I discovered that in a moment of clarity that my guilt came from my perception of time. Considering we are bloggers and are in 2010, we are accustom to instant gratification. That instant gratification is impossible to achieve all the time, and when I fail I feel guilty.

My new exercise is adding buffers of time in the forms of agreements with those closest to me. For one I no longer return phone calls immediately. The agreement can be that for 20 minutes everyday you get to sit in peace and quiet undisturbed. Let all of the thoughts you have in that 20 minutes arrive, say hello, and pass, until you get close to or to a quiet mind.

It has been very beneficial for me, and has helped clear the guilt that I was constantly feeling.

I hope that helps, and good blogging.

Marty

I do feel lucky that our kids are very attached to both Mike & me, but still Mike is away from the home 50 hrs/week that I am here. When it hits 4 days and I haven't been away from the kids & home, I get pretty antsy and overall feel very stifled. I am not a homebody and am overall very independent – my kids challenge both of those qualities (that run strong) in me. Even if I get a night or two out per week, I still get PLENTY of quality time with the kiddies – no worries there =)

Thanks for your input, Chris – I don't think you offended a soul =)

Now, I'm not saying that having “me” time is bad or selfish but when your kids are super attached to your partner and aren't the slightest bit attached to you then you might want to re-evaluate your priorities (both parents – not just the mom). Having said that I don't think Heather has anything to worry about, though. How do I know? Just by reading all the posts/tweets she has about her kids is enough to tell me that she spends a good deal of time “entertaining” her kids.

Oh, I didn't write this to offend anyone…just wanted to clarify that some guys do have these guilty feelings too!