I have re-discovered the secret to keeping my sanity.
I've used this as a stress reliever for years. Why it's importance has taken a seat on the back burner, I can't say. However, right now it's so important, it's right up there with sleeping & eating. The daily shower.

It's so easy as a new mom to forget about all of the things I need to do to take care of myself, like eat, sleep & shower. It's strange because these are basic things. Like breathing. Before Logan, you would never catch me outside of the house, even in the driveway, without having had a shower. Now, there have been times where I haven't had one in 3 days. Gross, I know. But Mr. Fussy Fuss has been taking up quite a bit of my time.

I love the shower so much, I am a self proclaimed shower hog. It's been that way most of my life. So much, that my family knows that if they want a hot shower, they better get it done before I go in. Otherwise, it will be a quick cold one for them. I remember constantly getting yelled at as a kid to get out of the shower, when it seemed as though I was only in there for a few minutes. I was in there for an hour. When Bill & I bought our house, I was all about upgrades in the bathroom. I wanted it to look like a spa. Other than not being able to add jets to the tub (we passed the add on date), it really does feel like a spa. After the construction was complete & we signed our closing papers, I remember standing in the master bath with Bill, crying & crying. I was so happy that we had a beautiful house & a wonderful shower. I kept thanking him for all of his hard work & long hours so that we could have a house like this. The shower is by far my favorite place in the house.

The shower is my escape from life. A place where I'm alone in my thoughts (I actually do my best thinking in there). A place where the moist heat relaxes every muscle in my body. A place where my stress runs down the drain with the peppermint shampoo. Since my re-discovery, I've tried to make it more of a priority. I've noticed that the nightly fussy times are much easier & I'm a little more sane if I've had a shower that day. To get one in during the day is a trick though.

After I had fed, changed & rocked Logan to sleep one evening, I thought that I might have enough time to slip away into my peppermint bliss before Bill got home from work. Logan was asleep in the bassinet in our bedroom & I figured that if he woke up, the sound of the running water might put him back to sleep. Just as I put a glob of shampoo on my head, he woke up. He didn't go back to sleep either. As he cried a blood piercing scream, I hurried as fast as I could to get clean & get out. Forget about shaving that day. I might as well become a hippy on that note. I got out & dried off, picked him up, only to notice baby tears streaming down his face. This was the first time I had seen tears from him. He was so upset that I left him. I figured that I would never be able to shower during the day again.

Now it's become a balancing act of priorities. Sleep in or shower? Yesterday morning I showered after I fed Logan & put him back down to sleep. It was about 6:30 or 7:00. I took a long relaxing break in there, after having been up every 2 hours to feed him that night. I even had time to fold laundry afterward. I was dead tired though. Relaxed, but still exhausted. And as the days go on & Logan becomes more aware & awake, naps are becoming more of a rarity. There are other things that I need to do though, like shower.