I love spending time with my kids, but in the words of Ralph Covert, “I need, and I need a lot of what I need...that’s C-O-F-F-E-E.”
I admit it: Whether it’s coffee, chocolate, or both, I depend on food to boost my mood and help me through the long summer days.
My strategy of choice is to make a pan of brownies and then sneak morsels here and there.
Sure, it’s embarrassing when my kids call me out: “Mommy, why do you smell like chocolate?” – but I bravely work through the shame:
"Mommy just needed a little something - now you finish your strawberry yogurt smoothie!"
Some people ground themselves via mindfulness or exercise or gardening. I have sugar.
Oh – and books. You know that hour between the park and dinner when your kids not so much melt down but catch fire and burn everything in their path?
At that point, I read to my kids. Getting lost in pictures and stories and whole other worlds transports me and my kids back to the green zone.
Technically, books may be highly flammable, but in my house, storytime puts out fires better than anything else I know.
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