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10 Minutes Peace

    by Susan McGrath

Have Some 'Mom Time'
Date Posted: October 30, 2008

Last fall I was helping with a Cub Scout campout and my five-year-old went along with me. We stayed at the camp site to help with the Scouts until my husband could get there after work.

In the meantime, my son was running around with the big kids, pretending to be one of them and trying out the tent where Dad would sleep. As it got later and we sat by the campfire, he snuggled on my lap and once again begged to stay and sleep in the tent. I explained to him that since he had a soccer game in the morning, he needed to get a good night's sleep in his own bed and get up early to be ready for the game. He looked at me and said quite seriously, "Pleeeease let me stay here. Then you can go home and have some mom time."

I only laughed a little. He was too tired to notice.

Mom time. When is the last time any of us planned serious, no-kids-no-husbands-no-interruptions-turn-off-the-cell-phone-and-hold-all-messages mom time? I can't remember. (I did go out with "the girls" from church for a pizza night last week. Does that count?)

When I used to do direct sales I would attend company meetings and weekends a few times each year. My manager's rule was "don't call home - they can find you in an emergency". At the time I was a new mom and didn't know how wise her advice was. I usually called home several times. But I had a good time and didn't feel guilty being there.

I believe God designed us to need "mom time", which includes time alone with Him, time alone with ourselves and time away from the family with other women. This is how we refuel. Moms can run on four hours' sleep per night for weeks on end, skip two or three meals without noticing when a child is sick or a project is on deadline, but take away our alone time and girl time and we become rather irritable.

Proverbs 11:25 says " . . . he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed." That's what we women do when we get together to encourage, vent, share calories - we unburden, lighten our loads and get refreshed. It's essential that we find refreshment daily with God, but certainly beneficial when we do so once in awhile with each other.

So plan a girls night out or a wild women's weekend soon. Have a spa day; go shoe shopping (or window shopping); look for great deals or start filling that Christmas list; spend a relaxing afternoon at a museum; see a chic flick; just sit, drink coffee and watch people (notice the women toting children and be thankful your children stayed home today); get a group together and order one of everything from the menu of your favorite Chinese restaurant.

On the way home drop a thank-you note in the mail to your husband/babysitter/grandparents/neighbor and thank them for a time of refreshment - serious mom time!

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Biography Information:
Susan McGrath is:

a recovering journalist trying to encourage others and glorify God through writing;

living the small-town life with husband Tim and sons Lincoln, 12, and Sawyer, 6;

completing a few put-off writing projects while using chocolate for therapy.
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