The Witching Hour

(excuse the super blurry photo. I was trying to be discreet!)

 

Everyone knows the 5pm witching hour. 

In our house it's: dinner prep and waiting for daddy to come home. An hour that sometimes fills with lots of excitement, which leads to loud boys, and ultimately someone crying and whining. 

In order to keep my sanity at this time, I started the "hour quiet time" 

Here's how it goes. 

For the hour of 5-6pm you can either help me in the kitchen to prepare dinner, you can grab a few books and sit on the sofa, or you can color in your sketch books. No coloring books, just sketch books. 

I lit two candles to welcome them to the table. Just the two of them. I dimmed the lights in the entire house and even only used the sink and stove light in the kitchen. THEY LOVED THIS! 

With their sketch books, I asked them to draw their day. What happened in their day that made them feel good. Nolan of coursed drew tons of squiggles lines and then said "Hippo!" I guess he saw a hippo today. Hudson drew a tree with snowy mountains. He is very excited about the snow. We talked about their drawings and at times they would ask me to help them. Hudson wanted to draw a bike, so I drew a bike.. the story then continued. 

This was such a beautiful way for us to connect in harmony with one another. A special time for the three of us to come together. Breathe. And talk. 

At 6pm, we put away the coloring books and the boys were asked to set the table. Napkins folded, silverware placed and then I added two more candles. This was to welcome the four of us together. I told them that I was putting the candles in a circle to show that dinner has brought us all together, that our circle was complete with the arrival of daddy.