New Survey Finds Just How Much "Me Time" Parents Get In A Day, & It's Definitely Not Enough

This morning I did yoga. By myself, in the living room. I used a YouTube video that was pretty serviceable and, more to the point, brief. In the space of my little express yoga video, my dog needed to be let out twice. My teenage son asked me for a ride to the mall and then for a bite to eat. My phone went off a few times during child's pose and I had to quit, which was just as well since I couldn't relax that close to the underside of my filthy couch. All of which should give you an idea of how much "me time" parents get in a day. And spoiler alert: It's definitely not enough.

A new survey calculated how much "me time" parents get on average in a day, according to Parents, and it might not be shocking, but it is a tad depressing. The survey carried out by Munchery, a food delivery service, found that moms get around 32 minutes of "me time" in a day — just 32 minutes! Which would make sense because my yoga video was 35 minutes and I didn't get to finish it.

I should have just zoned out to a rerun of The Office like I wanted.

As CBS News affiliate WSPA reported, the survey looked at the daily lives of 2,000 parents to try to gauge how much time they were getting themselves in a day. You know, for "me time" activities that might include anything not done in the service of others. It doesn't even have to be exciting, you can just be scrolling through your phone or having a bath or, if you want to be super luxurious, having a nap.

Apparently once you're a parent, you only get to do things for yourself for 32 minutes a day.

And here's where things get even more real-plus-depressing; The New York Post reported that nearly one-third of working parents don't get a chance to power down until they've put in an 18-hour day of work, child care, and household tasks.

No wonder most of the parents polled in Munchery's survey admitted they hid from their kids about four times a week just for a little peace and quiet.

As for cooking? Forget about it. According to the survey, as Parents reported, a full 88 percent of these same parents said they never have time to cook. Which is why a survey by a food delivery service is sort of brilliant, isn't it?

I'm already wondering where to order pizza from tonight. Because I'm totally not going to waste my precious 32 minutes of "me time" cooking something nobody in this house will even want to eat. And honestly, I feel like that 32 minutes doesn't take into account the emotional workload of parenting. It's not like you get to shut down your worry or anxiety or fear for your kids in that sad little 32 minutes. In fact, a different survey of 2,000 parents, according to the New York Post, conducted by One Poll found that parents spend an average of 37 hours a week worrying about their kids...

So here's the solution; the next time your friends ask you to go see some movie and you're freaking out because you have so much to do... just go. Take that time for yourself wherever you can get it. Everyone needs to recharge, and as this survey shows, you're probably not going to come by it naturally.

So seek out some "me time." Don't be a statistic.