Just Give Me Five Minutes!

Have you heard of the book, "Five Minutes' Peace," by Jill Murphy?  It is one of my favorites!

(Photo courtesy of amazon.com)

One morning the mama elephant, Mrs. Large, walks into the kitchen to find a colossal, breakfast mess!  Her three rambunctious children have spilled a box of cereal all over the floor; the youngest one wearing his corn flakes.  A turned-over jar of honey is dripping down the table legs and crushed soft-boiled eggs liter the counter.    

Mrs. Large takes one look at the disaster and sighs heavily.  She tucks her newspaper into her bathrobe pocket, places her tea on a tray, and lumbers off to the bathroom.  She turns on the faucet and draws herself a nice, warm, relaxing bubble bath.  All she wants is five minutes.  That's it.  Five minutes to relax.  Five minutes of peace.  Five minutes to soothe her "mama soul" before facing the day...and her children!  (Sound familiar?)

  
Unfortunately, her bubble bath quickly loses it's therapeutic properties!  She is joined by her children--one who serenades her on the flute, one who wishes to read aloud to her, and one who bombards her with bath toys.  Eventually, all three children hop into the tub with her!  Poor Mrs. Large.  She can't catch a break!  She gets out of the tub and returns to the kitchen, where she miraculously (and jubilantly) enjoys "three minutes and forty-five seconds" of peace before her children find her again.

This sweet and delightful book is pure joy to read.  The ending always makes me smile.  Perhaps my affinity for the book stems from the fact that it is so easy to relate to!  As mothers, we love our children immensely--a "to the moon and back" kind of love!  We do so much to ensure their happiness.  Our worlds revolve around them.  We work hard day-to-day. 

BUT SOMETIMES WE NEED A BREAK!  Just five minutes to breathe deeply.  To eat a cookie.  To drink a Diet Coke.  To lie down and close our eyes.  To meditate.  To cry.  To read a chapter in a book.   

To use the bathroom! 

Whether it's five minutes, three minutes and forty-five seconds, one minute, or twenty seconds, take a little break today.  Do something nice for yourself.  YOU DESERVE IT!