Me Time

Since the very beginning of our courtship, Adam has made it clear that he needs to have a certain amount of time to himself every day. Whereas I'm the type of person who, upon getting home from work, wants to collapse onto the couch into his arms with a giant snuggle, Adam wants to seclude himself in a room with the laptop or a book for a good hour or so. It used to hurt my feelings, because I couldn't understand not wanting to be with the person you haven't seen all day. And then, I just started to realize that we're all built differently with different needs, and I stopped taking it personally. In fact, I tried to use the "time off" to do my own things, too--catch up on phone calls (mostly), read a few pages of a new book, work on a crossword puzzle or watch some tv.

Now that Adam's back in town and we've sunk into a bit of a routine, I find myself falling back into the same patterns of yesteryear...coming home from work and just wanting to be with him--sitting on his lap while we talk about our days, sneak in hugs, cuddle on the couch. And, I'm finding that Adam has not changed much either. He still needs his "Me Time" before being ready to give some of himself over to me (although he's a great dad and pretty much always has time for Bryony). I'm once again trying not to take it personally.

Particularly, when I see that our daughter seems to have inherited her dad's need for "Me Time." Just the other day, Bryony insisted on closing her bedroom door on us as she read her books. Uncomfortable with the idea of leaving her unattended in her room, I opened the door to find her sitting square in the middle of the room, surrounded by a pile of books as she read one aloud. She looked up at me disdainfully. "No, Mama! No door open!"

I'm trying not to take it personally.