How do I take out time for myself with my two small kids, one being only year and a half and other 4?

Kristen - posted on 05/14/2012

I agree with the other moms. There's much to to said for "quiet time," napping or not. My 3 year old on the other hand is never quiet. Actually that's not true, when she's sick she's quiet. I just recently bought a gym pass and they have an awesome daycare. My daughter loves it and so do I. It's not cheap but it's worth every penny, even if I just swim and sit in the hot tub.

Tabitha - posted on 05/14/2012

Routine, routine, routine! If they get into the habit of nap time/quiet time every afternoon after lunch, you'll be golden! I would make it around 2-2.5 hours. This also gives them time to relax which makes for better evenings. They don't have to sleep, but they usually will anyway. And don't spend the entire time they're "resting" doing housework either. I would say about half of the time they're resting, you should be resting or at least enjoying a cup of coffee and a book or something. Also, if you spend a day every week or every 2 weeks preparing and freezing your dinners ahead of time it frees up a lot of daily time for you.

Stacey - posted on 05/14/2012

Make sure you give your son plenty of time to play with him when before and after quiet time so he gets time with you too. I just incorporate all the daily tasks and to-do's into our life and make sure I've done some laundry/dishes and cleaning before naptime, and give my son at least 30 minutes of play time. I also have him help out with all the chores, trying to make it fun, and give him praises when he helps. Granted, the days we go anywhere, its not as easy, but you need to make sure you get time to yourself, don't feel guilty about not playing with your son all the time, just be firm and tell him you need some time to yourself, and he can spend time in his room doing whatever quiet thing he wants to do. Books, even tv if you're okay with that. A couple of days of mommy not changing her mind about it will tell him you mean business :) I don't get as much time to just leave the house and go do whatever unless I want to go out after the baby goes to bed because DH is exhausted from his manual labor job, and usually needs to relax in the evening or he has a mountain of to-dos he has to get done..he does all the house repairs, outdoor housework on our 1/3 acre lot, and rarely has down time to himself, so I could never get away with leaving both kids with him for a whole day probably until the kids are older and can be outside with him safely, and even help him with his to-dos. I'm hoping by the time the baby is 3 and our son is 5 1/2, I'll have a little more freedom

Diana - posted on 05/14/2012

Altough my boys are 6 and 9 and both in school full time now, I do remember being home with both of them and wanting that time to myself even if it was just 20 min! I have always had and still do have a routine for my boys, a set schedule, where they know what is coming next, occasionally we will go off the grid and fly by the seat of our pants, but for the most part a set schedule is what works and has worked for us! Anyway, when they we're small and at home with me 24-7 after lunch they would both go down for a nap and sleep between 1-2 hours, I would use that time for me, wether it was doing laundry, taking a nap myself, getting in the shower, preparing dinner or just watching tv or reading it was MY time! Yes, there were times when one would sleep and one would not but, there was also the times when they did and I used it to my adavantage! So my best advice, from experience would be, a routine, kids like to know what's next, and feel safe with a schedule, but like I said before, every once in a great while it is fun to pull out a few surprises! ;)

Sahiba - posted on 05/12/2012

Thanks Stifler's mom, I do that sometimes but not very Sunday. Bocs then my husband feels he has not had enough time for himself as he himself is so busy thru out the week.I think I can do that once in two weeks :))

Sahiba - posted on 05/12/2012

Hey thanks that's really a gud thing to do I feel. Will surely try that next thing tmrw. It's just that he doesn't want t play alone when my little one is sleeping and asks me to play wit him, which in turn again keeps me busy plying with him and n not having enough time for myself.

Stifler's - posted on 05/12/2012

I go out and leave the kids with my husband all day on sundays. he's entitled to do that on saturdays but never does. Not going to let that stop me enjoying my shopping and lunch out with friends. Plus both my kids nap at the same time so I have 2.5 hours a day to myself to watch dr. phil

Stacey - posted on 05/11/2012

I've just started implementing quiet time again with my 3 1/2 year old while my 1 year old is napping. My 3 1/2 year old hasn't napped in a year and a half, but will take one occasionally. I just set him up in his room during the baby's nap and give him books and cars to play with and he's pretty happy most of the time just chilling out in there. I set the timer for 90 minutes. The baby sleeps for 2 hours, so I usually get 1 1/2 hours in the afternoon to just hang out and relax. It helps enormously. I can't tell you how much better a mother I am to have a break in the middle of the day.