Quiet Time

One of my favorite things when I was younger was to listen to someone read to me. I remember in elementary school we would have story time right after lunch when our teacher would read to us (my all-time favorite was the Secret Garden). I also remember sitting and reading by myself – an activity that was captured by the camera and has ended up a family favorite.

As I reflected on week #1 at home with all three kids, I realized that I had not ‘scheduled’ any quiet time in our days (well, besides nap time) – and I’m not counting sitting in front of the tv as quiet time (even though everyone is pretty quiet). So, today I introduced this foreign concept to my kids and asked them to pick out two books to sit and read (they were particularly interested in doing what I said since they had just knocked over a lamp and gotten a stern warning and a time-out). I was surprised that L was better at quiet time than J–he wanted to discuss his book, sing while he read and chat about other events from the day. It took a couple of reminders but eventually everyone got the hang of it (for at least 5 minutes!).

For this week, I’m going to make it a point to schedule quite time into our days – whether it’s them guiding their own activities or me reading to them – I figure it will be a good exercise in self-control. I might even bust out my old copy of the Secret Garden and see if they like the story as much as I do. One of my old co-workers talked about a friend of their's who would have their child sit in a particular area (maybe a blanket on the floor) for a certain period of time - maybe I'll give this a try too.

For a long time I have required quiet time at the end of my day. It’s usually spent reading a book (right now I’m reading Emily Griffin) for a few minutes before bed.  As a part of our new quiet time routine, I am going to try and add some time for mommy in the morning as well (considering how much I cherish my sleep I’ll be interested to see how this experiment works!).

Lessons I learned today:

·         If I’m going to keep Sunday as grocery day I’d better go looking my best (it seems that everyone else has decided that Sunday is the best day to buy groceries too!).

·         Sometimes putting the fear of a visit from a police officer helps keep kids in-line.

·         Everyone, old and young, needs some quiet time in their day.