This morning my daughter Ev wanted me to watch her ride her scooter outside.
This sounded like an awesome plan—I figured I would grab my tea and sit on the front doorstep and be alone with my thoughts while she was busy scooting. Doesn’t that sound good??
Except… what kid in the history of the world has ever ridden their scooter WITHOUT saying: Mom! Look at this! Mom did you see what I can do?? Mom, watch me!!! (No kid ever.)
So that is how I ended up not sitting alone with my thoughts in the morning sunshine.
So how DO we get alone time in a house full of people?? From the slightly ridiculous to the more serious, I HAVE THOUGHTS ON THIS ONE.
- Wear headphones plugged in to nothing. 1. It makes the world quieter, and 2. People ask for your attention before they start talking.
- If your people are bigger, just tell them: MOM NEEDS A MINUTE. Mom can’t talk or listen or answer any more questions for the next [insert your own amount of time here].
And then ask them: What are YOU going to do while I’m not available?
You trust them. Give them the power to figure stuff out. - If you have a house full of littles, stretches of quiet are SO MUCH SHORTER and harder to create. Be honest with yourself about what you need MOST in those stretches so you can do THAT instead of something else.
The truth is, we need LOTS of tools here because what worked yesterday will not necessarily work tomorrow.
Remember these strategies for getting work done while your kids are at home? You can 100% repurpose those strategies to get alone time instead of work time. DO. xo!
