In the Den

There comes a time during the day in which a parent just needs a little piece and quiet.  A time in which complete silence would be ideal, but most parents would just settle for the household volume to be turned down.  For me, this time is usually about 1:30 or 2:00.  All the bellies are full and everyone is generally happy, but I would like nothing other than to settle down in a comfy couch with a great book or magazine (napping is optional).

I am usually pretty good about putting aside my laundry, dishes, or other household chores in favor of a puzzle, game, or children's book when asked.  I have played countless games such as Trouble and Uno and probably enjoy myself as much as my children.  I enjoy the challenge of a puzzle and am just as satisfied when they are completed, though probably more so because all of the pieces are still there!  I love to read to my children and, now they are older, have them read to me.  I hope my love for reading rubs off on them and their memories of reading stories together linger well into their adult years when they are parents.

But I digress, the afternoon is the hardest time of the day for me.  My friend once told me she loved to play "Family" with her girls and she would play the baby.  The girls would feed her and put her to bed.  She could lay there on the pretense of playing, and if she caught a couple of winks of sleep...well, even better!

My boys don't play "Family" unless they are around her girls, so that game is out for me.  I have tried to be sent to "Time Out" for misbehaving, thirty-seven minutes in my room alone sounds like bliss, but that only happens when another adult is around to send me there and he's not likely to voluntarily take the kids on alone.

So I became desperate, until it struck me!  It's cold outside and there's nothing I would like more than to HIBERNATE!  "Let's hibernate!  I'll be the Momma bear and you can be my cubs.  We'll all snuggle in tight and hibernate through this long winter.  We can snore and make bear noises and then when we wake up, we can growl at each other."  And you know what?  It worked!  It worked especially for LA, my five year-old.  He loves the game and asks to play it almost every afternoon.  The only problem is those pesky little year-old bear cubs.  Don't they know they're supposed to be hibernating?