Mommy Time Outs...

Ahh...the mommy time-out.

One night this past week I just couldn't take the constant chatter of my lovely children any longer. I'd spent all day with them (as I do most days) and we had a good day, but I just yearned for a few minutes of peace. I was making dinner and the kids were at the table patiently waiting. It was too close to dinner to get them started on something to occupy their time. Then all of the sudden, out of my mouth came "Uh-Oh, time for mommy to have a little time out! I'm going to set the timer for 5 minutes and there can be no talking or sounds during my time out."

I set the timer...and magically it worked. The kids sat there quietly and waited out my time out. And thankfully when the timer beeped, they were a lot more calm and actually used their quiet voices for quite a while afterwards.

I have to say, it was the most peaceful 5 minutes of my whole day. I felt so much more relaxed after just those 5 minutes of silence that the rest of the evening was also a lot more relaxed. Bedtime went more smoothly (it was my hubby's late day at work, so usually by bedtime I am just maxed out after being solo all day/night and I can get a bit crabby...) and it was a great way to end the day.

The next night at dinner it was the kids and I, and my MIL & FIL. The kids were rambunctious and having a hard time sitting in their seats and using their quiet voices. It was a bit much for the adults, after a long day, so out came the mommy time out again. I figured it would benefit everyone. It was a bit more challenging with more people since the kids wanted to chat with grandma and grandpa, but eventually it worked out. I had to keep myself from laughing; I don't know why it seemed such a funny thing to me that night. Maybe it was thinking about what my in-laws were thinking about the whole thing, that maybe I was going a bit crazy ;-)

This may become a regular thing at mealtime when the kids are loud, because it just makes for a much more peaceful mealtime. I will have to ask my hubby to try it out sometime if I won't be home for dinner, just to see if it works for him too :-)

I highly recommend this for any adult that will be caring for children - you get a few minutes of peace to relax, the kids get a chance to calm down a bit, so it is a win-win situation for everyone!

I haven't had a lot of time to sit and type lately, but we're working on building that time in to the "schedule". Thank you for sticking with me despite the lack of posts! I have some handwritten material that will make it up soon.

I've also worked on a few recipes this past week, so you'll see them popping up soon over at my new baby: Stirring Up The Kitchen. Be sure to check them out! I didn't feel like I was ready to put my food blog up yet (and I still need to post my "welcome"...) but I've been working on recipes, and glad that I have a space to share them with you all! Eventually the design (etc.) will come together, but we're all just there for the food anyways, right?  ;-)

I'm enjoying this beautiful sunny fall day here in the Midwest  typing outside as my family runs around the yard. Time to put the computer back in the house though...

Hope you are all enjoying this lovely Sunday as well! Where are you reading from? What is your weather like today?