Me time - Keeping sane on a world trip with two kids

We have a family rule that we've learned to master almost to perfection.  There are times when the place where we are influences this rule more than we do, but we make it a point to stick to it most of the time, for the mental and physical health of our family.

"Me time." We each have our own.  It's just as important as the air we breathe, and being that we are together 24/7, I might even say that it's more important than the air we breathe.  

Coffee moment in Bali.

It doesn't really matter at what time during the day we get to it, as long as we get to it, because we each need this alone time, this 'me time.'  For instance, I'm a morning person, I like to do yoga or exercise or meditate in the morning, and if there's a beach close by I like to take a walk along the beach.  I also like to have time to go for a walk, to relax or do what I want to do on a given day.  This is besides the hours that I dedicate to work, it's a personal moment for ourselves.  The children also have their time to play, a time that is set aside when they don't feel like going somewhere to see a temple nor leave our home for any reason, even if our home is just a tiny room, they too need to have their down time and their play time.  Artur has his 'me time' when he exercises or plays golf, or writes.  We each do what we enjoy doing during that special time.

Julia and Blas, a little surfing. Back, parents pushing back and forth, for a long time.

There are times when we can't have our 'me time', and we notice the difference, because we tend to feel grumpy and we are less lenient.  Then there are also those times when we only have time to go for a short walk around the block, but it still helps, as long as we get to do it alone, that's what's important about that time to ourselves, to be able to be by ourselves.  Because as my dad used to say, 'we must first take care of ourselves if we want to be able to be able to take care of others.'