Quiet Time with Kids

The only quiet I get is when those four little rascals are sleeping. Which means, I get to go to bed around midnight and/or wake up before dawn. If I do both, I am rather a tad bit grumpy. So, lately, I have been greeting my pillow around midnight. And I dread leaving it all alone in the morning.

I don’t get a lot of quiet time to myself with four kids.

I know many things will change when my deployed husband returns home next month. (Many things will have to change when he returns…)

So, I am not a morning person. At all. When I can get the little darlings tucked away in their beds before 9 PM, I am happy to finish some chores and settle down to read. By then, I struggle to read what I should read. I often have to discipline myself to read the Bible instead of the latest Kindle freebie. I try to read a Psalm and/or Proverb every evening before getting too comfy and reading something else. I’m also reading a couple books with online book clubs.

Here is my great, almost brand-new La-Z-Boy recliner I found used on KSL classifieds for only $60! I also found the neatest little table at the thrift store that has a built-in book rack on the bottom.

Voilà! My quiet time/reading nook. Yes, my Rubeus kitty loves his new chair! Didn’t you know he rules this house?!

And here is the battle station. Look how neat and tidy!

I love the smell of organization in the morning.

So, in the mornings, after I’ve been so rudely awakened (occasionally at the unspeakable time of 0530) by a crying baby boy…I say a quick good morning prayer, stumble into his room, try to smile and kiss him and love on him while I change his diaper…stumble downstairs and give him his banana and cereal and cup of milk.

I make coffee (the nectar of the gods). I make it to the desk and check my Facebook and emails and delete 7/8 (a very accurate statistic) of them that are about deals and sales to stores I rarely frequent. (I really should unsubscribe – Who can afford it and who braves actual shopping with 4 kids?)

Then, I read my SOAP verse for the day and pray.

By that time, if I’m lucky (usually I’m interrupted), the boy is done with his breakfast and my coffee is brewed. I wipe him up and let him go wreak havoc on a tidy house…and he doesn’t like his morning naps anymore (what am I to do?)!

I try to settle back in with my cuppa and reading, but that doesn’t always happen. Usually, by that time, my youngest daughter comes bounding down the stairs (can you tell she’s a morning person?) and demands a drink and TV.

I usually go get my eldest daughter up to help me at that point.

On good days, I actually make a hot breakfast and we sit together and read devotions, memory verses, missionary cards, character study, etc.

Then we cheerfully do chores together, like dishes and laundry. I start dinner in the Crockpot or with a marinade.

Then we waltz off to do our read-alouds and family school work.

The lil girls do their Funnix and seat work without complaining usually. Elizabeth is Miss Helper and completes ALL her reading and notebooking in record time.

We all together prepare a lovely nutritious lunch, usually from leftovers.

Lately, the kids have been watching TV with cereal and no milk, much too late into the morning. The basement is still without carpet and all our stuff is in the garage from a sudden flood. Except the TV. The humongous projection TV is jammed into the little living room off the kitchen and it reminds me constantly why I banished it to the basement when we moved here.

I hope and pray to have more discipline to turn the TV off more and focus on finishing our school lessons in the next few weeks before deployment is over.

Many afternoons, I encourage the kids to play in the back yard or quietly in their rooms if the weather is bad.

Some days, I long for bedtime for the kids so I can be by myself for a little while.

How to Have Quiet Time with Kids

There’s a learning curve to having quiet time with kids. I have to model it before I can expect it.

• Model quiet time with quiet activities, quiet voices, soft music for short times
• Quiet busy bags, activities, or books for young children nearby in a safe space
• Designate naptime or rest time mid-afternoon in bedrooms for a half hour or hour for everyone to recharge
• Downtime in afternoon with poetry, audiobooks, tea, and/or art
• Wind-down time in evening with prayers, stories, snuggles, aromatherapy, soft music