A new study revealed that parents are only getting an average of 32 minutes of alone time every day.
One of the biggest complain among parents is the fact that they never get anytime by themselves. Stay-at-home moms are always being followed and can't even take a bathroom break without a complete entourage. It is a mystery as to why mom can't pee alone! Parents are constantly being asked to do favors throughout the day. Even parents who have a full time job are still putting in 18 hours to 30 hours of full-parenting every single week.
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On average, parents are only getting 32 minutes a day of "me time." That is based on a study of 2000 parents conducted by Munchary. For nearly 1/3 of parents, the parenting duties don't stop until about 8:00 at night at the earliest. Parents admitted that they find time for themselves when they hide from their kids a few times a week. This takes a devastating toll on your health. Nearly all of the 2000 respondents said that they don't eat healthy because they don't even have time to cook healthy meals. And it was shown that all of the parents skipped an average of 227 meals per year.
When this study was published many parents actually had an issue with the results. Some parents believed that parents could get more than 32 minutes a day of "me time" if they stop micromanaging their kids. One commenter said, "stop helicoptering your kids." It seems like although most people admit that they don't get as much "me time" as they did before having kids, they don't feel like they have completely lost their time by themselves. People started suggesting to teach their kids to be a little bit more independent. If kids are more independent than they might be able to do things by themselves without their parents hovering over them at every move.
We think that this study really is important for parents to understand because "me time" is crucial to everybody's overall mental and physical health. Getting more time by yourself can help with parent burnout. If you are feeling like you need some time alone try talking to your partner so they can give you a necessary break.