After Bed Time

There is a magical time in my house.  It starts at about 7:00, and continues until some time between 8:00 and 10:00.  It’s called Me Time.  It’s the one time of day when I am completely alone, save for a sleeping baby upstairs.  The one time when there is no serious threat of said baby waking up, at least not for more than a few seconds before he will re-settle and go back to sleep.  My husband is usually not home from work yet, the house is quiet.  I have time to do anything. I. want.

I feel like I am not that talented at capitalizing on this time.  Usually I fix myself some dinner and eat it in front of the TV, or at the dining table with a book.  Then I either watch more TV, read more of my book, or play on the internet.  Occasionally I actually do something productive, like fold laundry or prepare food for the next day.  More often than not, I do something that involves sitting on my arse.

I’m okay with that.

I always have a mental list of things I’ll do After He Goes To Bed.  It rarely gets done.  Maybe one item will get crossed off.  I’m starting to learn not to make such a list.  This pocket of time, after all, is the one time of day I can be completely selfish if I so choose.  Sure, there are nap times, but I usually try to be more productive during those, and they are so unpredictable in duration.

Most nights I’d rather have my husband actually get home at a decent time so we can eat dinner together.  But beggars can’t be choosers, and if he is working late, I will try to appreciate the me time while I can get it.  When I go back to work, this time is going to become even more precious, I know.  Or will it? Perhaps when I’m spending my days at the office, alone or actually interacting with other grown-ups, I will want my son to stay awake as long as possible so I can snuggle and cuddle and giggle with him.  I won’t crave the me time at all.  I’m going to be finding out the truth about that all too soon.  So for now, I’ll enjoy those snuggles and cuddles and giggles, but I’m going to keep on enjoying After Bed Time, too.

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