The Stay at Home Mother

It has been awhile since I have allowed myself to go shopping for just myself. But with Mother's Day on the horizon and my closet filled with clothes pre-children - I thought it might be time to treat myself to some new clothes; and I'm going in to Vancouver tomorrow to do it alone. :)

It's funny, but Vancouver is only an hour's drive from where I live in White Rock, but it may as well be ten hours, as it has become a place I visit only on special occasions and/or for a specific purpose in mind. 

Vancouver has a special place in my heart though, because I spent a majority of my working life there. I love the hustle and bustle, and I love the great lunch places and shopping boutiques and the fabulous nightlife that it has to offer (although I haven't experienced it personally for quite some time). But it really does feel like I am getting away from it all when I am there - to have a nice, unrushed afternoon all to myself....and with my mom to watch the children - I am completely guilt free.

As a mom this is probably the hardest thing for me to do - try to focus on my own needs. I find everytime I enter a store (that has a child's section) I immediatly head over to that section instead of my own. I put my own needs on a back burner so that my children can have more.

And as moms, it really isn't a big deal to us, is it? But after awhile I think it really is something that we have to do for ourselves to just have some time to attend to our own needs. It makes us better moms and it makes us better women and spouses. If I don't address my own needs, after awhile, I sense it coming out in different ways...mommy burnout.

I am taking my own mom out for Mother's Day this Saturday evening to Cosmos Restaurant in White Rock. If you are a local, you know they have great Greek food there. But I wanted to do something nice for my mom this year as I have a whole new appreciation for what she did for me and my sister and I wanted her to know how much it has meant to me that she was a Stay at Home Mom for us. With my own children now, I finally understand how hard it truly is to be a Stay at Home Mom.

I am really looking forward to the evening so much, and I know she is as well. Because we are not just getting together as mother and daughter, but close friends too. And hopefully I'll have some nice, new clothes to wear out! :)