Now is the time of year when I hear from parents of children going to public/private schools that they are looking forward to moments of peace with their children gone during the day. So when are your peaceful moments? Do you need them? Do you get them? We have peaceful moments (on the most part) after the kids have gone to bed for the night. I'm a night owl so that can be for 4-5 hours. Naptime is peaceful too. My older kids go upstairs to play or watch a DVD while my daughter sleeps. But mostly our peaceful moments come in laid back times throughout the day. We have no stresses of running here and there. We have no need to wake up early. We have no homework stresses.
My quiet times are in the morning between Dh heading off to work and the kids getting up. Depending on Dh's shift, that can range from 5am-8am and anywhere in between. We try to alter our bedtime (not enforced, just respected ) to go along with Dh's work schedule (he has 6 months at a time on whatever shift he is on). It works well for us and I don't feel at all stressed. My kids are 14 adn 11, so that might have something to do with it, too.
I had a "peaceful time" this morning at 4:30 when I couldn't get back to sleep. So I came downstairs and canned peaches. HOWEVER...last Monday, Carl took all three kids to his Conservation Club. I almost went, because I wanted to pick blackberries, but I was SO tired!!! So he told me to stay home, and Rachael picked 8 cups for me! If I could get a bubblebath once a month, with candles, a good book, and NO kid interruptions, I'd be happy!
canning peaches is peaceful?! well I go out and pull weeds in the garden, does that count as a peaceful moment? Might be if my neighbors brat kids weren't yelling harassing things at me and sticking their tongue out and such.
Jackie you sound just like my MIL. She said that when her boys were growing up her peaceful time was 5 am getting up early to bake bread! She used to sell home made bread every day to families in her neighborhood. My peaceful time is mid morning when the kids play really nice on their own, but that ends around 11:30, when they start getting crabby before lunch. Then again around 1:30 when my dd goes to sleep, but at that time my oldest wants to do an activity or craft that he can't do with dd climbing everywhere. I'm happy with my life though. I don't feel like I need some sort of program to take my kids. We get along well. I do have days when I ask DH to take the kids out for an evening so I can have a break. But we're doing okay. You have to find times to give yourself a break and get some peace - or you'll go crazy!!! Oh, and my kids know if I'm holding a mug (usually coffee), I will not get up to get them something!
peaceful moments?? What are you talking about? Hubby and I's sleep is almost always interupted by a kid or 2 climbing in bed with us, so even sleeping isn't a peaceful moment in our house! I just try to remind myself, when I'm ready to scream because it's so loud here I can't even think straight, someday they will all be grown and I will miss all the craziness.
I have about 2 hours in the am between my DH leaving for work at 7am and my kids rolling out of bed by 9am. If my 5 yr old gets up before that she will put her tv on and watch Nick Jr until about 9am when I start to get our day going. My kids dont have to be up at any certain time, but 9 am is when I will start with the laundry or vacuuming and there is no sleeping because I blast my music. At night my two younger kids are in bed by 9:30 and my two older boys (18 and 22) are off to their rooms to do their own thing while my husband and I spend time together watching tv, reading or just lounging in bed discussing our day. That is OUR time together, and the kids know if they knock on the door it better be because someones hair is on fire.
The most peaceful time of the day lasts only 5 minutes ... when dh comes home from work, the dogs are barking, kids are screaming "Daddy!!!!!!", chaos, chaos, chaos, ... then they all go out the back door to play in the yard for a sec. The house is totally quiet. Ahhhhhhhh!
Peaceful time here is extremely rare right now. My husband is out west working so it's just me and the kids 24/7. The good thing about it is, I guess, that when my MIL or my mom takes all the kids for a few hours so that I can catch a movie or just come home and be by myself for a few hours, I really really appreciate it LOL
Naptime & after the kids go to bed, definitely.. Any other time is pretty loud around here lol. I enjoy my peace & quiet for that little bit of time. It's all I need =)
Peaceful time?? What is that?? Ok, so if I had to think of a peacful time...it would be while I am sleeping.
I always think it's funny to listen to parent's this time of year, talking about how they can't wait to get rid of their kids. I don't know if my kids are inherently different or I am inherently different but I just don't feel that way. I mean I'm not supermom, sometimes I need a break, but I send them to quiet time for an hour and I'm good to go. I am a night owl so I usually have 2 hours after they go to bed, and I have our quiet time for an hour after lunch. And lately when I'm super tired in the afternoons I lay down during my baby's nap while my kids play Wii for an hour.
early n the morning while everyones asleep. When the kids are reading or working independantly, there are many times of peacefulness!
Peaceful time here is early in the morning when everyone is asleep. I agree with amylynn I love being around my child. When I did home daycare I had a parent tell me she couldn't do 24/7 with her child. This made me sad. We must all have something special!! Because we do it all the time. Even with my child having a mood disorder I couldn't imagine him anywhere else!!!
Peaceful moments here are nap times, usually. It's just me by myself then b/c DH is at work, and I can read my Nora Roberts books and have a warm cinnamon roll, or some warm homemade bread! (The simple pleasures.) We have another after the kids go to bed and DH is home. That usually lasts about 2 hours or so b4 I go to bed. We also have an hour, from 4 to 5, where we watch Glenn Beck. Even though our kids are young, they know at that time to play quietly in their room while mom and dad watch the show (which is the only hour of adult TV we get all day until they go to bed.)
My quiet times are in the evening after the children are in bed. Sometimes I just veg, and other times I finish up all the odds and ends that weren't completed earlier. I definitely need my "me time". Not a lot, but enough to recharge so I can be 100% come morning.
:0) Peaceful moments are rare. But as soon as five minutes pass without noise I generally feel like either the kids are up to something or I miss their noise. I like morning cuddle time with my kids. DH goes to work early and I am not a morning person. So I wait for the kids to show up for their snuggles. We get lots of discussion about the world and life in general. I agree that it is sad that so many parents don't find their kid time special and that they want to be free of them for so much time. I miss them and they miss me. Of course they are still little but I hope it may continue this way until they are too old to snuggle with Mom
My peaceful moments are after all the kids are in bed, the days DH is off and I am volunteering at Church, and the Mom Time Out's from our local Homeschool group.
Sounds like our house, at least I only have 2 kids, but it still seems like the peaceful moments are very few and far between, and most of teh time I love teh craziness.
