Resolution: Finding balance

This year, my New Year’s resolution is simple: Be more balanced.

Lately, I’ve been taking stock of my life (as I do every year around this time), and the conclusion I’ve reached is that my life is a little out of whack. I’m a stay-at-home mom, so most of my days are spent caring for, thinking about and cleaning up after my two daughters.

But there also seems to be a glaring absence in my day-to-day life: me. Somehow in the pursuit of being the best mother I can be, I’ve lost sight of also cultivating myself as a person. I put aside my interests for the family’s best interest and my own pursuits for those of my children.

I’m glad to do it, and have no doubt I will continue putting my children first. But this year, I’d like to restore some balance to the equation. I don’t think being a stay-at-home mom means abandoning my own passions – even if those passions don’t directly benefit my kids or earn our family a penny.

My kids will not grow up to be hooligans because I occasionally put them in the daycare at the gym. They will not think I love them any less if I spend a few hours on Saturday writing for fun instead of building a gigantic block tower.

In fact, I hope they will see me as a real person with talents and passions. In the long run, I hope to be a better, calmer and more well-rounded mother by striking a balance between being mom and being me.

How do you find the balance between being a mom and cultivating yourself? What are your New Year’s resolutions?

Erin Stewart is a regular blogger for Deseret News. From stretch marks to the latest news for moms, Stewart discusses it all while her 4-year-old daughter crams Mr. Potato Head pieces in her little sister’s nose.