The other day I came home from running errands, the crockpot was cooking dinner I had put inside of it before I left the house.  The housekeeper had just left and the house was sparkling clean.  As I walked inside and looked around I thought, ‘This must be what it feels like to have a wife.’  You know, a good wife, not a slacker wife. 

Money has been tight around here lately and some people might look at my bank account and wonder why on earth I still have a housekeeper.  The truth is that it is my one thing, my one luxury.  I don’t get manicures or pedicures anymore.  I don’t get anything waxed, except for my eyebrows, but I really consider that to be a gift to the rest of the world.  I switched to a much, much less expensive hairdresser who frankly does the job just as well.

Having someone come in and clean my house top to bottom every other week takes a huge stress load  off of my shoulders.  I would rather cut back in other areas than let it go.  Sometimes I feel like it is a bit selfish, that there are other things that I could better spend the  money on.  But in the end I have decided that it is  okay to be a bit selfish sometimes.  As mothers, and probably even moreso as working mothers, the guilt over doing anything that is just for yourself can be overwhelming.  Motherhood as sacrifice has become an insidious part of our collective conscience. 

I was talking to a  friend about the one luxury you allow yourself, despite the economy.  Her answer was getting regular manicures.  I have another friend who spends one morning a week at the bookstore drinking her coffee and reading a book.

What is the one luxury that will have to be pried out of your hand kicking and screaming?  Tell me that there is one thing you do for yourself that is a little selfish.  If you can’t think of one thing that you do maybe you should consider adding one to your life on a regualr basis.  Commit to being just a tiny bit selfish in the New Year.