- Play house or beauty parlor. While the kids “fix your hair” or “put you to bed,” snooze away. If you have older kids, you can even play hide and seek–just make sure they can actually find you at some point.
- One of our favorites: movie time! Find something parent-approved that they haven’t seen (or haven’t seen in a while), grab everyone a snack to munch, and pass out on the couch next to them. If you have a crawler or wanderer, make sure they’re in a pack-n-play or playpen of some sort first to be safe.
- I haven’t personally tried this, so this piece of advice is at-your-own-discretion, but I’ve heard of moms who have gym memberships (or similar) with free childcare for 45 mins or so that check their kids in, then snooze in the car for the allotted time. If you’re not comfortable with that, though (I’m not sure I would be), you can always enlist hubby/bff/grandma/sis to come over to your place and supervise for a bit while you take a nap. Just set a timer for yourself so you’re sure not to excessively wear out your free childcare.
DISCLAIMER: You should never leave your children in an unsafe environment without adult supervision. These tips are only meant to give over-tired, over-worked moms options to regain some sanity after long days and nights of 24/7 on-call duty. As with everything, use common sense. :)
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Days that I’m completely exhausted and there’s no end in sight, I lay on the floor with the kids while they play. They never know I’m snoozing, bc mommy is letting them use her as a hot wheels track lol or playing like I’m knocked out and they have to be the dr lol