‘I just wanted to take a shower in the morning. That’s it.’: Mom’s plea for more personal time is all too relatable

“Mommy never has time.

I just wanted to take a shower the other morning. That’s it.

I woke up with my two-year-old on top of me, sweaty and smelling of her pee.

My husband was in the shower getting ready for work.

I pulled my youngest out of bed, and baby wiped her,
got her dressed,
woke the other two up,
got them ready.

By the time everyone else was ready, and my husband came downstairs, we were eating breakfast, and it was 8:20 a.m., and we needed to be out of the house by 8:30 a.m.

And there I was: pajamas and knotty hair.

I had ten minutes.

Ten minutes to shower, brush my teeth, and get dressed.
Ten minutes to shave half of a leg and become somewhat presentable.

I ran upstairs, the sweat settling upon my skin.

I started to gently move the toothbrush back and forth across my teeth when my middle daughter came barging into my room in tears.

‘What happened, baby?’ A slight furrow forming between my brows because, ugh, come on!

‘I wanted mommy,’ she said, hugging my legs so tight I could hardly move.

She let me peel her off to hop into the shower and laughed at my rushed shower, which I had to dance through to entertain her.

Four minutes left.

I towel dried myself off,
threw clothing on,
and scrunched gel into my sopping wet hair.

I took my daughter’s hand, and we ran down the stairs together.

But what bothers me at times is no one seems to care about the time I need, so I can feel okay and refreshed to start the day.

I only ever get ten minutes. If that.

And young kids don’t get the need to be alone, not even for those ten minutes.

One day it will be different, and I know I’ll miss this, but for now, it feels like mommy never has time.

And sometimes,
some days like the other day,
it gets to me.”

This story was submitted to Love What Matters by Danielle Sherman-Lazar of New Jersey. You can follow her journey on Facebook and her blog. Submit your own story here, and be sure to subscribe to our free email newsletter for our best stories.

Read more from Danielle here:

‘Her hard may be little compared to your hard, but she has reason to feel overwhelmed, and she deserves your empathy.’: Mom says ‘push judgement aside, no one’s having an easy time right now’

‘We think people don’t like us. We go through all our unanswered texts. We knit-pick until we’re miserable.’: Woman shamelessly admits to being part of the ‘moms on antidepressants club’

‘The second that child enters this world, he’ll steal a part of your heart you didn’t know you had left to give.⁣’: Woman claims a mother’s love transcends all circumstance, ‘No matter the chaos she brings, she’s worth it’

‘We can’t forget each other. Us is where it started.’: Mom urges ‘give grace’ to your partner, ‘Your entire family will feel it’

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