If naps are becoming a thing of the past, Quiet Time is taking its place in our household. Though Child Harbat might think she doesn’t need it, she doesn’t realize that WE need it. Often about twenty minutes into quiet time there is silence and my wife and I think, “Finally, she’s succumbed to her obvious exhaustion.” And it is obvious—slumping down in her chair, floppy limbs, low-grade whining—that she needs her sleep in the early afternoon.
This weekend we heard silence and hoped for the best. Then the subtle ‘snick’ of a door unlatching. The padding of little feet. More door latch sounds. This went on for ten minutes until curiosity finally got the best of us. In the front hall, Child Harbat was nowhere to be found but there was a laundry basket, a escape pod of sorts, carefully padded out with a pillow for its two passengers.
Next to the basket were my slippers, also carefully padded to provide a vehicle for Mr. Hamster. Of the little non-napping house nymph that did these things there was no sign. But of all the things a four-year old could do during quiet time besides sleeping, this might be the most entertaining.
This week you’ll notice some new additions to the writing page, a sadly neglected corner of the blog that doesn’t reflect the fact I’m partway through writing my third book. While the cavalcade of rejections from literary agents continues, I thought I’d show some of this work the light of day. I’m just putting up small excerpts so you can get a feel for the work. The Ash of Winter’s Work is a historical fiction work set in Finland and Russia in WWII. From Border to Border is a non-fiction travel manuscript about a Land Rover expedition I undertook from Canada to Mexico off-road. Enjoy!
Writer, architect, father, husband.
Well it looks like her buddies have had a wonderful, creative voyage. It should be an interesting conversation for her to tell you what adventures they had on their trip. Love it.