I’m really struggling to get time to myself. If it’s not the children wanting my attention, my partner feels that any free time I have I should be giving him my undivided attention. I would love to be able to meditate and but there’s no time for me.

I have worked since I was 14. Sometimes I've had as many as six different jobs at once. I love my work (well, most of the time, most of it). But it feels like all the odds are against me at the moment. My toddler is off nursery for the third time in two months due to vomiting. Even the small amount of self-employed work I'm trying to do is difficult when I can't know from one week to the next whether I'll have any childcare, or be sick myself.

Apart from the fact that our income is lower when I can't work, it makes me feel horrible about myself to keep cancelling plans and just lazing around the house doing endless laundry. I want to do the work I'm good at! My goal with being self-employed was to get some balance but it doesn't seem to be working out that way.

The only blessing is that I can't be fired, because I certainly would have been by this point if I were employed.

We always try to do dinner together to have a family time together in this busy life. Sometimes we cook together for a special day celebration otherwise organise a meal out on our special occasion. We always have a plan to play together like carom board or chess but not always it happened. Always tried to do extra bit to make other family members smile such as doing house chores, etc.

Great question!! Taking my coat off as soon as I get into the house. Rather than, walking straight into the house and being bombarded with teenage angst and drama. Small boundaries are making a big difference. Knock on effect - help with house work - a good result from just taking my coat off before I engage with the 'house'.

As a single parent time to myself seems a rare yet much needed event lately.

I hate to be a creature of habit yet routine is the only real way to secure any 'me time' in my week.

There's always some type of life admin to take care of i.e. bill payments to sort out grocery shopping to organise school emails to respond to or appointments to attend. That's taking into account appointments for myself and my family. For instance this week I forgot a medical appointment I had which I feel rubbish about. There's dry cleaning to collect and I needed to sort out a cheaper mobile phone deal due to the existing contract ending. Also, call me old fashioned, but I still want to buy a card for my nephews birthday tomorrow and will need to deliver it there in person.

All this on top of a home and car to run 1 dependant and 2 non dependant sons to care for and a grandchild I sometimes need to help care for.

At night, even when I eventually get to bed, before I fall asleep my mind is ticking over with the incessant voice in my head wondering whether the kitchen tap is definitely turned off and whether the back door is actually locked properly.

Being a single parent with next to no practical help from extended family or friends is an enormous task. You'd think after 24 plus years of life like this it would have gotten easier.

However after developing an unusual medical condition several years ago immobility and poor health has slowed me right down to a go slow pace.

All of this makes setting 'me time' aside into my daily / weekly schedule even more important to do. It makes me more determined to succeed at finding activities I find rewarding, entertaining and which allow me to make positive connections.

Having a disability obviously means I need to consider physical limitations in addition to cost and time constrains due to parenting responsibilities.

Although along side participating in the Changing Realities project I also enjoy taking part in weekly online chair yoga classes and more recently I've been looking forward to returning to local meditation classes which sadly stopped during the pandemic and I really missed them as a way to stay sane.

I think that covers what I do to get time to myself other than when I'm asleep or when I'm scrolling aimlessly around the internet looking at junk.

The only time I ever get to myself is when my child goes to her dads and even then the time is spent doing housework and catching up with chores undone throughout the week.

I often feel guilty for wishing I had some ME time as that means my child wouldn't be with me and it would feel like i am sending her away.

There used to be a time when we could get away for wee weekend breaks and my child loved them and that was my time also, as just getting away from the "home" space meant I didn't have to think about life just for 2 days. These are no longer affordable as I just bounce from month to month wages leaving no savings behind and that's without buying any oil heating.

We are a family of five, which means we have three children. My 24 hours goes to preparing food, preparing school lunch or snacks for everyone, doing laundry, clean house, etc. My husband sometimes helps me whenever he wishes. Everyone thinks that this is my duty to look after household chores but they forget that there are no special designation for household chores. I rarely get time for my self. When I get time, then I see that everyone is already on their bed. Spend sometime to surf my mobile and then go for bed.

Generally speaking I do feel that I get enough time for myself at the moment - my daughter is 19 months and goes to her dad’s for a few hours most days, and stays overnight there once a week. Although I usually use the time for housework or studying, it does also allow me some time for meeting up with friends or having a long bath and some downtime. However I am pregnant and due any day now, so that balance is going to change dramatically very soon! As I will be breastfeeding, the most time I will get to myself for about a year will be a couple of hours. How I will manage to get any PhD work done, I’m not sure.

I get very little time to myself. I work 2 jobs and the times I am not working I have my son. I'm lucky he sleeps early at night but that time is usually spent catching up with housework, etc