Yea! Lunch Bunch!

I am a SAHM to three wonderful little men. Understand that I think that beating on your brother, yelling, fighting (we call it wrestling here), leaving messes all over the house, and generally destroying things is wonderful. Doesn't sound so good when it is put like that, but they are boys and there are three of them, so I've learned to accept some of what being a boy is all about. I digress. I am a SAHM, which means that for the past seven years I have been home with one, two, or three kids at a time - all day, every day. The oldest is now in second grade, and the younger two started preschool this past fall, which gave me a whopping two hours for four days a week of "free time" (by the time I dropped them off and picked them up that's all that was left).

Today the little guys are starting "Lunch Bunch" once a week to get a feel for what it will be like when school starts in the fall. They are heading to Kindergarten then, and unlike lots of other moms out there, I can't wait. I love my children very deeply and couldn't imagine life without them, but the messes, the wrestling, the yelling, the whole boy thing in general would get to anyone after a while. So today is the first day of Lunch Bunch, where I will drop them off at 9am, and not pick them up until 2:30pm. That means that I will have a full 5 1/2 hours of time all for myself. So what am I going to do you ask? I could catch up on cleaning but that seems like a complete waste of my first huge chunk of free time in years. Besides, I can clean and do laundry while they are here - and sometimes they even offer to help. I could catch up on organizing my digital pictures, but that sounds so un-fun at the moment. I could call some friends and set up a lunch, but they all have kids at home and while it would probably be a fun and also a diversion, I want some kid-free time.

I think instead what I'll do is something that I've been waiting years to be able to do in the quiet of my own home - I think I'll nap. I can nap in the morning, or nap in the afternoon. I have options for the first time ever. I do nap some when the kids are home (the little two are almost five and the oldest is seven), but it's not a restful nap as I have to keep one ear up and running just in case. And getting back to the beginning, they are loud - very loud. They come by that honestly though - I'm loud too. So, just for today, please don't call me - I'll probably be sleeping.

Cross posted over at DC Metro Moms Blog - where parenting and politics make for an interesting mix.