Acute Case of Mommy (or Daddy) Guilt

We’ve all had it at one time or another. When you are doing something for yourself and get that ‘twang’ thinking you should probably be doing something for your little one/s.

And it doesn’t have to be a big thing. Something as simple as getting yourself a brownie when you are out shopping sans child (rarity that it is) and you think ‘I should have gotten one for the little guy’, which automatically makes the previously very yummy brownie now taste like cardboard.

*sigh*

Lately, for me, it’s been an internal struggle about getting in some gym time. I miss it. I miss the rush you get when you hit that goal, I miss the crazy people that populate the gym, I miss my down time when I get to just switch off and focus on working out. And it shouldn’t be such a big deal. I know Mommies (and Daddies) who go regularly, but with me working full time now, it’s become a bit of a compromise.

I want to work out, but I know that by the time I finish work, pick up Little P from school, get to the gym, put her in the child care there, get changed, work out, pick her up again and get home it’s close to 7:30pm. Which means the rest of our time together that night consists of dinner, bath and then bed time.

Again, *sigh*.

Sure, I can work out at home, but I a) have a gym membership that I would actually like to use and b) I would have to wait till she’s asleep, which would mean working out at like 9pm which is so NOT going to happen.

I know, I know. If you want it bad enough you will make it happen. But how do I quell the guilt I feel from essentially handing Little P over from one day care to another? I know she probably won’t care all that much, heck, the child care at the gym is pretty decked out, but still. Am I shorting her? Is it bad that I want to just jump on a machine and work out like a manic?

Maybe it’s just a matter of easing into it. Instead of going all out, do a couple of times a week and then maybe bump it up to four. And then there’s the whole, ‘if I work out after work, when will I get the laundry done/see my friends/read that book’ quandary.

Ugh.

You know what? I’m just going to do it. A happy Mommy makes for a happy kid/hubby/family right? What’s the worst that could happen?

Till next time….go and pump some iron already.

K