# Alone! Alone at Last! What to do? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 19, 2008, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alone-alone-at-last-what-to-do/453463 "2008-06-19T12:44:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![phall0106](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phall0106/32/5934_2.png) [@phall0106](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phall0106)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alone-alone-at-last-what-to-do/453463/1 "2008-06-19T12:44:25Z")
Hallboy leaves on Sunday for a week at camp, then comes home for two days, then leaves for a month (whoohooo!) at his grandfather’s half way across the country. That leave me alone in the house for the better part of the summer. For the past 24+ years, I’ve been a parent (and a single parent for the past 21+, but that’s another post) which means my house has been littered with kids one way or another. Over the past 5-7 years, the Hallgirls have been fleeing the nest to their own nests and it’s been just Hallboy and I. As far as kids go, he’s pretty low maintenance, so it’s not that I expect my life to change drastically while his room is vacant for the summer. Still, that leaves me and the cats without having to transport Hallboy to friends or listen to video games in the background or even having to seriously consider what we’re doing for dinner. So, fellow Dopers, any suggestions for what I should do with all my alone time? (I still have to show up for work every day, and the funds are still limited, so no traveling to foreign countries–although I’d like to–or redecorating my house or anything wildly expensive.) So far, I have the goal to read through the mystery and suspense section of my local library, but that might get old. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alone-alone-at-last-what-to-do/453463/2 "2008-06-19T12:47:26Z")
Read all those stacks of books you’ve been wanting to read for so long, with no one to bother you. Just don’t break your glasses, or you’ll end up KICKING yourself. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alone-alone-at-last-what-to-do/453463/3 "2008-06-19T13:52:54Z")
Lots and lots of “naked time” ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alone-alone-at-last-what-to-do/453463/4 "2008-06-19T14:03:51Z")
Masturbate like a motherfuck! Seriously though, catch up on your reading list. Start a new hobby. Get more exercise. Organize your computer. Just have a good time b/c you deserve it! ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alone-alone-at-last-what-to-do/453463/5 "2008-06-19T14:16:30Z")
Pedicure! ---
**Author:** ![phall0106](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phall0106/32/5934_2.png) [@phall0106](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phall0106)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alone-alone-at-last-what-to-do/453463/6 "2008-06-19T14:28:09Z")
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ] Lots and lots of “naked time” [/QUOTE] Well, now…Something I hadn’t considered, but expands along the lines of peeing with the bathroom door open. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alone-alone-at-last-what-to-do/453463/7 "2008-06-19T14:33:43Z")
Wine, at least a bottle a day. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alone-alone-at-last-what-to-do/453463/8 "2008-06-19T16:08:09Z")
Eat all the things that _you_ like. Take long baths/showers. Take over the livingroom with a big craft project or repaint, redecorate something (inexpensively.) ---
**Author:** ![Mongo\_Ponton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Mongo\_Ponton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mongo_Ponton)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alone-alone-at-last-what-to-do/453463/9 "2008-06-19T16:11:36Z")
What did you do when you were 22 years old and had time alone? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alone-alone-at-last-what-to-do/453463/10 "2008-06-19T16:16:05Z")
I was hoping to be the first to second everyone else’s wild idea…and then add…“naked.” ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alone-alone-at-last-what-to-do/453463/11 "2008-06-19T16:27:42Z")
If there are movies which you’ve been wanting to watch but haven’t because they made him gag, now’s the time to rent and watch them. When my husband’s away, I get out _The Music Man_ or _Oklahoma_, because he can’t even stand to be in the house if these or something similar is playing. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alone-alone-at-last-what-to-do/453463/12 "2008-06-19T16:34:57Z")
When my husband was gone for a week awhile back, I did what **teela brown** suggested – if the TV was on, it was tuned to TCM. My husband won’t watch a black and white movie. I also ate nothing but chocolate fudge cake one day – breakfast, lunch, and dinner – chocolate fudge cake. Don’t go home after work. Go shopping, or to a museum, or meet friends for dinner and a movie. Pick up a sailor. ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alone-alone-at-last-what-to-do/453463/13 "2008-06-19T16:42:36Z")
Sleep!!! ---
**Author:** ![phall0106](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phall0106/32/5934_2.png) [@phall0106](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phall0106)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alone-alone-at-last-what-to-do/453463/14 "2008-06-19T16:54:16Z")
[QUOTE=Mongo Ponton] What did you do when you were 22 years old and had time alone? [/QUOTE] I had Hallgirl at 17, so technically, I was NEVER a 22 year old at home alone… ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alone-alone-at-last-what-to-do/453463/15 "2008-06-19T19:20:01Z")
On weekends stay up late and sleep in, and have breakfast in bed with the paper. I second the movie suggestion, since I find the “why are you watching that for” attitude ruins my enjoyment. Plus, no one to interrupt. And who can possibly not like _The Music Man_? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Madd\_Maxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alone-alone-at-last-what-to-do/453463/16 "2008-06-19T19:53:50Z")
My in laws (who live with us) are taking our kids to my Sister-in-laws house for a week after the 4th of July. My wife and I will have the house to ourselves for the first time for about 10 years. I plan on sleeping naked again, with the bedroom doors open. There are a few places in our house that I have been wanting to have sex that we previously haven’t. I’m sure we are going to wake up early one day and go somewhere for an entire day with no need that we even make it home. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alone-alone-at-last-what-to-do/453463/17 "2008-06-19T20:01:06Z")
Want to borrow the karaoke machine? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2008, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alone-alone-at-last-what-to-do/453463/18 "2008-06-19T21:05:51Z")
Co-ed hi-arc softball league. You will thank me. Yes you will. ---
**Author:** ![Engineer\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9fc29f/32.png) [@Engineer\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Engineer_Dude)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alone-alone-at-last-what-to-do/453463/19 "2008-06-20T14:36:18Z")
Listen to the radio in the shower. When the DJ says something agree with, yell, “You bet your…_look around nervously_…ASS.” Then laugh. ---
**Author:** ![phall0106](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phall0106/32/5934_2.png) [@phall0106](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phall0106)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2008, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alone-alone-at-last-what-to-do/453463/20 "2008-06-20T16:12:56Z")
I must be a pretty horrid mother. I already do a good portion of these things. Hallboy is a very easy going kid. Sing in the shower? Check. Yell at the radio/TV? Check. Sleep naked? Check (but with door shut and locked. I can’t sleep at all with the door open or unlocked, even with clothing on.) Stay up late and sleep in? I’m a morning person who gets up by 7:00 am regardless of what time I go to bed. For my body, there is no sleeping “in”. Even if there was, Hallboy is a _teenager_, who could far surpass me for sleeping in. Movies, food and other sources of indulgement? Check, check, check. Reading all day? Check. Masterbate like a…well, check, and let’s leave that at that. Maybe I’ll just spend my days pinning for his return. :dubious: Karaokee and softball are not happening in this lifetime, Hallboy or not. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alone-alone-at-last-what-to-do/453463.md?page=2)