Nap time chats.

From the front seat of the car.

Photo by Timur Garifov on Unsplash

Monday lunchtime. I am sitting in the car, laptop balanced on my knee and my empty mug of coffee by my feet. The windows are starting to steam up, creating a cocoon in which I am hiding behind. The postman just walked past to post a letter through our door and I don’t think he even saw me. My daughter is snoring gently from the back seat.

If you are a parent, you will know the small joy of sitting in the car while the baby/toddler naps. We were on our way home from a busy morning at Forest School*, the mud is still stuck under her nails and our hair smells of campfire smoke, when she fell asleep after approximately three minutes of the engine being on.

I don’t know about you, but when they fall asleep in the car, I go into this weird kind of frenzy. What do I do first?

Make a mug of coffee because I haven’t had one yet today. I am trying to cut down.

Grab the laptop from the sitting room to bring out to the car, along with a “Brunch Bar”. Should I bring my book instead and read?

I need to answer emails.

There is a funding report to fill in and send off.

The house could do with a once over with the hoover but I am choosing to sit in the car instead so leave that for now.

Should I watch more south of France holiday vlogs on YouTube ahead of our trip there in two weeks time?

I need to ring the doctors.

It has been a few days since I checked in with everyone else’s lives on social media so maybe I could do that - no, don’t fall down that rabbit hole, it’s a waste of time.

So what have I ended up doing?

Writing this post, feverishly tapping away on the laptop keys because now I have started you can guarantee nap time will be over soon. I probably spent too long working out what to do in this moment of peace.

You are the same I am guessing?

Our heads are filled with too many “to do” lists and then when we find a few minutes to tackle them, we can’t work out where to start. Physical lists are great I have found for helping with this and I try when possible to write things down rather than store them in my head.

Unfortunately, in this instance, I have left my list inside the house and so I am at a loss as to what to do first.

My husband calls me a procrastinator.

Oh yes…the snoring has stopped. We are now entering the groggy “where am I?” waking up phase. She is asking where her pet rock is. We created it together at Forest School this morning and I imagine it will now be the most precious of possessions to her for the remainder of the day.

Better go. But I have enjoyed this brief chat from the front seat of the car, while the toddler naps. Perhaps I will see you here again next week**.

* If you are in the north vicinity of Northumberland, we go to Forest School in Rothbury. It is a beautiful setting at the first school and runs every Monday morning during term time. During the school holidays, Toni also runs holiday clubs for older children. All three of mine love it!

**I won’t be here next week (sitting in the car after Forest School) because it is a bank holiday here in England. Yes, another one! So I will probably be instead entertaining three children in the cheapest way possible before we go on holiday at the start of June.