How to Spend Less Time With Your Kids (or How to Save Your Sanity)

Don't want to see your kids today? Starting to regret that week off of school? Every mom gets there, especially if you work at home with your kids all around you. When Winter gets unbearably cold (like now!) or your routines grow stale, the life of the mom can start to seem repetitive and so very indoors. The things your kids normally do begin to irritate you. You can't bear to put the furniture — now in a giant fort formation — back in place or stare down yet another round of laundry. You're off track, and it can be hard to get back on. Time for yourself seems elusive and even the idea of being without your children can seem like a fantasy.

With sitters at (and costing) a premium, I present you with a few ideas for spending less time with your kids without hiring outside help:

• Find a gym with childcare: Give yourself an hour to dump your kids and work up a sweat. There are even a few grocery stores (ahem, Wegmans) out there with playtime/"childcare" so you can shop alone.
• Divide and conquer: If you stay at home, it's typically the dinner hour that gets hairy, or the transition hours between when your partner arrives and bedtime. After a long day at home, sometimes bedtime is my least favorite chore. What to do? Leave the house when your partner arrives. Go have dinner by yourself while they do dinner and bed. Then trade, so your partner can have the same break. There are also plenty of kid things you don't need to both do together. You don't both need to go to birthday parties. You don't both need to take your kid to swim lessons, etc.
• Kids' night out: Do you fantasize about being in the house alone? In this case, Dad takes the kids out for dinner or brunch while you sit with coffee and read the paper.
• Weekend downtime: For more time, identify the downtimes when only one of you is required. Saturday and Sunday mornings are ideal for you to trade workouts or a bit of time in the coffee shop.
• Evenings: Plan a night out with your friends. Most evenings, parents are doing nothing after 7 p.m. but the same chores, watching TV, or catching up on work. Get yourself to a bar or movie or a walk at the mall. Just step outside: go for a short 15-minute walk once everyone is out of your hair.
• Commit: Sign up for a class. When you commit to something, be it in the evenings or the early mornings, it can be easier to leave your kids if it's on the calendar and easier for your spouse to cover.
• Trade childcare: Find a friend with whom you can swap drop-off playdates. This works well when kids are ages 3 and up. At some point, it's easier to watch your kid and their friend than just your kid(s). Find a fellow mom you get along with who has a kid your kid plays well with (no small task), and propose a trade.
• Borrow an older "sibling": Find a young child in your neighborhood, age 8 to 12, who can play with your kids while you're home. Older children are great entertainers and kid organizers.
• Church or temple: Religious communities offer nurseries and childcare while you feed your spiritual self.

If all else fails, hire a sitter. Don't hire a sitter for after you're kids are in bed. Hire a sitter for the afternoon to bedtime, have a beer with your spouse or yourself, and come home to a quiet house for the evening. You deserve it!