroom was. "It will cost a little extra in the long run, for that extra bedroom, but it will be worth it for our guests." Funny how your perspective changes when reality bites back. Seriously!!
SO when I hear my husband trying the door leading from the bathroom to the bedroom I recognize what I did wrong. My fault for not locking the bathroom door. Oh wait a minute, I can't lock it from inside the bedroom because there is no lock on this side. He wins because he can still get in. SO, when he can't unlock the hallway door, because I can lock that one, he will knock. It's like rapid fire knocking. Really! To get my head back in the game after this in nearly impossible because now I have the dogs to contend with. Three dogs barking their heads off because they don't realize where the knock is coming from as well as who is doing the knocking.
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| Door from the hallway with "Do Not Disturb" Post-it |
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| Door from bathroom to bedroom with "Do Not Disturb" Post-It |
Shower and off the the Historical Society for 3 hours. I love going there, helping to document history. So much to pour through and piece together. After I leave at 12 it's lunch and then home to wrap things up for the day. You know the usual phone calls and bills to pay. Before I know it the clock says,"Time for dinner."
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