Thursday, June 7, 2012

Random....by Justine



I've been meaning to post Ollie's favorite bedtime song.  I suddenly realized my lullaby repertoire consisted of Princess Songs and I needed a good "boy" lullaby.  Heard this Paul Simon song and fell in love with it.  Ollie loves it too...even when I attempt to sing it.


On another "Mothering" note, I stumbled across this blog, Steadymom.com.  I  loved her post "6 Survival Strategies for the Introverted Mom" and had to share. 

1. Institute a mandatory rest or nap time. 
2. Outsource playdates.
3. Accept invitations (or extend them).
4. Teach your kids to use a whisper voice.

5. Write every day.
6. Alternate times of expansion with times of contraction.

My parents can attest to the fact that I like to be alone.  I loved being sent to my room when I was little so they had to come up with another punishment.  Nowadays quiet time is extremely hard to come by so these strategies will come in handy.  Today, I instituted "quiet-time."  Everyone was sent to their room to read quietly for a half hour...even me.  At 27 minutes I found Phoebe sitting on the kitchen floor watching the timer countdown.  At least she was doing so quietly.  I also tried to get them to do "whisper-time" at the making dinner meltdown time AKA 5:30 pm but Oliver's screaming made that pointless.  Fortunately Daddy returned home for work just in time to save me!

Anyone else need their quiet/alone time?


7 comments:

Juliana said...

I love quiet time almost too much! Its a little hard to escape when the only fully enclosed room is the bathroom. But when i do get it, i looovvveee it!

Jessica said...

oh man do i love quiet time. although i would say i'm normally an extrovert...I think I'm an introvert mom because a lot of those suggestions definitely apply to me. Especially that one about having playdates somewhere else other than your home. I totally get stressed out over that one, not when the kids are there alone, but when the mom is there. I make my kids go to their own bedrooms for at least an hour a day because I need time alone to process through some of my cobwebs. When the kids are talking nonstop there is stuff in my head that I can't process until it's quiet! Oh man, I need therapy :)

Ruthie said...

hanks for sharing this I will have to check that blog out for sure! Maybe it will help me out too. One of the hardest things for me about motherhood is the lack of time to myself, as well. I have out of necessity, from day one of Jude stopping his naps, made him have a hour of quiet time with a huge stack of books in his room each day while his bother takes his nap. Otherwise I would not have one second alone all day. Except showers, which tend to be way too long, because of this reason I suppose.
Oh and my go-to lullaby, for my boys has always been "I Will" by the Beatles. Which Paul Simon song is now yours?

Ruthie said...

Oh my internet went out as soon as I got on this page so I couldn't see that you attached the song till later. It's a sweet song, I like it too.

Juliana said...

by the way, that song is super cute!

Anonymous said...

Yes! Must. have. alone. time. I would go even crazier with out it. "Happy wife (mother) makes happy life" right?

Nina

Annalee said...

I'm more of an extrovert but need my alone time for sure, hard in our tiny house and two munchkins that nap at different times but my hubby helps make sure I get it:)