The One Hobby I Did Not Have To Give Up As A Full-Time Working Mom

The One Hobby I Did Not Have To Give Up As A Full-Time Working Mom

When I first embarked on this dangerous journey we call motherhood, one of the first things I did was stop putting myself first. Feeling tired? The baby had to eat first. Feeling hungry? The baby needs a change first. Need a shower? The baby can’t be left alone, have to wait for my husband to come home. And the list goes on and on and on and on. After I began the habit of putting myself last, I also fell into a routine of not making time for the things I enjoyed.

Before I had babies I was an avid runner, exercised regularly, read often, tried new recipes, kept the house pristine and actually paid attention to the latest fashion trends. A few years ago, I started making a conscious effort to return to some of the things that made me Corie again and found myself struggling to find the time to do so.

And all the other moms said, “DUH!”   

One of the discoveries I made during this era was audiobooks.

I commute 45 minutes to work every morning and another 45 minutes to make it home each afternoon. Obviously not leaving much time for me to catch up on my Netflix shows or cozy down on the couch to read this month’s book of the month club pick. It started when a friend introduced me to my first Podcast, Morbid, a true crime podcast, which had me absolutely hooked. After I realized that I could listen while washing dishes, doing laundry, driving to and from work, while watching the kids at dance and soccer practice – all the things.

I keep my earbuds with me everywhere I go and I have read more books in the last 5 years than I have my entire life. I read everything from Historical Fiction, Romance, Nonfiction, Memoirs and, of course, everyone loves a good SMUT. I sometimes struggled reading nonfiction in the past because it took a while for me to get into the subject by being able to listen to it held my focus and got me through the “slow” parts. Also, being diagnosed with ADHD since I was a kid, it kind of made me wish I had discovered them sooner.

My favorite app to listen to Audiobooks is Audible by Amazon. The first month is free with a free audiobook download. Every month after it costs $16.44 and with the Plus Catalog you have thousands of free options and Audible Exclusives and also 1 Credit (1 book) each month to purchase any book. There are other free options for Audiobooks such as Hoopla if your local library offers it and your library card is active. Spotify also offers many, many audiobook options without the Premium subscription.

My kids have even grown to love “mommy’s car books.”

A couple of their favorites are The Dragon’s Toothache (Audible Exclusive) and Llama Red Pajama (19 stories in one recording). I am currently reading the Crave series by Tracy Wolff (the 4th book, Court). A few of my other favorite authors on Audible are Lisa Barr (Fugitive Colors I’ve read twice and absolutely could not stop), Molly McAdams, spicy, romantic and great storylines, Pam Jenoff (historical fiction focusing on empowering women) Colleen Hoover and so many more that I would be glad to tell you about.

I truly believe that this has been a saving grace for me and my sanity.

I hardly have the time to sit down and lose myself in a movie or the latest Amazon Prime show, but this makes my commute and doing the dishes something that I actually look forward to each day. I have learned, laughed, ugly cried and broadened my mind on all the books I’ve read, which I average about 1 book a week and don’t have a single negative thing to say. I hope that you guys get a chance to try this out, I want to hear what you think and I pray that it is as helpful to you as it has been to me!