Five Minutes For You

When you’re at home with young children, you tend to be on the go pretty much all day. And whenever there are a few moments where you could take a breather the tendency is to push aside any relaxation ideas and to get a chore done while you can.

While this may be admirable, you’re actually not really doing anyone any favours. If you keep working through the day without a break, you’ll become more frazzled, less patient and less fun to be around.

So, next time the kids are watching their favourite programme on TV for 10 minutes or having their afternoon nap, take some time out for yourself. You may be wondering what relaxation you could get from five or ten minutes, but you’d be surprised.

Unwind with a game

If you only have a few minutes to spare, playing a few games online or on your phone is a simple way to relax. There are  hundreds of gaming options; whether it’s a puzzler game, a word game or a real-money games for the more invested. Should you decide you want to dabble a little more seriously in playing games for money, you might even start to seek answers to questions like “what are the best new casino sites in the UK?” to find the best opportunities for big wins.

Completely zone-out

Another way to unwind for five minutes at home is to take yourself to a darkened room, stretch out and close your eyes. Though you may not have time for a real nap, you can benefit from just relaxing for a few minutes and concentrating solely on your breathing. As you lie there, your breathing will become slower and deeper. After just a few minutes, you’ll feel almost as refreshed as having had a sleep – without the drowsy, coming-to feeling that you sometimes get after a real daytime sleep.

A mini pamper session

Being a busy mum, you may have found that you don’t always have time for little beauty regimes that you used to do, like having manicures and pedicures. Instead of getting the next load of washing done when your little one is otherwise occupied, sit down and file and paint your nails instead. Even though it’s not quite the same as having it done for you in a salon, you’ll still feel better for giving yourself a little bit of me-time.

Get out and about

Something that’s always a good thing to do as a mini-break (and you can do this with your child, too) is just to head out for a walk around the block. Even if you only get some fresh air and don’t even get as far as the swings in the park you’ll still have had a change of scene from the house, which will do you all some good.

Everyone needs a break now and then during the day – especially these endless cold and rainy days. Sometimes we just need to break the routine with something a little different.