I love summer. After months of being cooped up you can finally get outside, relax, take it easy with a cool drink, and enjoy the hot summer sun. But other days you’re all hot and sticky and the days are long and kids are arguing and AHHHH! SERENITY NOW!
Hey girl, deep breath.
Here are six simple tips on how to take a timeout. A mom time out.
1) Find a spot.
Lock yourself in the bathroom if you want, I won’t judge. But you don’t need to sit facing a corner nor do you need a mom cave:
Find a spot near your little ones and step back into the next room. Go out in the yard and step back a hundred or so steps. Be far enough where you can think without little voices interrupting you, but close enough to listen when they need you.
2) Get a yummy drink
I love iced tea but sometimes I want something right now instead of, oh I don’t know, a few hours after I needed to start making it? I resisted a Keurig as long as I could but now that I have one, it’s been sooo nice. And fast. Perfect for a quick timeout so that no one realizes you’re making something yummy and wants one too.
Pick your flavor. (Okay, maybe this process is trickier than I let on… #indecisivemuch?) These Lipton K-Cups come in Lemonade Iced Tea, Unsweetened Iced Tea, and Refresh Sweet Tea.
Fill a cup with ice, put the cup in, and press a button. BAM! No squeezing lemons, brewing tea, or figuring out how to sweeten it without getting big clumps.
Then make that drink fancy. Use your favorite cup and add a pretty straw, an umbrella, some fruit or mint, or maybe even googly eyes.
3.) Sit Down
Pretend that you have magic powers. Focus in on you and blur out all the background noise (kinda similar to how my camera lens ignored the laundry and messy table). Just sit for a few minutes. Think, or don’t think, and sip. Breathe in, breathe out, and enjoy this moment while someone is not tattling.
And now that you’re recharged? Go do something.
4) Make Something
I love to create stuff. Even just dipping something into paint can be enough to satisify the craving. My kids have been into making stamps out of fruits and veggies, so I made some stamp art of my own.
Here’s how: take a K-cup, open it up with a knife, empty, wash, and dry it. Squeeze some paint onto scrap paper, dip your cup into the paint, twist, and stamp.
Then, QUICK! Clean it all up before someone comes over and says “I WANT TO PAINT, TOO!!!!”
5. Get Something Done
I’m not trying to trick you with this one, I promise. But sometimes we spend more time putting off tasks than the time it take to do them! (I’m guilty.)
Throw in a load of laundry, set a 15 minute timer and do some dishes, or declutter a drawer or two in your dresser. You’ll feel so much better.
6. Savor Things a Bit
Turn on a movie or bring out the train tracks and legos. Take a shower, turn on some music, read a good book, or my favorite, snuggle up with a kid book and some kids. Click to print out this list of things help you have a better day (or click the image below) and actually do some of the things!
Taking a time out for yourself this summer doesn’t have to be about being alone, it just means taking time to sloooooow down, re-focus, and take a step back from the busy world swirling around us.
Lipton K-Cups are available in stores and online at nationwide retailers where available, learn more here or connect on Facebook or Twitter. And hey, Kermit drinks them so you should too.
How do you take a timeout to recharge?
This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Lipton, but all my opinions are my own. #bemoretea #pmedia http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV
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Ann Marie Heasley
Wow. I literally sat down with some tea and came upon this. Destiny I think. Thanks for the post. It’s Earl Grey for me!
Hahaha! We are on the same wavelength. Yum! :)
I had no idea they made tea for the Keurig! This seems like a great way to relax – I love the added “impromptu craft moment”!
Yes! Definitely nice to get a quick cup when you get little bits of relaxing time here or there. :) Thanks so much, Pam!
I love this! I definitely need a mom time out. :) And I would love to have a a Lipton Iced Tea right now, it’s so hot here.
Every time I see you guys all the way over there on the weather map I want to cry for you. I hope it cools down real soon!!
I have a Keurig Vue, so my new go-to is a Celestial Seasonings Southern Sweet Black Tea. It seemed so silly to me to make iced tea with a Keurig. I resisted buying tea for the Keurig for over a year. Then, one day about 2 months ago, I caved and bought a pack. I popped in a vue cup and had a perfectly brewed and sweetened cup of iced tea in 10 seconds. It was magical. Seriously. Magical.
I already use these for Mommy Time Outs. I hoard them and hide them behind other cup packs. I really do. Those babies are MINE and I only use them when things around here get extreme. (Hello, summer vacation with an 8, 6, and almost-4 year old!!) I totally, totally get your post. Sanity-saving moments, wherever we can get them, are what keep moms the world-over alive and functioning!
Hahaha! Now that you mentioned that, I might have to hide mine too… ;)
“Thanks for discussing, this is a wonderful article. Really looking forward to find out more. Really Great.”
That is a shame that you have to spoil your blog with advertising.
Jenni, I am pretty protective of this blog ad-wise and limit the amount of sponsored posts I accept. In fact, the last sponsored post I did was in November 2013. Since then, I have received and turned down hundreds others (and in turn, the paychecks that go with them) in favor of creating non-paid content. This is a product that I enjoyed and thought was a natural fit, and I wanted to share it with my readers. I am sorry that you feel that it is a poor fit.
That’s fair enough, I probably shouldn’t have commented but at the moment I am trying to limit my exposure to ads, not buy things that aren’t really needed and get the clutter out! I see by the comments that other readers enjoyed it though. Thanks for the blog, I do like reading it.
This is what every woman needs to read! On another note, your nails look so pretty. :)