In astonishing news, researchers recently discovered that water is wet, people need to breathe air, children are demanding, and that it’s important to have hobbies. But you knew all of that, right?

I tend to forget that last one, myself. For me, the hardest part of the so-called “juggle” is remembering that it’s good and healthy to do things I don’t need to. More specifically, I forget to pursue things I don’t need to which don’t include sitting on the couch with some ice cream. I mean, I’m pretty sure I don’t need to watch American Idol, but I’m also not sure that watching bad television and stuffing my face truly qualifies as a hobby.

Here’s the thing: Moms are already likely to put everyone else’s needs first. If you work from home, like I do, you have the freedom to do laundry or throw food in the oven while you’re working. Heck, if you’re lucky, you can even run out and do some errands during the day with relative ease, if you’re not too busy. And then, of course, there’s that wonderful flexibility wherein you’re free to shuttle the kids around after school, help with their homework, etc. Then there’s that time when your spouse comes home and everyone’s sitting down to dinner, and then there’s the bedtime routine to get through, and then—finally!—maybe you and the husband can have a little quality time together. That is, if you don’t have a meeting to run off to, or more work to finish up, which you probably do (because of the errands you ran and the stuff you did for/with the kids, earlier).

Do you see time in there for a hobby? Because most of the time I need to peer pretty deeply into that schedule just to find time for a shower.

But hobbies are essential, because life is more than work and kids and marriage and what’s for dinner. It’s a little way to keep feeding that which is essentially you; not you the mom, or you the employee, or you the wife. Just you, the person. Even better if your hobby takes you out amongst other people, too—not just for the socialization it offers, but because interacting with others who are similarly just enjoying an activity is great reinforcement.

Me, I sing. I’m not claiming to do it particularly well or anything, but even through difficult times (like when I was single and could scarcely afford a sitter), I have continued to sing in a choir because it’s important to me. It flexes muscles and nurtures a part of me in a way that nothing else does. It makes me more me.

Sometimes, it’s a complete and total pain in the ass. I don’t have time for rehearsal, or I have a million other things I should be doing, instead. Every so often I really do have to skip it, but for the most part I make it a priority. It’s a good little safety cap on my self-neglecting tendencies. No matter what else is going on, I know I have at least an hour or two a week when I can go out and step out of my daily mold and just… sing.

It’s so simple, and yet sometimes so hard to give ourselves the permission to do.

Do you have a hobby? If not, why not?