[SuzBerg]

We all know this life isn't easy (but worth it), so how do you get a break from the stress in your life? What do you do to recharge, rejuvenate, take a break, etc?

Before you say "yeah right I never get a break"......be creative it doesn't have to be a day at the spa. Do you like to read for escape? Take a bubble bath? Watch a chick flick while the kids are napping or at school? Stay up late after they're all in bed and eat hot fudge sundaes and watch "Grey's Anatomy"?

There are no wrong answers here. Maybe your ideas will help someone else out. So what do you do to "take a break"?

[crick]

Well I shouldn't really complain I never get a break since all the kids are in school from 8:30-4:00.

But, still seems like even with them gone, I'm busy doing all the other stuff, working etc. that I forget to take "Me Time".

When I remember, I do like to settle down with a book and read uninterrupted for a couple of hours. I also play the piano and this weekend I got out my holiday music so am getting back into that.

I'd love a spa day though....ahhhhhh!

[SAHmom]

For a break, I pay bills, clean the house, make phonecalls...oh, that's not a break!! I work breaks in when I am getting my hair done and now that we have a company coming in to clean our home every 2 weeks, I will start with reading all the books and magazines that have been piling up!

[lucyjoy]

Getting my hair done is a big thing for me. I don't do it very often but I have known this person for years so it's a visit session and she picks all the colors etc so I don't have to do anything(and if I hate it she'll redo it free)

I read fiction books to escape and I like to take long walks. I also stay up late when it's quiet and everyone is asleep.

My favorite breaks are traveling with my snptf friends

[sundara]

I read every night in bed, even if for only 5 minutes.

Bellydance when I can get to class (it is GREAT for my soul!)

Best of all is ALONE time with hubby - but it seems we rarely get 5 minutes every few weeks - we are working very hard now to get our time together whenever possible.

[SuzBerg]

I didn't really say what I do for a break . So here's my list

* Date Night with Hubby - we usually try to do this on Friday night. (We are lucky because we have a teen old enough to babysit.)

* Book Club - This is a lot of fun. It gives me one night a month out with my friends and makes it so I have to read at least one book a month other than "Good Night Moon", "Purplicious", and Dr. Seuss.

*Day Spa - I get my haircut and they put cold cucumbers on my eyes and I get a hand massage w/areomatharapy lotion while my hair deep conditions.

I'm kind of stuck at home for a while with a medically fragile child so I've had to come up with some things I can do at home.

* Talking on the phone with my Sister or a Good Friend is a nice little escape.

* Tivoing than watching crummy TV shows during naptime gives my mind a chance to veg.

* Reading

* Scrapbooking

* Having a friend over for lunch and fixing a new recipe (this combines 2 of my favorite things - being with a friend and cooking).

[ManyTimesBlessed]

I leave DH with the kids and go off to Barnes and Noble. I gather a stack of books and sink into one of their nice cushy armchairs and read for a few hours. I always feel so much better afterwards!

[AudreyE]

I know this sounds weird... but I go to Big Lots or Dollar Tree when the kids are at school.

If anything strikes my fancy, it's a cheap purchase... but more importantly, I get to wander the aisles on my own time, without whiny, grabby kids to keep in line. It's almost like heaven, at least for a half-hour or so.

Audrey

[Kerbchek]

I can loose myself in my gardening/landscaping projects... Just leave me alone for a while out there and I'll be fine. I'm not necessarily looking forward to the snow because I'll have to take a few months off from working outside in the gardens... but then indoor home improvement projects will get completed and it works almost just as well...

[zebramom]

I have a bunch of things. Read the blogs I've written on self-care.

Foster Adoption Blog - Self-Care

[AmyAnne]

Hot baths. "Date night" on Thursday. And watching "The Amazing Race" are mine!

[mrsred]

Thursday is my favorite day of the week right now.
Every Thursday a group of women from church comes over in the mornings. We started this when I was teaching a special adult Sunday School class. the women that were teaching Sunday School to the kids would come over on thursdays for the lesson. It was a six week course, and is over with, but we still get together. Sometimes we watch faith building dvd's.. but quite often we just talk.
Thursday night I go to Praise Team... we select which songs we will sing the following Sunday for church and practice them.
And then the kids MUST be in bed by 9:00 so I can watch Gray's Anatomy, then ER.
Mondays I meet some women from church for "breakfast" after I drop C off at preschool.
I also try to read at some point every day.

Oh, yeah, and I almost forgot! One of my main ways to take a break is to read forums or go into the live chat. I try to hit the special needs tuesday and friday chats, but with being west coast I miss it a lot. but I do go into the general chat and have made some pretty good friends there. One "chat friend" in australia hardly ever goes to the chat rooms anymore but we chat a few times a week on our yahoo IM.

[TxMom65]

Mine is a long hot bath every night. It is really my only time alone and just MY time.

[aspenhall]

forum time here at night after the kid goes to bed....school is from 9-3:30 so, on those days I read Vampire Romance for at least an hour. I also get pedicures monthly or so.

On weekends, Dad gets to entertain daughter so I read then as well. I try new recipes, and try to perfect copycat versions of restaurant dishes. Several Times a year we do family outings like picnics in the mountains or at the lakes, shows in vegas, amusement parks.

If i can ever convince DH to play, we play board games with friends/family.

[sundara]

I forgot that one of my other faves is bunco (a VERY easy dice game) once a month - just a bunch of neighbor moms , we play bunco, eat lots of yummy munchies, have some wine, and later coffee and dessert, and have time to talk about our lives w/o any kids around - it is HEAVEN!

If you don't have a bunco group or don't know what bunco is, it is easy to start one - internet has lots of free info on how to play. The best part is that you have to change partners every 'round', and also change tables based on whether you are winning or losing, so in the course of the night, you get to sit with nearly every person in the group.

We thought about potlucking it, but decided it is easier if each hostess handles it - no coordination needed, and we each sign up to hostess only 1x per year, so it works out nicely.