Purposeful Parent Tip:  Be grateful for free time.

Today, both of my children were out of the house by 7:00 am. My son is normally out at this time to catch the bus. My daughter, who had a field trip, was picked up by her father who was chaperoning the trip. I closed the front door at 7:05 am and stood for a moment in the silence in the wee hours of the morning. What to do now?

On a typical day, I drive my daughter to school by 9:00 am so my day typically starts by 9:30 am. But on this day, I was given the gift of nearly two whole hours. Let me say that again. Two. Whole. Hours. Can you say “happy dance”?

To a divorced mompreneur with two children, two hours is a lifetime. On the very rare occasions when I find myself with these miraculous pockets of free time, I plan them out to the nanosecond. But this one caught me by surprise. Somehow I didn’t connect the dots and realize that on this particular day, I’d be given this elusive gift.

So there I was standing in my dining room with a blank slate. Hmm. I could have another cup of coffee. No, I’m already supercharged. I could go back to bed. No, then I’m just being lazy. I know! I could work out on the treadmill and begin my journey (once again) of trying to lose the pesky ten pounds that people say I’m crazy to want to lose to which I respond that they are going blind. Naah. You see my dilemma.

Finally I walk over to my laptop, check email, balance my checkbook, and decide that I’m not going to throw away this gift. I decide that I’m going to do what I enjoy most – and that is writing. I check my notebook of potential blog post ideas and off I go. Write, post, write, post. It has a nice rhythm to it, don’t you think?

Now there will be some of you who will say that I “should” have just relaxed, read a book, went for a walk instead of “working”. You might be right. But writing to me is not working. I could do it all day and I’m convinced that I could write a book in a weekend if I actually had a free weekend.

It’s now about 9:20 am – the time I would be arriving back home from dropping off my daughter. I’ve managed somehow to cheat the clock today by two hours. I wonder if my day will seem longer because of this. I wonder if all of my to-do’s for the day will actually get done. I wonder if anyone will read these posts that were miraculously birthed in my precious two hours.

I encourage you to take advantage of that extra time that pops up now and then. Whether you choose to fill them with work or play, recognize them for what they are. A Gift.

And be sure to say “Thank You!”