making time

as important as keeping your family happy , healthy and safe there is a need of one's self that also needs looking after. it is vital to all parents, that they make just a little time for themselves. why? well i'll tell you. after a long day of watching the kids. you hear them laugh which brings happiness to your heart, you get to hear them cry, which makes you want to cry, and once they start talking you get to hear NO about a 1000 times, which makes you want to pull your hair out. this is just in one day, now imagine a whole week of this. all the emotions that go into one person throughout a whole week can get bottled up. so try to make some time for you to relax.

here's the tricky part, how to do it? it is not as hard as you think. your kids have grandparents, aunts, uncles, relatives or friends that can watch the kids for a couple of hours while you go out to dinner, or a movie. whatever you plan on doing, make sure you are not gone to long. your friends and family love your kids but sooner or later they are gonna feel like you do, so keep it short and sweet but enjoy. now if you have a loving spouse or partner, like i do, they will send you out with your friends and they will take care of the kids. chances are they miss the kids as much as you miss getting out. my wife always sends me out with my best friend to go to book stores or out for drinks.

don't forget to pay your help, be it with a promise of a good meal in the near future or looking after their children one evening. and if you hire a babysistter always get references first and pay them well if they do a good job. i'm very lucky in the fact that my sister-in-laws love to watch the kids, at least every once in a while. and they do it for free. if you do get your relatives to watch your kids, don't guilt them into it with things like, "they're your family, you should do it" , it makes them almost resent you and your children. remember, you stay at home parents, you can't do it without your partner, so a nice dinner for them, or just a word of appreciation can go a long way to letting them know how much you mean to them and the family.

as always this is thediaperchangindad