Some Time to Myself

It's hard when you're a mom to get some quiet time to yourself. Don't get me wrong--I love every minute of being a mom. It goes by so quickly, if you blink you miss it. But I think it's important to have a little time to oneself, just to recharge and have a fresh appreciation for your kids.

Early morning fog over the lake--so peaceful!

My little guy loves to hang out with me in the studio which is great, except when I'm trying to measure and calculate. I can't tell you how many book covers I've cut too short because I was being yakked to death.

Another difficult thing to do is get in "the zone" while making art when you are bombarded with questions and random thoughts. "Guess what Momma? John Lennon is taller than Paul McCartney. I can't tell about Ringo because he's always sitting down. What happens if the school bus forgets to drop a kid off? Why is it nighttime in Australia?" and so on.

Looking up at the sky at the park, pretending I am out for a tranquil walk!

I used to get a little time to myself while my son napped during the afternoon. When he got older and stopped napping I made a desperate attempt to encourage him to have quiet time. I set the timer for 30 minutes and told him when the timer dings quiet time will be over.

After about 15 minutes I heard a ding. I looked at the clock, wondering how 30 minutes went by so fast.

"MOMMA! Quiet time is over! Timer went ding!" The little bugger forced the timer to zero! Tricky tricky!

Sadly, that was the end of quiet time.

For those of you that are parents, how do you get a little quiet time for yourself?