My husband is away playing a show with his band tonight at some nerd con.  The kids are in bed. The animals are all fed (1 rabbit, 1 dog, 2 horses, 4 quail, 12 chickens, phew!).  And now….I have the house to myself.

What is a mama to do?!

Obviously, this is the dream list:

1. Read an entire chapter of a book — maybe TWO — without interruption.
2. Watch a boring documentary with ZERO whining from the peanut gallery.
3. Munch on some treats from the Girl Scout Cookie Cabinet without a single little person trying to steal my cookies.
4. Work on my creative work (book, etc) without having to stop my creative flow process for things like Needing Help Going Potty or More Puffin Rock Please or Mama He’s Not Sharing!!! Disputes, etc.
5. ….SLEEP.

Except here’s what actually happens:

1. Sit down on couch.
2. Retrieve phone.
3. Zone out on phone for an hour.
4. Realize I’ve zoned out on my phone for an hour. Tsk self.
5. Retrieve laptop.
6. Work diligently on creative writing work for ten minutes.
7. Realize I could use a drink. And maybe a snack. Fetch both.
8. Return to couch.
9. Huh, this Wikipedia article about the thing I’m writing about is fascinating, and look, it links to this other article and then this one and then this one and and and and and…
10. ….I wasted my whole solo evening falling down Wikipedia rabbit holes, wrote achingly little, read zero book chapters, watched zero deliciously boring documentaries…

But…

I did eat some of those Girl Scout Cookies all by myself, with ZERO little fingers trying to snatch them away.

So, I’m gonna chalk this solo mama night up as a win.

What’s YOUR favorite solo parenting night activity once the children are fed and in bed?