I decided to gather the troops about 30 minutes before bedtime and make a deal with them. If they all put on their P.J.s and brushed their teeth, they could all watch a 20 minute video.
Within minutes I had all the kids in fresh P.J.'s and sparkling teeth sitting on the couch ready for their video- they were beyond excited... a video before bed? Wooohooo! Who has the coolest mommy EVER???
So I pressed play, grabbed the last piece of brownies left over from Shabbos and topped it with nice big scoop of vanilla ice cream. I tip-toed onto the back porch to watch the sun set and listen to the outside world mellow down. I had my feet up, my head back and not a pang of guilt could be felt anywhere.
No guilt for letting my kids watch a video before bed. No guilt for eating the brownies and ice cream. No guilt for not reading to them.
Because its okay. Its okay to take a step back when you feel you really need it. Its okay to treat ourselves out to a sunset once in a while. It was a blissful 20 minutes, whereby I returned to the living room feeling pretty good (still tired) but quite happy to tuck each munchkin into bed, say Shema and give them each a great big snuggle before lights out.
So heres to taking those few moments when we feel we really need them. Our kids will be fine. In fact, if we treat ourselves to these little moments, our kids will benefit from having happy mommies, not exhausted mommies who cant wait to get them into bed quick enough.
Wishing you all a wonderful week,
Always,
Needed to hear this :) great post!
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