As someone who just really, really wants 10 minutes in the morning to catchup on the news, drink hot coffee, and generally be left alone, I feel this topic on a visceral level. You would not believe how much television my children get – or how much I do not care what cabinets they are emptying – in exchange for these moments.
My husband is regularly annoyed, but y’all. How am I supposed to keep them in any sort of line the rest of the day without coffee? How am I even going to get through breakfast?
I’m not. And so, the terror continues.
These 10 parents know my pain, and are sharing their own sacrifices for moments of peace.
10. I’d go with the screen time, myself.
“My husband is [strict] about screen time. I go away to run errands and come home to crayons all over every wall.
He literally just watched him draw on the wall because it was easier than not.”
– Claire G.
9. Long road trips with toddlers are battle conditions.
“On our first road trip, I let my 2-year-old color all over herself in order to make it through the last few hours of the drive.”
– Kelly L.
8.This happened to me, but sunscreen.
“My older son got a tin of butt cream and smeared it all over himself and the carpet when I went downstairs to throw the laundry in.”
– Susan B.
7. When you are that sick, all bets are off.
“Just this past weekend I was diagnosed with the flu and let my 7-year-old do some ‘gem kit’, which [resulted in] sand and hammer marks all over my dining room table and floor.
BUT there was peace for two hours. Sand vacuumed up, table now has character marks.”
– Jill B.
6. The rest of the passengers thank you for your sacrifice.
“I spent many flights letting my son cover my face with painters tape.
I thought he’d like to stick it on the tray table or arm rests or something, but no, my face was the target and I willingly participated for hours of a happy quiet baby on a plane.”
– Christina P.
5. You gotta do what you gotta do. They’re just Doritos.
“I had a stomach bug when [my daughter] was maybe 18-months-old, so still very small.
I usually fed her super healthily but that day I gated off the playroom, gave her a party size bag of Doritos and let her have her way with it. I dozed on the floor, waking occasionally to vomit and see how many more orange hand prints had appeared around the room.
Absolutely worth it.”
– Kathleen K.
4. At least he’s not wasteful.
“My oldest emptied an entire box of tissues while I was taking in groceries from the garage… then shoved them all back into the box again”
– Mara H.
3. Just buy the cheap kind.
“Boxes of tissues.
Sometimes pulling all the tissues (or wipes) out of the container and ‘cleaning’ will keep my 2-year-old busy for so long — totally worth it.”
– Stephanie B.
2. Ooh, this one is brilliant.
“In the warmer months, I’ve put my (now) 2-year-old twins [safely] in the front seat of my parked car… with water bottles, a bag of Goldfish, the windows down, and me sitting outside the car with music playing on my phone.
They love pushing all of the buttons and hollering out the window at dogs and cyclists.
Nothing a vacuum and button reset can’t fix later.”
– Kristina S.
1. I have let my son drench himself with the hose so many times.
“I let my son soak himself at church yesterday because he found a step stool and a water fountain.
He played for 20 minutes and I’m sure he drank some of it, and the rest assisted in keeping him clean.
Which is good because he was too tired for a bath last night!”
– Beth H.
I am not ashamed. In fact, I will do this again tomorrow and also the next day!
What are you willing to let your kids do as long as they’ll leave you alone for 15 or 20 minutes?
We want your confessions in the comments!