Inexpensive Mommy Pampering Ideas

It's a wonderfully tough job being a mom, especially to young children. Children are such precious gifts, yet it is important to take some time to re-charge our own batteries. With each child, it becomes harder and harder to find time for yourself. Yet these off-moments occasionally happen - a friend or neighbor offers to watch your child for an hour, your spouse comes home from work early, or the kids actually go to bed on time. But when you do snatch a few minutes for yourself, what do you do?

Take a nice, long shower or bath. Yes, it may not be the most environmentally friendly thing to do, using all of that water, but it sure feels nice to literally wash the troubles away. If the bathroom is messy from a long day, try to ignore it. Concentrate instead on the sound of the running water and do some deep breathing. If candles or aromatherapy are your thing, go ahead and light some candles or bring the diffuser into the bathroom with you. After your shower or bath, pamper yourself by actually taking some time to smooth some lotion on. It will help your skin feel wonderful and you give yourself a mini-massage by rubbing it into your arms and legs.

Read some grown-up books, blogs, websites or magazines. Children's books are wonderfully illustrated and fun to read, but it's also nice to catch up on the day's happenings in your area. If politics are your thing, there's a lot to be said for reading up on the latest happenings in the political world. If there is a wonderful book that you've been meaning to read, take some time to read it. Go to the library for further peace and quiet to read if your spouse has the kids but they're still interrupting you every few minutes.

Garden or tend to a small group of plantings. Nature can be wonderfully relaxing. If your yard is just another chore for you, go to some gardens in your area or even to your local garden center. It can be a lot of fun to think of ideas for plant combinations and see all of the lovely blooms.

Take a walk or a jog. Not only is the exercise beneficial for your body, it can help to clear your head too. Listen to some music to get into your groove going with a jog or listen to some relaxing music if you're going for a leisurely walk around the block.

Go to a free lecture or music event. Not only will this expand your horizons, you have an hour to yourself concentrating on something other than the fact that the dog needs to be walked. Be sure to watch your community calendar to see if one of these comes up. They are most often presented at colleges.

Get an inexpensive milkshake or other frozen treat if it's hot outside. Yes, ice cream is an indulgence to some and manna to others. An alternative to this would be to have an ice cream date (or sorbet or frozen yogurt) with your spouse once the kids are in bed if you two aren't getting enough time together. Alternatively, hot chocolate would be nice in cold weather. Sip hot chocolate and flip through a magazine for a half hour. It makes a big difference in terms of recharging your batteries!

Sew, cook, paint, just get creative! It doesn't matter how good your masterpiece looks or tastes, especially if it's just something fun or for you. Get out some creative energy and develop some ideas for things that you may later enjoy doing together as a family. When you're concentrating on creating, other thoughts tend to be crowded out and you can relax.

Write in a journal. Getting out your thoughts and feelings is therapeutic. Recording the happy things you see, like finding a bluebirds' nest with your kids, will bring back fond memories and happy feelings when you read them later. Alternatively, if you've had a frustrating day, getting those feelings out on paper feels good and helps you to sort through them. That way you can go back to your mom duties with a clearer head and later on you can read how you resolved certain conflicts. This will give you direction the next time something comes up, because you can read how you dealt with it and whether or not it worked on the first go round.

It's the little things that can go a long way. Yes, you could meet a friend for lunch, go get a pedicure, go on a shopping trip, etc, but for many of us, those aren't things that we can do on even a weekly basis. Remember to just take a couple of minutes each day to do some deep breathing and count your blessings. These small actions can help you to keep a good outlook, no matter how fussy your teething baby was that day.