Tuesday, June 1, 2010

There is a "me" in time

27,216,000 seconds

453,600 minutes

7,560 hours

10 months 11 days

315 days

Have passed since Gillian Grace was born.

And it's been that long since I've had a moment to myself.


Being a mom is hard, and no one can ever prepare you for the journey. It's trial by fire, sink or swim. Motherhood is a double scoop of chocolate ice cream; a sticky frequently messy, meant to be savored, always satisfying treat. And just like you feel watching helplessly as your scoop of sweet goodness tumbles from your cone to the sidewalk below, motherhood can be full of its own share of equally exasperating moments.

Yesterday, was my melting ice cream on the sidewalk moment. After another failed attempt to get Gillian Grace to eat {food has not been our friend since the hospitalization}, I put myself in my first ever mommy time out.

When life hands me lemons, I put on my running shoes and hit the road. After a good run with nothing but the relentless sound of my shoes landing hard on the pavement, I returned home with a new found clarity and more positive outlook.

She'll eat when she's hungry, I'm doing the best I can.


And for now, my best will just have to be good enough.

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*Just ask anyone, I'm no mathematician. To come up with the correct numbers for this post, I used a date calculator I found after a Google search. Want to try it for yourself? Click here.

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25 comments:

Jessica @ This Blessed Life said...

I couldn't agree more! Good for you!!

Melissa said...

Good Mommy timeout...sometimes it is really necessary...

Rachel @ Finding Joy said...

An excellent choice to run! My Mommy Time Out Time of choice is working in my garden/yard.

Rachel

Unknown said...

Oh we all so need those from time-to-time! Good for you to recognize when you need one. That is half the battle! Glad GG is home from the hospital and doing better though!

Sweet Southern Prep said...

What a great post! I've got to start running again. If it's not raining when the hubs comes home tonight, that's what I'll be doing too. Good for you on having a time-out, and burning calories while doing it! Now that's what I call serious multi-tasking. :)

Hope GG gets her appetite back soon.

Southern Living: Preppy Style said...

That why I sew and joined Junior League, I needed mommy time outs. I completely understand though. My daughter is nearly three and she weighs 20 lbs. Needless to say, we stressed BIG TIME over her eating in the past years. About a year ago, the dr. finally sat us down and said "look...all kids are different, they will eat when they are hungry, your child is fine, she's not lethargic, so get over it and quit spending money on a healthy child!" We finally let it go and now embrace our tiny childs habits. Of course, easier said then done, especially considing your recent hospitalization (which I cannot even fathom!), so it's different, but I am SO glad she's doing better and we're seeing that gorgeous smiling face. Bless her!!!

Amy said...

What an amazing post..

You look amazing..

Kat said...

Well said. You do need your Me time!! And good for you for getting out on the road.

The Regal Pup said...

Girl, that is WHY I run... I need mommy timeouts every day! ha ha! But, seriously, I'm glad you were able to have some "me" time. Have a great week!

Aly @ Analyze This said...

You look WONDERFUL!! :) :) :)

Unknown said...

You're so cute. I hope the whole eating thing gets easier for you and Grace. Take care :) "It's not easy being a mother. If it were easy, fathers would do it." ~From the television show The Golden Girls

Jennifer said...

Good for you...you realized you needed a break and took it. After some "me" time, we all always feel a little bit better :)

Unknown said...

I always feel so much better if I'm a little stressed with Drake by just taking a break! I bet you felt GREAT after your run!

Lift Like A Mom said...

So glad you had some time to your self. It's so important and so easy to forget about.
And is that your backyard? My goodness it's so beautiful!!! Wow!
Crossing my fingers that your sweet one eats soon. Hang in there :)

Unknown said...

Happy Mom = Happy family! It is so hard to actually do something for ourselves, I'm happy you are doing it!!!

Shopper Gal said...

Good for you. We mommies sometimes forget to give ourselves a little me time. My Mommy Time Out time of choice is going to the gym to workout :) I am a better Mommy & Wife for it!

Have a great day.
Tessa

http://www.shoppergal.com/

B F said...

man oh man do I feel you on that today! Miss Lidia was a piece of work last night! Mommy time is the best but then you get home and wish you never left! It's a vicious cyle but I love it!

Same Sweet Girl: Memoir of a Southern Belle said...

I'm glad you got some "me" time for yourself! I'm sure you needed it!! Don't be so hard on yourself girl! You are an amazing mother and an inspiration to me, along with many others I'm sure. :)

Heather said...

Lookin' good momma!! I couldn't agree with you more. I love the motherhood to ice cream analogy. It is so true. Being a mom is definitely one of the hardest (but most rewarding) jobs of all. Glad to hear GG is doing better and glad to see you are making some time for you too! :o)

liz said...

YAY for a good run to clear your head. And I have to admit that I now have the song from Rent in my head. :)

Karen At Home Blog said...

Good for you Shannon! So true, don't you wonder what we did with our time before we were Moms?? I hope GG is eating a little better for you. Hang in there!

Karen

Joni said...

My little man has completely stopped eating baby food and is now officially a table food eater. He will NOT eat any kind of baby food anymore and he still has 2 months to go before his first birthday. And, to make if difficult on us, he has decided that he must hold the utensil when we feed him or he won't eat it. Or, if it is little pieces he wants to feed himself, we cannot put it in his mouth. So independent already!

Julie said...

Ah, just what you needed. And as for the eating..don't worry too much...it might take some time. In fact, when we recently went on our road trip L-boy hardly ate a thing the whole time. He was drinking milk...and eating bananas every now and then..but nothing else.

So glad to hear little miss G is feeling better.

LyndsAU said...

bless your heart! we had a scare like GGs too! no hospital but it was so scary! what all you described in that post made me go "WOW" sounds just like what we dealt with and ALM isn't eating well since then either! but you are right, they will eat when they are hungry :) we do the BEST we can! hugs

Andi said...

good for you! amazing what a little fresh air and exercise can do for us! hopefully gg is eating fine now, since i am responding so late to this!