Perhaps you have noticed that the title of this post is capitalized.
That is because of its great importance. I always write about Quiet Time in capital letters. I even try to speak about it in capital letters, although that is, admittedly, more difficult.
Since time immemorial we have observed Quiet Time in our family. Originally we called it naptime (I didn't always think to capitalize it then), but as the nappers grew fewer in number - and greater in age - naptime became a misnomer and we transitioned to Quiet Time.
This is what Quiet Time is (for our family):
1) Everyone is in a separate room (if possible).
2) No one talks.
3) Mommy (that's me) gets to read, or nap, or have a snack,
or talk on the phone to a friend without interruptions.
Sometimes, all of the above.
Since it started out as naptime, it was easy at first. Of course it was quiet; they were asleep!
But then they stopped needing sleep. Then it got hard (for a time). I put on calming music and gave them books to look at and told them no talking. Someone-who-shall-remain-nameless required quite a bit of training in this. I had to give up, for a time, my own nap/snack/phone conversation in order to sit in her room with her, at the ready should any corrections be needed (and they usually were).
Eventually, though, everyone got the hang of it and it stopped being hard and instead became a Thing of Exquisite Beauty, well worth the initial effort required.
In our house now, every day at one o'clock, the children all gather in the livingroom (or the playroom, if Lego projects are in progress) and sit more or less quietly while I read aloud to them from a book. This is a cozy time and the prime seats are considered to be on either side of Mommy, snuggled up against one shoulder or the other, following along in the book du jour.
By one-thirty, we're usually "right at a good place!" but my throat is parched and after all, it is time to begin Quiet Time, so we put the book away till tomorrow. If it's a weekday, Sugar, Spice, and Nice gather their schoolbooks and whatever "fun" book they're in the middle of, and Lil' Snip puts a few toys and books into his basket, and up the steps they all go.
* * * sigh * * *
And for the next hour and a half, the house is quiet (except for Lil' Snip's signature request for a bum-wipe: "I did a poooooo!").
And Mommy gets to read her book, or take a nap, or talk to a friend on the phone without any interruptions.
And when three o'clock arrives, restored by solitude, we are happy to see each other again.
And that, my gentle reader, is Quiet Time.
* [I feel it only honest to add that I know nothing of the poet e. e. cummings other than his uncapitalized name, and what wikipedia just told me.]
