It’s time to institute the Mommy Power Hour! The Mommy Power
Hour is one-hour everyday that is yours. You let your partner take care of the
baby while you do whatever you want!
Preferably this hour is the same time everyday. This way you and your
partner know it’s coming, going to happen and you are not going to be available
AT ALL! Yes, I know for some, especially single moms and mothers of multiples,
this may sound close to impossible.
But, even if the hour is after the baby/kids are asleep, you have to
take 60 minutes to do something for you.
This all came about because I am sick of being so incredibly
exhausted by the end of the day. I
take on more than I need to and realize that now. I need to let dad do more of
the work at night. I need to stop
thinking that I am in a constant race with dad to get to Ollie first the second
he makes a noise. I need to
realize that daddy can give baths too, and when I’m finished feeding rock baby
Awesome-ness to sleep. I need to delegate more and stop taking on so much
unnecessary stress and worry.
The power hour is meant to do two things.
- Give me 60 minutes to unwind, relax and do whatever I want or need to do, FOR MYSELF!
- Give dad one hour to be alone, in-charge and bond with his baby.
This plan is a win win for both of us. I can learn that for
an entire hour I can let go when I am at home, and let dad do his thing while I
do mine. When I am home I am “ON”
full time mommy, dad is the back up.
That’s not fair to either one of us.
We have decided that the mommy power hour is the hour before
Ollie’s bath time. This means from
6:30-7:30 everyday dad has to be ON, and I get to be off. As I type this I realize how silly this
might sound, but if you are anything like me, you need to step back and let dad
step in. My hubs thinks this is a
great idea. He wants to be the one
to jump up, but because I am always the first to run he doesn’t bother getting
up anymore. Now he knows he has to
get up and looks forward to it.
Today I just laid in bed and read a book. Dad just played with Ollie, watched TV
with him and then gave him a bath.
I read, felt guilty (for NO reason) and then got up fed Ollie and sat
down on the couch noticeably more relaxed. The Mommy Power Hour works! Dad also looked noticeably more puffed up in his chest. He was feeling really good about
himself getting to take care of Ollie while I was home and not have me standing
over him or at the very least hawk eyeing him from the couch. (I’m still learning to let go…)
If you need a break and your partner needs more time alone
with the baby institute the Power hour.
It’s just 60 minutes out of the day, surely you deserve at least
that!
