Quiet Time is GLORIOUS.

This is quickly becoming my favourite time of the day.

We are on day four (I think) of afternoon quiet time and is absolutely glorious. The kids accepting that this is just happening whether they like it or not and are starting to embrace it.

S hasn’t really wanted to play with her Barbies lately… but for the past two days she has completely immersed herself in Barbieland in her room and played for over an hour! H is in the basement building Lego superheroes and loving the space. P has every Star Wars toy we own dumped on the floor of his room and is living his best life playing with the millennium falcon. M is downstairs on his computer, and I’m at the kitchen table with mine… and a cup of hot chocolate.

The house is quiet and peaceful. Life is good. <3

Yesterday was a hard day for me. My emotions were all over the place and my anxiety level was through the roof. It stayed that way until bedtime, but I feel better today. I think everyone was a little off yesterday, even without one specific trigger. S is still struggling with big feelings at night before bed, and I had a strange experience with P last night too.

Feeling all the feelings left me absolutely exhausted, so M and I decided to turn in early for once. We’ve both been staying up way too late these past two weeks–honestly, it’s just easier to pass out when I’m dead tired rather than lay awake with my brain running.

Last night I was done by about 9:30. Neither of us could keep our eyes open, so we just crawled into bed. I was almost asleep when I heard P start crying on the monitor.

This is not abnormal–every so often he has a bad dream and cries in his sleep. I usually go in and rub his back, or if he’s really upset, I’ll crawl in bed with him and the minute he can feel me he stops crying and goes back to sleep.

Last night, I laid in his bed and held his tiny body as he sobbed and did all the things I normally do… but he wouldn’t settle. Eventually I got out, pulled him into my arms and rocked him like I did when he was a baby. I walked back and forth across his dark room and felt his body start to relax. He is definitely a little bigger than the last time we walked like that, but it took me right back to the many, many nights I spent walking that track on his floor. He pressed his cheek against mine and within a few minutes he was sleeping peacefully.

Kids are so perceptive and intuitive… I’m sure my sweet almost 4 year old tapped into the mess of emotions that I was yesterday and brought it into his sleep. I’m just glad that a big hug helped him settle and that he seems right as rain today.

Today I’m trying to be gentle both with my own feelings, but also with theirs. We are taking it suuuuuper easy and playing toys and watching movies and being together. So far so good. <3