Between homeschooling, working part time, being a homekeeper, wife to my hubby, and mom to four active boys - there just isn't a lot of "me" time.  We all know that saying - we need to take care of ourselves first in order to take care of others - but practically, I find that hard to do sometimes.

So, my solution is to take nice, long, relaxing showers.  Come to think of it, this is the only place where I am ever alone.  The peace and quiet allow me to relax and spend time with my brain, my heart, myself.  I get my greatest inspirations and ideas in the shower.  My thoughts and plans are solidified here.  Trouble is that in the shower I can't write all these great ideas down and by the time I get out I forget most of them.  It figures.  Oh well, at least "I" know that I was brilliant for a few minutes.

Before I got in the shower today, I told the boys to only bother me if it is important.  I really should have clarified what I meant by important (like broken bones or excessive bleeding).  But I assumed they knew what I meant.  Wrong.
The first knock at the door was followed by:
Mom, can I eat some of my left over Christmas candy that I found under my bed?
My response: Oh yeah, that's important.  Ask me when I get out of the shower.
Another knock by another guy
Mom, I had 2 BP&J sandwhiches but I am still hungry - can I make 2 more?
My response: Oh yeah, that's important.  Ask me when I get out of the shower.
(Notice a pattern here - I figure if I say this every time, they will eventually get the hint and only interrupt me if it really is necessary. I'll let you know in a couple of years if my theory worked.)
Another knock
Mom. Jacob's shooting me with a blow gun!
Now, my boys can make a weapon out of anything and I was really curious about the who/what/when/where/andwhy's of the blow gun so I took the bait:
Where did Jacob get a blowgun?
He made one out of that long thin tube you use to open and close the blinds.
Of course, why didn't I think of that!
What I really wanted to say is: Oh yeah, that's important, but that wouldn't be very nice so I ended my shower and set off to investigate the obviously now broken blinds and Jacob's new blog gun.

So much for alone time.  So much for deep, profound thoughts. 
I'll just have to be happy with peanut butter & jelly and blow guns.