Try as I might, I can’t remember what my routine was like when I said I was very busy (and tired!), And I had no children. I know that when you haven’t lived it, one, you don’t even consider it, and two, you can’t even imagine how elastic a mother’s exhaustion is. So this week when my husband asked me if I wanted something in particular for Mother’s Day, I automatically answered mentally: time .
I suppose saying it is already a cliché, or at least in my house, because I don’t know how many times a day I repeat that I don’t have enough time for everything I have to do, but it’s true: when you have young children, they are completely dependent You work (either at home or abroad, because both are equally valid and some are even more ungrateful than the other), you want your house to be fairly habitable, and there is something to eat, then the hours go like water between fingers .
With this post I do not intend to hurt susceptibilities or generalize, because each one does the best they can, it is assumed that now the tasks are better distributed and it is true that men are much more involved with parenting, but this society continues to unload on the shoulders from the mother, most of the housework and the care of the children … and no, I do not say it, but the National Institute of Statistics (I refer to the tests).
Regardless of what happens inside the home, I am sure that in the vast majority, little attention is paid to those “small details” that are not seen. Things that at first glance are not very important, but if they are not done, or planned, the gear does not work : hanging clothes, making the shopping list, cutting children’s nails, buying them sneakers because in two days Their feet grew -this is true-, calculate how many more days we can hold out before running out to buy because we are low, request that health card that expired … “trifles” that turn our daily lives into a triathlon that exhausts. It is exhausting and time consuming.
So if you are thinking of the perfect gift, surely the one that will thank you the most that mom who seems to always go to the limit with everything, it’s time. But time given with pleasure, with gratitude … and not only because Mother’s Day is approaching, but because she deserves it today, this week and every day for all that she does for the family.
Give mom time to take care of herself
The vast majority of mothers I know, and I include myself in the group, are left last on the priority list. We always have the children’s needs ahead of us and that means that sometimes we do not find time even for basic things, such as going to the doctor for a check-up or simply going for a walk alone with our thoughts. That is as necessary as breathing, because we all need a balance to be well … if we don’t have it, there will always be some frustration that sooner or later will surface (usually when we are angry and we have a list of 10 things to do. we want to complain).
That is why in my case I also need time for this year’s gift, starting with giving it to myself … deciding, after a long time, that the shoes can wait one more day but the visit to my doctor cannot.
If the person who is reading is a partner of a mother who may be experiencing the same thing, it is time to think if the charges are balanced, and if the answer is yes, it is not a bad idea to give up some of your time so that the someone else feels you appreciate everything they do. It is clear that parenting is exhausting for both of you, but it is not about competing for who is more tired , but about giving a gift that today has much more value than anything material. I assure you that if you buy a bath bomb and surprise her with a “get in the bath as long as you want, I’ll take care of the children”, you will surely surprise as much or more than with a gift that costs a lot more money.
In Babies and More | Mother’s Day: 21 Gifts for New Moms You’re Sure to Get Right
