Remember Who You Are!

No-one can dispute the fact that having children changes your life and adoption even more so. It is all consuming.

From the minute you embark on the assessment process, through to living with children that often have additional and complex needs, adoption can dominate every waking (and often sleeping) moment of your life.

It is all too easy to lose sight of yourself. And so I think it is vital that every now and again we remind ourselves who we are and what we love doing, as an individual, couple or family. Whatever our circumstance it is important that we take time out and have fun, self-indulge and don’t feel guilty. I know this has been a running theme on Twitter since the Open Nest’s Taking Care Conference and I whole-heartedly support the concept.

For me it is the regular girl’s nights that help keep me sane, along with a spot of crafting, when I’m not too tired. For my husband it is watching the football with his mates and cycling. As a family, when things are getting too much we head for the great outdoors, preferably the coast (see my previous blog – A Spot of Coastal Therapy). Now we just need to persuade Baby Bill that this is his favourite form of escapism too!

Finding time as a couple is probably the hardest thing to do. It doesn’t happen very often. And so yesterday Eddie took the day off work and I scrapped all my plans. We packed Baby Billy and Hairy Horace in to the car and after the school run made the most of the spring sunshine and went for a leisurely stroll to a riverside pub for a very large lunch. A rare moment of peace and quiet!

Doing things that I have always loved with the people that make me smile helps me face whatever is thrown at me. That is why tonight I am off with the girls to dance my socks off to Reef 🙂 What are you going to do?