Motherly Advice...taking a mini break at home...

 

Do you ever feel like you've just had enough of everyone and everything?

 

You usually notice it when suddenly the most innocuous request sends you into a flap.

 

Someone says 'where's my socks', and it's all you can do to refrain from screaming  'they're in the #@&* drawer where they always are if you'd just open your eyes'.

 

It's then that you know you need a break. It doesn't have to be a long break. Mini breaks are a great tonic for the flagging carer in all of us. And we are ALL carers in our own fashion aren't we? Some of us care for small children, school aged children, offspring in tertiary education or their first jobs, partners, parents, friends and loved ones. Some of us have made a profession of caring for others.

 

We ALL care for someone in our lives.

 

And that means that sometimes, we ALL need a break.

 

 

 

We took a mini break recently.

 

A bit of sand and surf and a pretty view is very rejuvenating.

 

But we've just as often taken a mini break at home. We simply stop answering phones, turn off the technology, read, sleep, walk, and take it easy.

 

It takes some discipline, but it can be done. Granted, more difficult with young children, but there comes a time for all of us when we can take time out for ourselves, and instead of feeling compelled to fill our days with busy, it's refreshing to see two or three days of nothing as a good thing.

 

We enjoy the garden we've spent 15 years planting and nurturing...

 

 

 

 

We take time to walk our own neighbourhood with all of it's hidden treasures...

 

..this little creek runs along a gorgeous walking path near our home, but it's a bit creepy walking it alone as a woman (we actually had someone the media named The Bike Path Rapist attacking women around here a year or two ago...he was eventually caught, but nobody ever felt the same about this path...such a shame). But walking it with my lovely husband is a singular pleasure.

 

It's a great time to get a bit of a head start on some non-chocolate Easter gifts...these little terrarium bowls remain popular, don't they! But that was a pleasure, not a chore. Make sure you have some pleasurable tasks to look forward to.

 

Fresh fruit and home made yoghurt should be the order of the day for snacks.

 

And the rest of the time we eat just as simply.

 

 

We treat ourselves to exotic cheeses and gourmet potato salad from a local deli.

 

We roll all manner of vegetables and herbs like mint and coriander (cilantro) into rice paper rolls for another simple meal.

 

 

This delectable stuff found it's way onto our platters a few times. The brain never switches off, so of course I've now made my own.

 

It's just half a red cabbage, cut into ribbons, 2 apples chopped, simmered with a few glugs of vinegar, a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar, 2 cloves, a bay leaf, and some chilli seeds. Yummy.

It truly made us wonder why we eat such complicated meals. Especially when we love to eat this way. What a revelation. There is such a difference between eating a full scale meal, and all the preparation and cleaning that goes with that, and simply cutting up a few bits of this and that to enjoy.

 

Lesson learned. The refrigerator is now stocked with salmon, smoked, fresh, and hot smoked, leg ham slices, home made potato salad and coleslaw, as well as olives, pickles, chutneys, relishes, hard boiled eggs, gourmet mustards and jams, thick Greek yoghurt, fresh fruit and leafy vegetables, and home made red cabbage and apple kraut. Dinners are done and dusted in an instant. And brilliant in the heat of our Summer here.

 

Of course, there's also very little washing up, and this type of eating is so much easier on the digestive system. Kids love it, and there's less drama too in dealing with food preferences. You just leave off what they don't like, and load their plate with things they do.

 

 

Of course, we treat ourselves to a coffee here and there. This view greeted us at one memorable spot. We try to find the out of the way spots that engender peace and calm. Not for us the hustle and bustle of the trendy cafes. Not for these mini breaks anyway.

 

And after just a few days, sanity and calm is restored to our tired brains, hearts and souls.

 

Sure it's not the same as a 'real' getaway. But frankly sometimes a 'getaway' is more trouble than it's worth. Unfamiliar beds and pillows, traffic and noise, travel and the trials that come with it, can be vastly overrated.

 

Sometimes, a mini-break in our own home, is just what's needed.

 

Do you do home mini-breaks?

 

...Mimi...