parent day.

For Father's Day yesterday I let my husband sleep for twelve uninterrupted hours. Twelve freaking hours! Can you imagine?! He got coconut banana chocolate chip pancakes; photos of him and his beautiful babes in adorable frames; an awesome book about being a new dad (which I've already stolen multiple times to sneak advice); a transmitter thingy so he can listen to his iPod in the car; an afternoon marathon of beer and Dr. Who; and a night out with a fellow new Papa.

Now that is an awesome day.

It brought back the same nagging thoughts I had on my wonderful Mother's Day weekend: why is there only one designated day per year for this? Every freaking day is a Parent Day! We work our little tooshies off taking care of our babes and we deserve more than one day each year to sit back and relax. We need more that one day a year to recharge our batteries. Rest makes us better people which in turn makes us better parents.

So I'm pledging to give both my husband and I each a day all to ourselves once a month. I'll get a day where I can do whatever the freak I want all day long while he takes care of the kids and is extra nice to me. Two weeks later he'll get his turn to relax and unwind and have a perfect housewife and no child responsibilities. In between our "me" days we'll have "us" days where we'll make a conscious effort to have a date. Maybe we can even finagle our friends and family to babysit for us once a month so we can have a real soirée together.

Taking care of ourselves - what a crazy idea, right? You know what would be crazier? If all the mamas in the area had the same day off. Just imagine the possibilities...

trick: deepening a neck stretch.

It's Mother's Day! Which can be filled with incredible joy as the little (or big) ones you created and raised celebrate you and shower you with love. It can also be filled with the stress of having to take care of little rascals on "your" day, plus the added stress of any travel and/or visiting with relatives. It can be a really wonderful but reeeeaaaally long day.

Which is why here at the end of it, as your little ones are finally falling asleep and you are finally getting a quiet moment to yourself, you should take a few minutes for a deep breath and a deep stretch.

Here's how to deepen a neck stretch. It feels amazing and only takes a minute. Do it while you're waiting for the milk to heat up, the baby to fall asleep, the dryer to finish, the water to boil, the email to load. Do it as many times as you want because it feels incredible and helps give you enough of a mini-break to run back to their aid when they wake up and start crying and still feel rejuvenated.

Start by simply stretching your neck: tilt your head to one side, trying to bring your ear down to your shoulder instead of your shoulder up to your ear.

You can use your hand to deepen the stretch if you like. Stay here long enough to take three deep breaths. Enjoy it. Switch sides and take three deep breaths with your other ear reaching down toward your other shoulder.

Next give yourself a little ear massage. Press the lobe of your ear between your fingers and give it a good rub; rub all along the ear from the lobe up to the very top; swipe your index finger along the inside of your ear as if you were trying to wipe water out; and run your fingers along the crease behind your ear. You can do each ear separately or you can do them at the same time, whatever feels better to you. Just make sure they both get a thorough rub-down.

Now for the crazy part. Tilt your head back over to that same neck stretch you started out with. Your head should tilt way more this time! It feels amazing! And it works like a charm every single time.

Hope this helps add a little joy to the end of an already joyful day! Happy Every Day, mama!