As a Mom with four children I admit to reaching my wits end…frequently. Sometimes the running, noise and craziness of children’s lives and play can overwhelm a parent. While we love our children, sometimes that runaway vacation on a stranded island seems worthy of selling your kidney on the black market. Oh could you imagine the peace and quiet? Then after one night….maybe two the loneliness would set in and you would give anything to be back in the mix of madness.  Everything would be too quiet and you would miss the snuggles and kisses and the hilarious entertainment the little ones manage to make you giggle with throughout the day. 

 Instead, as parents we develop “Sanity Secrets”. You know the little tricks to buy us that moment of silence and much needed rest. Most parents guard these Sanity Secrets with their life, locked up tighter than Alcatraz! But why? Why not share these secrets and help out our fellow Mothers and Fathers, share some of the clarity moments with them.

Changing the clocks – This is one of our favorites! It can buy us early bedtime quiet without the argumentative fight; just simply turn your clocks forward to the designated bedtime. This trick obviously only works in certain situations. Probably won’t work with children old enough to own cell phones or time keeping pieces in their rooms…unless you are totally pro and manage to change it all! 

My Ears Need A Timeout– This one we developed with Bruiser. Bruiser is very, very talkative and has a high pitched voice that never seems to stay within “indoor” volumes. Sometimes all the chatter and constant vocalizing of the many emergency type vehicle toys he has and the sirens he makes due to “dead” batteries my brain reaches melt down mode. Instead of screaming and freaking out or losing your sanity altogether I simply look over and calmly inform my little guy that we need quiet time for awhile because my ears need a timeout. No argument just a simple, ok mommy for a response. Side note- do not over use this trick, Bruiser has occasionally flipped it on us and let others in the house know that HIS ears need a timeout. 

Hide and Seek– This one I learned from an episode of Roseanne many years ago. Play a game of hide and seek, it will buy a few short moments of silence and space to catch a breather. FYI, the older the kids, the longer the break! 

The Quiet Contest– of course we have all heard of the quiet contest. Who can be quiet the longest? While this may not work for some families the trick is making the prize worth something! Even for older kids, if the prize is worth something amazing…those kids can be quiet FOR A LONG TIME! Prizes can range anywhere from a sucker or fruit snacks to $$$$….whatever the kids are wanting at the time, can be leverage as a prize.

Reading– When the kids have reached the age where they can sit and read quietly you will rejoice at the silence that follows and feel no guilt as you know they are exercising their brains, reading is a GREAT thing!