Secret to Sanity

As summer beckons, I wanted to share our secret to keeping a (mostly) sane mom when kids are around all day every day. While our children are not exclusively homeschooled and attend some classes, most of my kids are home most days. With a hard working husband, most waking hours are attended by mom.

Enter Quiet Time. Each and every afternoon, each boy who no longer naps is required to spend 1 hour quietly by themselves in their room. They may read, play with legos, or play a game as long as it is 1. by themselves and 2. quiet.

I share this because several moms have been flabbergasted by this arrangement recently. They asked, “How can you make a child be in their room quietly for an hour?” I asked, “How can you stay sane if they don’t?” Truthfully, my children don’t know any differently. Even when we travel there is an enforced quiet time even if someone has to read in the bathroom. We all need a little space!! When the boys graduate from nap time to quiet time, they think it is fantastic…a real promotion out of toddlerhood.

But here are a few ideas if you need a little space from the togetherness this summer. Join a library reading competition and have them keep a reading log for it and have one hour of reading time a day. Enforce consequences: if kids come out of their room before the appointed time, they are given more time. Be consistent: it takes 3 weeks to make a habit, right? Make sure they have a clock: Asking mom how many minutes left does not count as quiet time.

What you do with one hour of quiet is up to you! Pray, shower, fold clothes, take a nap as long as it recharges you to get you through the homestretch!