You guys know what I mean. If you’re a single parent, you’ve gotten someone else to watch the kids at their place for an afternoon. Or a friend has taken them to the movies. If you’re married, your spouse has taken them out for the afternoon.
What do you revel in?
Me, I usually don’t even turn on the radio. I love not having to listen constantly. I turn off my ears completely.
I love to immerse myself in a book and know I’ll be able to get through a couple of chapters without interruption. I play some Diablo II or Warcraft III or BOOKWORM, for that matter - knowing my concentration’s not going to be interrupted.
I make some cookies and eat them without helpful little people underfoot.
I cook myself a meal without having to do the Kitchen Quadrille. You know that dance…the one where you hop on one foot and spin, then leap to the side, because a three-foot-tall little alien has just materialized by your ankles and you have to NOT knock them into the open cabinet door while also not smashing your elbow on the stove OR dropping the piping-hot chicken you just took out of the oven.
So what do the rest of you like to do when you have a miraculous few hours of alone-time in your own house?
I am an essentially single mother in Japan, Land Of No Babysitters. My husband slept at home 6 nights last month. That is to say he came home at midnight, slept and left again at 5.30am. Not a right lot of help.
What was the height of alone and peaceful luxury last month? Having a pee all by myself…
…till Little Hokkaido Kid worked out how to get a spoon into the slot of the door lock and flick it open.
GAAAAGH! Can’t even pee in peace now!!!
My friend babysits him two hours a week and I go swimming, in return for an English lesson on another day. We both love this arrangement.
In my hour in the pool, I walk up and down, mentally doing my household budget, working out how much more work I can legally do without screwing up my tax situation, plan my resume, paint my new (old!) house, plan the garden, decorate the kids rooms, you name it. It is incredibly soothing. I come back almost human.
I get this on Fridays sometimes, when my SO plays poker with the neighborhood guys and takes the Boy with him to play with the other kids.
I usually go through half an hour of “hmm…what do I do?” I’ll watch movies I’ve recorded just for myself, or play around on the computer without having someone bug me to get off. I’ll take an obscenely long shower and use up all the hot water…with no complaints.
Mainly I just enjoy not hearing, “Mom, come here” or “Ricky, come here” every five minutes.
Alone time?
The last time I was alone in the house, I cleaned out my closets. I would have rather napped, though. If I get the chance to be alone again I think I may chill out with a good book.
I stay awake and go online. Or I wander the empty streets and watch the traffic lights blink yellow yellow yellow like they do all night here. Or, for some real fun, I go off base to Family Mart (a convenience store), where I wander around looking at sushi and unidentifiable beverages until I get bored and come back home.
Usually my nighttime online experience (which I am in now) is interrupted by 2 year old girl’s nightly phobic moment. Last night she lost her toes. A few days ago Cinderella tried to eat her diaper. I hear her coughing now. Wonder what it’ll be tonight?
When I don’t have the house to myself, but do have some “time off,” I go shopping. Or to the movies. Going to the movies on my own feels like a decadent luxury.
Seriously, I’m thinking about having kids now so I try to read about other people’s experiences. It sounds to me like work, work, and a little more work. As I am the single laziest person in South East PA it scares me to think that each and every day will consist of me getting up, working until I can do more, collapsing into bed for less sleep then I need, and getting up to do it all over again. And people actually plan for this?
Absolutely. But there’s also the tickle fights, walks to the park, fits of uncontrollable giggles, a ready-made excuse to always have ice cream on hand, and the cutest little socks you’ve ever seen.
To be fair, I’ve heard that it gets (relatively) easier as they get older. If that’s not true, I don’t want to hear it. It’s the glimmer of hope that’s keeping me sane.
What is this mysterious creature you are talking about? Surely, you don’t mean to infer that parents should be able to have time to themselves. That’s just asking for trouble.
Seriously though, I’m getting tired of being so darn efficient. I even crap efficiently. The closest thing I have to alone time is reading on the subway.
Bella, it does get better, probably by the second year of school. (I hope)
I like going to the city and spending hours alone in the bookshops. I also treasure going to the library alone without having to constantly monitor WTF the boys are doing this time and trying to persuade both of them to modulate their strident tones.
I think I’ll start planning a day off next week. It’s been a long fortnight with no respite care as it’s school holidays and I am a saint, a veritable saint and traded time so that entire groups of children got respite and we missed out. The respite service doesn’t have enough staff in school holidays. Mr P is presenting at the Writers Festival this weekend and going to grown up cocktail parties and hanging out with famous people while I stay home with the kids… who, me? Bitter? Why, yes.
I like being home alone and cleaning and cooking without assistance too.
I put in a CD and listen REALLY loud to music I like for a change.
Cook some curried lamb and stink up the place.
Ya’see it’s different for guys. We can always read in the can anytime and nobody but nobody ever bothers us. No use for bubble baths or cleaning either.
Bongmaster - trust me, it DOES get easier. But it’s pretty daunting at first. What’s amazing is realizing how little sleep you actually need to live - granted, you’re not thinking too clearly on 27 minutes sleep, but the fact that you don’t die from it is pretty impressive after about night #6.
I have a 13 year old now and I have lots of alone time.
