Closing Time

One thing that you can pretty much count on…when you stop by Closing Time to read my Time Out for Theta Mom Thursday post each month, it will probably always involve coffee! Unlike last month though, this time I actually left the house for my time out.

Okay, I have to admit though that I did leave the house on a quest…a search for homeschooling supplies. That may not sound very fun to some of you, but for me it was incredibly exciting. See, I have a four year old who loves to learn. When M is in this midst of her schoolwork, E will not leave the table. She wants schoolwork to do. The problem? While E loves the IDEA of worksheets, she is not necessarily fond of actually doing them. They have to be interesting and exciting. The average worksheet doesn’t fit the bill. She’s really more of a hands on learner, but thinks worksheets sound great.

So I am left trying to balance this conundrum. My task on this particular Time Out for Theta Mom day was to get some new materials for E, the key being that I would go shopping ALL BY MYSELF.

My original hope was that when the day came I would have time to shop and sit down for a cup of coffee. When the day arrived, it came along with life, and I knew that the extra time wasn’t going to happen.

The first stop was at a local parent/teacher store, where I completely struck out. I left feeling a bit frustrated. How on earth could they have so much stuff, yet not have anything that would fill E’s needs? On top of that, the employees barely gave me the time of day, even though there was only one other customer in the store. I left feeling discouraged.

My next destination:  Barnes & Noble. I was so busy analyzing and over-analyzing my plight, trying to figure out what to do for my 4 year old who wants fascinating worksheets, that I almost missed the potential. As soon as I opened the door and stepped in, though, I was greeted with the welcome aroma of espresso and books. That was all it took. With a spring in my step I made my way over to the cafe and ordered a cappuccino.

As the barista handed me my drink, he offered to put more milk in it if needed. I thought this was a bit strange at first. Then I wondered how many times a day people come in and order a cappuccino, expecting to get the heavily sweetened, flavored convenience store “cappuccino.” I had to laugh. I knew what I was getting, and it was exactly what I wanted.

With coffee in hand, I made my way to the childrens’ section, where I promptly found a stack of workbook possibilities for E. I then found a cozy chair and perused them all, making my choices while sipping my cappuccino. And just as easy as that, I found everything I needed! I paid for the books, and left feeling refreshed and rejuvenated!

I’m also happy to report that E loves her new workbooks, and it has made our school time go much more smoothly!

I hope you’ll hop over to Theta Mom and see what other moms did with their hour off this month!