NEW: Samantha McDonald

It’s amazing how much good can come from a small time-out. Try it yourself next time work (and life) gets to be too much.

The time-out

It’s all too easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of your daily work life, only to be absolutely exhausted beyond belief by the time you get home at night. 

And then who wants to do anything on weekends except relax (if you’ve been good and left your laptop at work…)?

A client of mine recently found herself in a similar rut, except that the demands of a two-year-old meant that she didn’t really get to relax at home – in fact, she started to resent home life because it meant she couldn’t think clearly among all the normal toddler noise, was not able to do her own thing due to her little one constantly arguing with her in a little person way, and couldn’t even visit the fridge by herself without having a “shadow” follow her every move.

My poor client was getting more and more frustrated, not to mention how frustrated her two-year-old was getting! It seemed to be a no-win situation, and every day it seemed to get worse. Until…

My client’s husband was beginning to see his wife being worn down with the pressures of work and home life, and decided to do something about it. Last Sunday, he bundled up his wife and child in the car, grabbed a cricket bat and a soft ball, and took them off to the park. Well! My client informs me that she hasn’t had so much fun in a long time! In fact, she can’t even remember the last time she laughed so hard!

By getting both his wife and his little girl out of the house, the husband had managed to change their environment, get them some much needed fresh air, and give them a common goal – chasing the ball around the park! My client found that, for the first time in a very long time, she became a carefree “child” again, and she absolutely loved playing with her own child in this way.

After about an hour, with both parents suitably exhausted, the three of them hopped back in the car and drove home, feeling very much like a storybook family. And the biggest reward? The two-year-old was so tired from this bout of exercise, she was as good as gold for the rest of the day and slept soundly through the night!

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