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Health & Fitness

Learning to relax can be stressful!

A stay-at-home mom provides tips on learning how to relax for the Type-A personality.

I don't relax well...or often. I am one of those annoying Type-A personalities who multi-tasks, even when giving the illusion of relaxing. It's gotten worse since I "retired" from the workforce and decided to be a stay-at-home mom during the last fleeting years before the empty nest becomes a reality.

Each day is filled with a thousand little details that I must tend to; all the things that ensure that the family runs smoothly. The laundry is done, the toilet paper restocked, the bills paid, the bird feeders filled, the groceries bought... the list goes on. None of it is flashy or even that memorable, but it needs to be done, and I do it. I enjoy being home and occasionally catching a glimpse of a teenager coming in or out of the house. I sometimes even get a hug from one of them if I move fast enough. You would think that my days would pass pleasantly by, with no boss breathing down my neck, no annoying co-workers, no fear of being downsized or outsourced (right, honey?). So why do I feel so stressed? 

A year ago, after my "job change," my close friend and veteran stay-at-home mom of almost two decades cautioned me about the pitfalls of my new career path. Establish work hours, she warned. Because you never leave "the office" when you're at home, it's easy to work longer hours. Clock in, clock out, and make time for yourself. Just like working outside the home, leave the office behind. Make time to relax. Good advice, and it sounded so easy to do. 

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Strangely enough though, as time went on, I began working longer hours than I did when I had a "real job." Try as I might, it was impossible for me to leave "the office" at...well, "the office." If I could just do one more load of laundry, or balance the checkbook, go through the email or fulfill a request from from one of the kids, then I wouldn't have to deal with it tomorrow. THEN I'd have more free time to relax "after work." Maybe I'd even clock out early and start one of those books I received for Christmas. But somehow that never seemed to quite work out; how can I possibly justify reading a book when there's all this work to be done? And then, lo and behold, a miracle happened - Manchester pool opened! 

So at long last, I'm reading my books. For me, the key to relaxing is (thank you my friend Leslie) getting away from "the office." I head for Schroeder Park, book and sunscreen in hand, and all of a sudden, despite the heat, despite the sound of noisy, happy kids playing in the water, despite the music coming from the speakers, I can RELAX. I'm on my third book of the summer, and my tan is coming along nicely. Weather permitting, the minute my husband comes home from work, we pack the swimming bag and head for the pool. The guilt is gone; replaced by a few stress-free hours a week where I am able to leave my job behind. 

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I'd love to write more now, but I need to get some ME time in before the next workday. I've only got two chapters left, and I don't think I can relax if I don't know how my latest book ends. A special thanks to the Manchester Parks and Recreation Department for all their hard work to keep the Manchester Aquatic Center going strong. I am grateful I have a place to go where I can get away from "the office!"

P.S. Next week: Learning to Relax, Part 2!

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