yeah, I don't think there's anything wrong with having the time out etc, and completely agree that every household is different.. it's just the phrase that irks me somehow.

And yeah.. having the kids minded so you can catch up on sleep is all good.. but for me, resorting to controlled crying to get that sleep, or making a baby drop night feeds at a really young age, to me isn't about having a happy baby at all.. it's about making baby fit in around you, regardless of how it might affect the baby.

I don't think I've slept through a whole night since DS was born.. so it's coming up to 3 years now LOL. and I could have expressed milk and got someone to help more through the night, but i dunno, I guess my mentality was that feeding was my job.. and even if I expressed for a night worth of feeds, it would only really give me two bothersome days in exchange for a bit of sleep.. ie. a day of expressing to get a few feeds in the fridge, and then the next day dealing with engorged boobies! LOL. So I've just plodded along and followed the kids lead on that kind of thing.

I just feel like the phrase gets used to shirk some everyday mummy stuff. I mean really, when we signed up for this job, we knew life was going to be all about the baby for a while! They start venturing out of the nest soon enough, the first couple of years go pretty quickly.

I think it comes from the general truth that when your needs are met, it is easier to meet other people's needs. I find this to be true in any relationship, if dh is helping me with things and meeting my needs, I'm much more happy to help him and meet his needs. So if a mum gets something she feels she needs (to have her need met), whether that be 10min of 'me time' a day, to a whole day off, or something else, then it helps her to feel a bit more refreshed, loved and ready to nurture other people.
Very very true. i don't want it to sound like I don't think we should have me time or whatever, as I agree with what you've said completely. I just prefer a balance of give & take, and when a very young baby can't voice it's own needs, I feel like that saying leans more towards the take than the give sometimes.

I also feel that if I'm meeting the needs of the baby, the baby is more likely to 'give' me that me-time. I guess it's all just what perspective you take huh.