Me-time or free time?

This is something I remember from past times when my kids were young and I was at home most of the time: if one is at home, one is thought to be free all the time. When someone wanted an errand run, or company for an outing, I seemed to be the obvious choice. Almost everything around the house and garden automatically became my responsibility: a responsibility that I accepted because I “had the time”, even as I resented the assumption that I would.

To a large extent I continued to shoulder those responsibilities even when I returned to employment. This is part of the reason I felt that going part-time was important to me, as I was struggling to complete my domestic duties in my “free time”. But if I’m not careful the same thing could happen again, and my carefully carved-out “me-time” could be eaten up with window-cleaning, taxi-driving, little shopping trips and shepherding (yes, with real sheep).

My horoscope yesterday said I need to step into the shadows of my own mind in order to reinvent myself and make my work and relationships more relevant. How true!