The excitement of summer after a pandemic brings so many opportunities. Now that we've gotten the hang of living with the new normal, I feel that I can finally be around my favorite people, travel, and cross items off my summer bucket list. Despite all of this freedom to head out to events in our town and discover restaurants again in the city, I’m having a hard time letting go of some of the slowness of last summer. When the world is saying, “Go, go, go, everything is wide open,” I just want to stay close and keep it simple.
With a newfound take on the simple pleasures of small activities like taking my kids to the children’s museum, watching movies with homemade popcorn, and heading to the pool from sun up to sun down, I’m finding that we don't need much to keep our family happy and entertained all summer long. In the midst of all of this fun, I’m also realizing how important it is to fight for my “me time” so that I don't become sucked up with constant activity, and to feed my introverted needs.
I learned so much about myself last year, and many of the lessons shocked me
I'm making big changes to get my personal time
There are three main actions I’m implementing to fight to keep my “me time” as the world reopens.
When I’m seeing notices for our town’s citizen appreciation day, food truck festivals, waterparks opening up around us, I start to plan out our events for the summer. In my planner, I am also taking note of busy weeks and weekends and marking on my schedule times when I will most likely need a quiet day or few hours. If I put it on my calendar, then I can figure out the logistics when the time comes.
Secondly, I’m still working from home, but now that my children are back in daycare, I have the time to finish my work in my normal hours and don't need to log back in after bathtime. This has freed up my evenings to spend quality family time and have a little time to read or rest after the kids are in bed and before I go to bed.
I'm also finally acknowledging out loud that I need more quiet time than I thought. I prefer to work with limited noise. I even enjoy riding in the car in silence. It's soothing to me. It calms me. Reading relaxes my mind. Watching my favorite show without also doing laundry and multitasking revives me.
In trying to do all and be all, I was neglecting what I needed
Now that I can finally say it out loud and with confidence, knowing that I’m a better person with it, I can actually get it. Because I don't get or change what I can't acknowledge, ask for, and advocate for. And that's a lesson I'll never forget again.
