Too Busy for ‘Me-Time’? Here are some top suggestions for busy mums and dads.

If you are busy juggling work, and family life, it’s completely understandable that you feel you have to do mental gymnastics to find some of that coveted ‘ME-TIME’ in your schedule. Here are a few suggestions. 

Re-invigorate with Yoga or Pilates sessions. Yoga, and Pilates, are both disciplines that are fantastic to help you relax whilst at the same time improve the flexibility in your muscles. If you have recently just had a baby, Yoga or Pilates is a great way to strengthen yourself, both mentally and physically. It can really help with your core muscles. Try HD Yoga (hdyoga.co.uk) which provides group, private, kids, and pregnancy yoga. On Fridays, HD YOGA teaches at Space2Bstudios in Melton, where if you have young children, they can go to the toddler classes that are going on at the same time. For the ultimate ‘Me’ time, HD yoga offers retreats, hosted in Waltham On The Wolds in a fabulous country house in May, August, and September. Julie Bickerton, Founder of Baby Nomad (babynomad.net) also offers pregnancy, mother and baby, family and well-woman yoga classes.

 In Balance Pilates (inbalancepilatesrutland.com) provide family-friendly Pilates sessions for mothers and babies. One to look out for are the total stress-busting evenings, run by Michelle Hawes from In-balance pilates and Fika (the Swedish cafe in Oakham, based in Cavells). 

Treat yourself, Dine-in Former Masterchef contestant, Simon Spooner, now runs a company in Ketton offering some interesting ‘eating in’ experiences under the company name ‘Knife, Fork, Spooner’ (knifeforkandspooner.com) Recognising the demands of modern life, Simon came up with the idea to provide delicious high-end cooking and dinner parties in your own home. Families and friends can come together and he and his team will cook, serve up the food and even wash up at the end of it. No need for a baby sitter, no need to rush back from meeting exactly on time (within reason!), no need for taxis home -just great food, it’s got to be a winner! Indulge in Spa Treatments and Spa Days From promoting better sleep to relieving aches and pains, nothing works better to help you destress than spa treatments. 

How about trying Barnsdale Hall Hotel, which affords one of the most impressive views of Rutland Water. The hotel was originally a 19th-century hunting lodge built for the Earl Fitzwilliam. *(Note from editor: please note this article was written pre-COVID, but it's worth checking in with these brilliant folk to find out what they are doing now. Parent Time is currently receiving updates and will feed these through to features and articles shortly).