It goes without saying that, before you became a parent, you had your own life. Your own personality. You went to the cinema or to the gym. Cooked or made craft. Read books or comics. You name it. Your personality shone through in the things that you liked to do. You had the freedom to get involved with something without a second thought of childcare or simply how tired you were.
It’s inevitable that when you become a parent, those things will fall to the wayside…
Sitting in the bath one day, I saw that I was no longer sharing my bath with candles or a book but instead; bath toys. It made me think about the last time I had done anything that was just about ‘me’. When was the last time I went to the pub? When was the last time I bought something for me that wasn’t practical? I couldn’t remember.
So I did something about it. I bought a book and made a list (or six) in the bullet journal. Lists that were completely selfish and just about me or ‘me and Sharon’.
- What films or TV shows we wanted to watch.
- Wish lists.
- Books to read.
- Home improvements.
- Places we want to go.
The good thing about a bullet journal is that you can let yourself run free in the pages.
EMBED: https://www.instagram.com/p/BO70XysDH2I/
I’ve written before how I’ve struggled with my identity since becoming a parent, and this is no different – we often lose ourselves to our children, putting ourselves on the back burner. Of course this is going to happen, I wouldn’t change it for the world. But sometimes, just sometimes, I wish there was a pause button on parenthood that allowed me to do a few things for me. That made me feel like I was still ‘Kate’ and not ‘T’s mum’. I can’t remember the last time someone asked me something about TV or film!
EMBED: https://www.instagram.com/p/BPZ02HrjkEC/
Read more…
To continue this trend, I’ve invited a few wonderful bloggers to answer a few questions to celebrate the people they are ‘behind the parent’ they are. Over the next few weeks I’m going to share their answers.
If you’d like to join in, feel free to tag us in your post (including the image below) and I’ll share it with others.
2 comments
I should really think about starting a bullet journal.
I struggle with this so much – it ebbs and flows and gets worse when my period is approaching 😛 But anyway! I love your ideas. I think I also feel more like myself and like I still have an identity outside of being a parent by discovering the hobbies and interests of other parents – stuff that has nothing to do with their being parents. I love meeting the people and personalities behind the wonderful children they have.
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