The Quiet Moments

So the night has gone like this--dance class for me--my husband supervising shower/bath for the kids, Booster asleep in bed--dance class over for me--walk Thumper two rounds around the neighborhood until she falls asleep--come home to quiet house because my husband doesn't feel well and is asleep. Wow, everyone is asleep. Because my husband is a bit of a night owl, and Thumper sleeps in the car on our oh-so-long trek to pick Booster up from school, I almost never have a quiet moment in the house to myself. So what to do? (I guess I've chosen blogging for the moment.) I feel stress to choose the perfect way to relax. Should I choose a quiet activity like reading knowing that there will be no one to interrupt me, watch girly shows on the computer since my husband won't be there to make fun of me, eat mounds of ice cream since I don't have to worry about being a good example to my kids?

This is something I never had before having kids. I didn't feel anxious about my choice of relaxation, because I had a lot of time to myself. Frankly, I enjoyed that. On a Saturday I could easily pass from running errands, to going on a short hike, to reading, to taking a nap, to working on some little craft project, to meeting friends at a local eatery. I had many of those days when I could just do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted.

Those kinds of days are not a part of my life right now, and sometimes I do miss them. In fact, there are occasions when I chafe against the reality of my kid-saturated days. But I know that these days with my two little ones, 2 and 6, are numbered. These days when they really want to do activities with me, to lean against me, to read with me, to draw pictures together will seem unbelievably precious when they are older and occupied with their own interests and friends.

But even so, now I'm going to eat some cake, drink some tea and watch some girly TV just because I have these few quiet moments right now, and I can get away with it.