Every day at some point we have what I so lovingly call “quiet time”. Quiet time is when every person in the house is quiet. This means Mars is napping, and the big kids are in their separate bedrooms being QUIET. I don’t care what they are doing as long as noise is not coming from their rooms. That sounds harsh but I give a lot of myself to my kids- and I rely on having a break from them, and a break from noise. This has been a game changer for us! When you homeschool multiple kids, they do not get a break from each other the way they would in a class room everyday. So it’s super important to create the separation. In our house, Sailor usually reads her current novel, and Fin will either play his reading game or look at books. They do not have to do something school related, they can play with dolls or trucks too as long as they don’t get loud. Quiet time is for at least one hour. Sometimes I can get Mars to sleep longer than an hour, so that extends quiet time a bit- but sometimes I am not that lucky.

 I take this time to get prepped for dinner- decide what I’m making, set out ingredients, and start anything that needs some extra time. I also take this time to refresh all of the diffusers in the house (6 total). I do this about 3 times a day actually. A morning blend (before the kids wake up), afternoon blend (during quiet time, and makes the house smell nice for when Jason gets home from work) and evening/bedtime blend. Oils set the mood, and ultimately support whatever is happening that day whether it’s focus support, or immune support or anything in between.

 It took some time to adjust but now that it’s part of our rhythm, the kids and I both look forward to this scared time of the day.

tips for implementing quiet time + + +

be consistent // decide when quiet time will be each day, and do your best to stick to that time. For us it is after lunch and when Mars takes her afternoon nap.

dont do quiet time on an empty stomach // you know how your kids get out of bed 1000 times a night because they are hungry or thirsty? they will try to do the same thing when you are first implementing quiet time. so nip that in the bud, feed them first. make sure they take some water with them, or let them take a snack into their rooms during quiet time (we don’t eat in our bedrooms so that is usually an exciting thing for my kids haha)

find a separate space for everyone // this is super important. if your kids do not have their own rooms, thats totally ok! have one sit quietly on the couch with a book, while the other is in their bedroom. or maybe one kid gets to be in mama’s room for a day. whatever you have to do to separate them is key

dont force it // don’t make it something that they are going to dred! at first, they probably will not like the idea of quiet time because they don’t fully grasp the concept. that ok, it comes with time. maybe instead of calling it quiet time, you can just explain that it is a time when everyone plays alone and plays quietly.

explain the boundaries // let them know up front what is expected of them during this time. for us, not bothering others and only talking to mama if its super important. define important! (are you bleeding, is there a fire somewhere? if not, then it can probably wait until quiet time is over)

start slowly // some children that are younger, might only stay in their quiet space for a few minutes. praise them for making it that long, and then send them back for 5 more minutes. everyday can be a little longer than the day before until you get to a time frame that feels like everyone is benefiting from it, and is feeling refreshed after

sacred quiet time