@hi haha… you funny. :)))

@hi

It's been a while, but I tried to knock out housework with them around. That helped them see that the house didn't magically clean itself nor did meals magically appear while they napped. That left their nap time¹ for me to do work-/hobby-related things.

Additionally, we don't watch much TV (no streaming services, just the occasional DVD from the library), so that frees up a fair bit of time after they go to bed.

Finally, we also later enrolled them in preschool (we opted for 2days/wk when they were 2, 3days/wk when they were 3, etc) which also availed a few hours for work/hobbies.

⸻
¹ this later morphed into "Quiet Rest Time" where they had to spend 60–90min in their room doing something quiet—read, nap, play with toys, whatever as long as it was quiet…at 11 and 16, they still do this on weekends, and it helps with *everybody's* sanity 😆

@hi around 5 AM on saturday and sunday morning before they wake up. Im a morning person so it works out and then maybe 1 day a week after bedtime. But that doesnt happen that often because Im tired.