How much time to do you get to yourself each week?

Suern9870

I'm including any time alone, time out with friends, time pursuing your own hobbies.  

I'm a SAHM of a kindergartener, preschooler and a 6 month old baby.  Since my son was born in May, and I've been home from work, my husband has been working longer hours (between 12-14 hours a day), 5 days a week. He's self employed and does not take any time off.  He was back to work before I was even home from the hospital with my baby in May. The only family I have in the immediate area is an aunt who does help out with pickup/dropoff, and occasionally takes the older girls, but not the infant.  I'm exhausted and thinking of hiring a mother's helper to come in a few hours a week,  just so I can have an occasional break.  I'm just wondering, what do you all do during the week for help?  Do your husbands have more flexibility? family? sitters? 

wheelsonthebus

I probably get 2-4 hours every two weeks if I'm lucky. I have no family around. My husband works 12 hours a day and doesn't like being home by himself when the kids are awake. If I get out alone, it's for a couple of hours after the children go to bed.

Andrewsgal

Disclaimer: my answer would be different if I had an infant. DD is in kindergarten, and DS has preschool three times a week so I have those 18 hours in addition to one girls night. DH and I also have a date night every other week. 

I get tons of time alone, but with an infant in the house that would change dramatically. 

rach10782

Not much at all and it's my own fault.  My husband works a ton of hours and babysitting is so expensive I don't have someone come by unless I have something to do that is absolutely necessary.  My husband would gladly stay at home with my son on the weekends if I wanted to do something but I just never ask.  He works so much during the week I almost feel guilty asking him to stay home while I do something.  

mrsrobinsontobe

i'm pretty lucky in this dept because i have my mom right down the street who happily takes the kids...that said, i don't really need all that much me time...my daughter is in school all day...my son goes 3 mornings a week...and i only work pt...so i usually get in groceries, pedicures and house cleaning in the 10 or so hours i'm alone a week... i love family time most, and because my husband has a job where he works out of our home, i get a lot of help around the house too...that frees up our weekends so that we don't really ever feel the need to be alone.

sweetie645

Generally my only me-time is after the kids go to bed.  Which has been significantly cut short since I got pregnant and tend to fall asleep shortly after them. 

Otherwise, maybe just an hour or two a week when I leave the boys with DH to do something really exciting like grocery shop.

We have family around, but my mom already watches my sisters kids all the time, so I feel guilty to ask for her help unless I have no other option.

My MIL is kind of flaky and keeps offering to watch the boys at times when it's not really a help to me at all.

For now, this is not such a problem because my boys really have gotten so much easier as they have gotten older...they are each other's entertainment!  I'm a little worried as to how hard it will be when #3 gets here.

 

notkateanymore

DD is in school from 7:30-3pm, we have a date night on most Tuesdays and then one on the weekend usually. But other than that, DH travels a ton, so it's just me and DD.

laurenb89

I usually only get about 45 mins during the week and thats when i take my hot bubble bath on the weekends. DH works out of town during the week and DD is always with me so I dont really get a lot of alone time.

JayandEmm

Considering I have a 2 month old baby; not a lot of alone time here! Once a week I go shopping and DH handles the baby. Sooo, 2 hours a week? If that.

britbratjf

I have a 3.5 month old. I usually get a few hours to myself on the weekends. I leave DD with DH and grocery shop every weekend and then I usually go shopping or out with girlfriends occassionally.

Mrs.Hizzo

Ditto AG, this would be/was different with a baby. Right now I have two mornings a week when my kids are both in school. I have to volunteer in the classroom twice a week on those days. When my DH is home, though, he's very good about taking the kids to run errands so that I can catch up at home, and I often leave the three of them for a couple-few hours on weekends to go do my own thing. Next year will be better, my oldest will start kindergarten full-time and my youngest will go 3 mornings a week.

vanessaNOV2

I have a 3 year old, 2 year old and a 5 week old baby. Before baby it was much easier to find a babysitter to come help so i could escape for an hour but now with baby its really hard. I dont really think the highschooler babysitter i use can handle all boys...so now i usually take baby with me on my me time.

Dh doesnt get alot of him time either. I would rather have him watch all boys and me go grocery shopping alone or get my hair done or whatever.

Typically once a week i get away from the choas :

jenniann87

My parents take DS three nights a week for 4-5 hours while I am working at a family friends bar. My FI will get up with DS on Sundays so I can sleep in an extra hour or two but other than that I am with DS.

2-Step

I work from home 2 days a week and sometimes have child care three days because my hours fluctuate, so sometimes I get a few hours on one of my childcare days when I don't have a job pending. I usually am not doing hobbies etc though because I am trying to run errands, pick up the house or grocery shop while no one is here. 

I do consider my job a hobby though. I'm a graphic designer and writer and I really enjoy it, so when I am working it often feels like me time. I try to go to the gym 2-3 times a week and usually get at least an hour or two of time to myself on the weekends to meet a friend or shop.

As for real "me" time I probably get about 3 hours a week and maybe 2-3 evenings a month with the girls or out with DH. DH and I spend about 2 hours every evening after the kids are in bed together watching TV or talking, I don't count that as me time, but it's a nice break. We tend to let the housework sit until the weekend so we can decompress together every night and I think it's one of the reasons we've stayed very connected.