Simple Things You Can Do to Brighten Someone's Day - Give a Mom a Break

Have you ever felt nudged to do something nice for someone else, but you aren't sure what to do? I am starting a series on simple things that you can do to brighten someone else's day. Personally, after I've done something nice for someone, I feel so fantastic and slightly selfish at the same time. Trust me, niceness can be quite the natural high.

Let's start with a really simple (but extremely valuable) "nice thing to do". Give a mom a break.

I admit. I am starting with a selfish assignment. I have two preschoolers. They are fun, creative and energetic. They make me laugh non-stop. That being said, I desperately need a little "me-time".

I want to grab a cup of coffee...alone. I want to peruse a music store...alone. I want to lay on my lazy-boy and watch reality tv all by myself.
I want to eat a plate of nachos and drink a glass of red wine without my preschoolers trying to grab them from me.

A bath would be really nice too. A long bath. With bubbles, smelly stuff, magazines and maybe even a second glass of wine, heaven forbid.

I took a bath a few weeks ago. I used my kids' blueberry bubble bath, laid down and cringed as I tried to lodge a pirate ship out of the small of my back. Ahhh...relaxing....NOT!

After unloading tiny pirates, tub crayons & squirt guns I decided to take a shower instead so it would at least drown out my darling cherubs who were pounding on the door in unison, "let us in...let us in", they chanted. So much for my 15 minutes of "me-time".

Want to do something nice for a busy mom? Ask her if you can babysit for an hour. Take her children to a fast-food joint. Stop in unannounced and give her a latte. If you are feeling really creative, give her a babysitting coupon and tell her she can redeem it when she needs some "me-time". Better yet, give her a coupon book!

If you are one of my Montana readers and want to fulfill this challenge, drop me a note. Otherwise, find another frazzled mother and give them a break. They aren't hard to identify. Just look for the woman with hairy legs, a unibrow, spit-up stained sweatshirts that smells like stale coffee and blueberry bubblebath.