ME

 As wives + mothers, we tend to put ourselves last.  Everything comes before us.  Eating, getting dressed, laundry, bathes - you name it, we always do stuff for us last.  Even falling further on the list is plain old Me Time.  The last little while, me time has consisted of getting 10 minutes alone in my bathroom for a bubble bath and to wash my hair.  I kid you not.

I know it is not just me who is or has gone through times like this.  In fact I know I am not.  I have seen some mom's put themselves first and enrolled in activities that get them out of the house.  I envied them.  I wondered how they could do that.  Where did they find the time?  Was their guilt involved in putting themselves first?  They and their families seemed happier for it, so maybe I thought, just maybe I should give it a try.

Last Wednesday night, a bunch of mom's in SW Calgary gathered at a local pub for a Mom's Wing Night Out.  I went.  I had so much fun chatting with other mom's about our kids, families, activities, the communities - you know stuff all mom's talk about.

As usual, there are always side converations at every get together and I happened to chat with a mom who is going through a bit of a tough time right now. When her now 2 year old child was a few months old, she realized she had to put herself first in order to be there for her child.  She didn't want to be that overweight, unhappy mom who couldn't participate in activities with them.  She wanted to be fully involved with her child in every capacity.  So she dedicated 6 days a week to making this change.  And let me tell you she looks fantastic.  She is back to work now, so she can longer juggle work, being a mom and working out as often but she still gets to the gym as often as she can to maintain what she has done and to make improvements in certain areas that need to be improved.  We had a great talk and won't go into great detail about what was all spoken out of respect for  her, but she inspired me to put ME first.  To do stuff for ME.  Because if I am not happy then neither will my girls or my husband.

So the next morning, I woke up before the girls and ran. Ran for 27 minutes.  Later that day I registered for the St. Patrick's Day Fun Run.  I am just doing the 5K and seriously hope  I don't finish last.  Greg did some research and last year, he said the last place women (or person I don't know) was 5K in 59 minutes.  My greatest fear of being last was  sure to be realized I thought.  Greg is confident that I will not finish last.  I guess only time will tell!  I have since ran every morning since - except for yesterday and today.  I will be running tonight instead.  I have gone further and faster and longer with each day.    Greg and I are also doing the Mother's Day Run and the Calgary Marathon.  I am still deciding between the 5 + 10K for that but Greg is doing the Half Marathon which is just fantastic in my books.  I am not sure I will ever be there.  The best part about running is how great it makes me feel.  It gets me going and I feel unstoppable.

I also started hot yoga yesterday.  I found a yoga studio close to me that has drop in classes Friday nights for $5 and Sunday mornings for $10.  I don't have the time to actually get a full monthly membership so this is perfect for me.  My first class was yesterday from 8-930.  Holy crap was it hot.  And humid.  I thought a few times I was going to throw up but I persevered.  The instructor said that as a first time attendee I should be proud I stayed the whole time as the heat is the hardest thing to get used to.  It was a tough class but I am so proud I did it.  It was fun, vigorous and a great workout.  I cannot wait for next week.  I absolutely loved the lemon grass towels at the end of the class.  It was a nice end to it!  I also don't think I have ever sweat that much at once in my entire life!!  The best part though?  For 90 minutes I tuned out the rest of the world.  It was the first time in years, maybe ever that I spent any time without thinking about the girls, greg, things to be done, anything.  It was fantastic!  That 90 minutes can do wonders I think. I look forward to going back next Sunday too!!

So just like that, I put ME first.  And it was easy.  And Greg and the girls are ok with it.  All in all I think we will all be in a better place because of it.