Temper Tantrums & Time Outs Aren’t Just For Toddlers

Wherever you are on the mommy map-  it doesn’t matter. I have realized that whether you have kiddos or not- we are all still little two-year old’s inside.

We get frustrated when life doesn’t go our way. We throw temper tantrums on the freeway during rush hour. And we all  need a time-out with a glass of wine to regain sanity some days.

In recent years, its become very clear to me that if you don’t give your passions some love they will materialize into tantrums with whomever you share life with. If you don’t take a time-out in order to gather with like-minded women, isolation and depression isn’t far behind.

I still consider myself  a new mother. Much like many other women in the GPH social-stratosphere, I have found myself the ringleader in a very delicate balancing act. I want to be an amazing mother. I also want to be a successful small business owner and freelance writer. For many of the women that I have spoken with at various GPH events, we are embarking on this new era of life unsure of how to make it all work. Or even if we should try.

How do we pencil in another activity on the calendar when all we want to do is eat a dozen York peppermint patties and pass out on the couch? OK, so maybe that’s just me. But getting glam, sipping martinis, happy hour, networking, and high heels- all of sudden these items can easily become antiques in the museum of our former lives.

The truth is that a night out for ourselves is so very important. And Girl Power Hour isn’t some crowded bar with drunk sorority girls and overconfident men. It’s a “girls only club” that helps us get back in touch with the dreams we had before our little ones were scampering into our beds after their bad ones.

For me, I realized that becoming a mother didn’t change who I was. In fact, it held up a mirror to those places in my life where I was most passionate and magnified them.  Instead of wanting to be a writer someday, I started doing it. There is no time like the present to make yourself a priority. Your kids will benefit from the joy you derive from using your God given talents.

Here are a few questions to ask the next time you are considering putting yourself on the back burner again:

1. Who will benefit from time with me if I am burnt out?
2. Am I being short with my husband, significant other, children without cause?
3. When was the last time I did something just for me?
4. What makes me feel alive and when was the last time I did that?
5. How much time have I spent with women this month- without kids?

Motherhood isn’t losing yourself- its a chance to show your little ones how to find their meaning. I know firsthand how tiring it can be when your are trying to raise a child and trying to hold on to your dreams- but they won’t be little forever and your dreams shouldn’t stay small either. Its important to be able to look back on life and say- I was there for my kids when they needed me and I was there for myself when it seemed no one else was.

See you at the next GPH event ladies! Take a time-out for you.

Summer Social on the Sea Yacht Party