Let the mother play for goodness sakes!

I've gotten a few emails lately on burn out. It might be that time of year where the newness of the new school year has worn off and we're in the nitty gritty. I know I've written extensively about the subject here, along with my own experiences with burn out.

It seems to me that a huge part of burn-out is the mother not allowing herself to "play". I think of Karen Andreola, writer of the Charlotte Mason Companion urging: "Let the mother out to play!" This could mean many things. A day away from the children, doing what you love to do, time to clean out that drawer that has been bothering you, re-arranging the furniture in your house, taking time to exercise, meeting a friend for tea and uninterrupted conversation, reading a book, and so on. The principle is that you take time away from the duties in your life and just "play" so it refreshes you. Of course, that is just a start when you are dealing with burn out/depression. I also just wanted to direct you all to Elizabeth's posts on burnout as well as a very good post by my friend Kristen on Building An Anchor.