Posted by Host Patti on February 6, 2009

Get Your Mojo Back

What brought you back to feeling like you after your baby was born? To my surprise, I didn’t realize I wasn’t myself until about seven months after my son was born when I said some smartass comment to Royce while having a beer and enjoying the laziness of a baseball game with him. Royce nonchalantly took notice that the woman he married was actually back. And it was only at that moment that I realized I hadn’t been me for way too long. It was a refreshing feeling to finally be back in the swing of being Patti, not only a mother of a new baby and the wife of Royce, but also just me. What a long haul it was.

So when I was pregnant with baby #2 I was adamant about keeping all aspects of me intact after Brooke was born and I had grand plans of what I needed to do. After the whirlwind days of her first few months I desperately tried squeezing in some me time within my exhausting days of momming two babes. Now with Brooke at 2.5 years old and Ty 4,  I’m still a work in progress but this is what has brought me around sooner the second time than the first:

- Getting out before Royce goes to work to be alone, have a peaceful coffee and work out.

- Rejoining my moms group – of the original podcasters – after a hiatus during those overwhelming first months.

- Hiring our sitter to work almost full-time with us the first months. Best money I ever spent.

- Weekly date nights with Royce. Nothing fancy, just us time.

- Getting together with good friends who know me not only as mom of Ty and Brooke. More frequently, is something I’m still working on.

- Reading books that have nothing to do with parenting.

- Indulging in a lone happy hour at home during the kids’ witching hour.

What are your grand plans? What are you doing to get your mojo back?

3 Comments »

1. Getting a manicure made me feel like my old self… Plus putting on my workout gear and going for a run — sans baby! My guy is only two months old right now, so I’m not 100%, but every little bit counts. :)

   Comment by Stacey — February 6, 2009 @ 10:43 pm

2. I’m a SAHM to Miles, who is 6 months old. As weird as it sounds, sometimes just putting on SHOES helps me feel ‘normal’! On days when I take an early shower and gets dressed (with shoes!), I feel so much better than on days when I wear my PJ pants until 3 in the afternoon! Sure, it’s nice to feel relaxed in comfy pants, but it makes me feel so blob-like!

   I’ve also started insisting on taking a hot bath with nice candles and good-smelling things at least once a week. It’s so nice to get away from the baby for a few minutes.

   Comment by Krista — February 7, 2009 @ 6:20 pm

3. I think the first time you have a child, you are changed forever. I don’t think I ever went “back” to my old self, I have evolved and changed since my son, Ty, was born almost 4 years ago. I’m part of the same person I was before him, but at the same time, I’m really different too. Now, we are expecting a little girl in about 5 weeks and I have been thinking about exactly this. How do I not change all over again? I think in keeping with our every day routine of small things will help tremendously. My maternity leave will be very interesting as my husband is a SAHD to our son, so we will ALL be home for 3 months together. This could be really good, or really bad, but I do think it will be mostly good as he’ll be able to help keep things as normal as possible for Ty until we all settle into our new routines.

   Comment by Amy Lemaniak — February 7, 2009 @ 7:31 pm

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