Diary of SIP Parent: Quiet Time for Parents Too
Let’s be honest with ourselves, for the last four months, we parents have been missing one major factor in our lives. The moment of every day where we got a a little peace and quiet, a moment of zen, recharge our batteries, me time or simply quiet time. This time doesn’t necessarily have to be quiet or peaceful, but time to our selves with no kids around us. No this doesn’t happen when you crawl in bed at night! No this doesn’t happen you send the kids in the backyard to play, while you hang out in the front of the house! No this is not having your kids go for a run or to walk the dog!
Quiet time for parents comes in the form of, kids are at school and you just get to sit in the house, relax or simply work in peace. This is the time you spend either at the gym by yourself or simply driving home from work. This me time is how we recharge. This is when we reflect and process. This is how we run through the crap in our lives and prioritize what is needed from the senseless and try to get ahead before little one’s step back in front of you, and just shit all your well played plans.
Kids are amazing, and their daily lives are truly your daily life. We find that perfect balance where the two worlds collide but sheltering in place, blew that all too smithereens. I love my kids, but me time, is truly my only avenue of re-centering myself. In the past I have talked about Quiet Time in our house. I stole it from my upbringing. When we were too old to nap, we simply spent an hour or two in our room. Is this a hostage situation, sure if you want to be that dark. Quiet time is simply the kids hanging out in the room, reading a book, telling themselves stories or simply laying on the floor and exploring their room. No toys! No tech! Maybe sometimes music, but look at is as me time for the kids.
Our oldest has pretty much grown out of the nap time years but every so often I get a glimpse of yawns and rubbing of the eyes. Quiet time, yes in a way it is trick to get the kids to nap. Once in a blue moon, quiet time is initiated and a little over an hour later, they are fast asleep in their beds. We do quiet time a couple days a week, sometime just an hour or some time 90minutes. It’s time for us parents to have a break. Now it’s not a total break, because you are easily interrupted with questions or potty runs. I look at it as, something is better than nothing.
What do I do during these times. First, I try to get ahead of our family daily routine. From paying the bills, volunteer work, or just be able to publish a new family blog post. Although, no quiet time was used in the production of this blog post sadly. Why should you use quiet time, peace of mind. I’ve looked at quiet time, in terms of Spain’s philosophy of the “Siesta”. A law in Spain was enacted decades ago, where stores are asked to close from 2pm-5pm and street noise is to be reduced. Sadly, only 40% of Spaniard today, really honor the traditional siesta time. The practice was to recharge people for living in the evening. You simply close your eyes or sit down and take a break for short time.
The power of a short nap is pretty amazing. I learned this in my 20’s when I used to sneak out of the club around 12am and either sit in the car for 15-20 minutes or just sat around the corner to just close my eyes and do a quick nap. Now the latter of those two options, many a time I was thrown change at, or was woken up by a cop or security guard, making sure I was alive. Those little naps kept me going, when most night you didn’t walk out of the club till 6am or 8am. Even if you fell into a light REM sleep in a short 10 minutes. It’s amazing how your energy level simply reboots. While we were traveling in Japan in Thailand, our travel days were very long and I got into a good pattern of taking Siestas before we started moving again.
As a kid I remembered how quiet time was a way for me to explore my imagination. From the story quilt that I was given as a toddler or staring up at the ceiling in my room and seeing all the familiar shapes that turned into stories. One shape that stands out creating is the monster or grinch shape that I came up with many, many stories. I showed my kids the shape from time to time and now I love to hear about the creatures or shaped they find in their stories. Embrace Quiet Time, it’s your friend!