Girl Talk Thursday is a weekly event run by Maria of Mommy Melee. This week, we’re discussing the ways we unwind.

For years, before Maia, I was constantly “unwound”.  I rarely felt uptight, stressed, or tired; I was unhappy with a few aspects of my life, but never felt as if those aspects were overwhelming me.  I spent the majority of my time logged into World of Warcraft, socializing with friends.

Now that we have a child, I feel tense all the time.  It’s only at the end of each day — and I never know when the day will end, when Maia will go to sleep for the night — that I realize how tight my shoulders and back are.  The late hours of the day are when I allow myself to consider our situation, our lifestyle, and how I can improve one while maintaining the other.  It’s heavy business that leaves my mind in a fuzz of this is when I can shine, but we’re in a lot of trouble if I can’t.

Taking a hot shower and using one of my five different kinds of soap is my first line of defense against tension.  I stretch these minutes out for as long as I feel like it, reclaiming my body and my time, raising my face to the falling water to close my eyes and simply exist, thinking of nothing and nowhere but myself and where I am.

Allowing myself a mug of sugary peppermint tea, or honeyed lemon tea, or even cayenne-spiked hot chocolate, is another way to unwind.  I’ll curl up in a corner of the couch, the chihuahuas snuggled at my ankles and a book in my hand, to relax.  It usually works.

And, just like every other woman in my family, if I’m extremely angry and stressed, I clean.  I don’t know if it’s because cleaning is a mindless process or because cleaning results in things being more orderly, but either way, it soothes my mind.

How do you unwind?