If you, like me, have young kids you’ll understand the “Mom Five Minutes.” You may not have dubbed it such in your life, but I know it happens in your family just like it does in mine.
I didn’t appreciate the Mom Five Minutes until this summer. I’ve spent a lot of time sitting by my mother-in-law’s pool with my kids this year. Often my sister-in-law and her kids are there too. Luckily all the cousins get along most of the time. And they enjoy swimming together. But inevitably the kids want the moms (and the dads) to swim with them. Sometimes my little niece even pipes up “Auntie Jess! Come in the pool!”
It’s nice to be wanted by all these kids. But some days I just want to sit and visit with other adults (while supervising the swimming, of course!) or maybe read my book. On those days my sister-in-law and I have been heard saying “I’ll be there in 5 minutes!” I’m sure every parent is familiar with this delay tactic.
I’m here to tell you the Mom Five Minutes works. Especially when the kids are small and don’t have a great concept of time. Unfortunately the success of the Mom Five Minutes starts to fall off when the kids get telling time, and understanding that Mom (or Dad) is really just stalling.
My oldest is almost 8 and if she’s not well entertained by whatever she wants me to join in with she will quickly call my bluff. She now understands how long 5 minutes really is, and she’s quick to point out that I said “5 minutes” 10 minutes ago. I’m lucky that she doesn’t mind swimming with the other kids without Mom or Dad actually in the pool with her.
My niece is 3 and she and Rose, who’s 5, have no real care about how long ago we said “5 minutes!” They ask us to come in and then forget all about it while they play and have fun. Sometimes 30 minutes go by before they think to ask again. This is the beauty of small kids and the Mom Five Minutes!
I’ve successfully used the Mom Five Minutes in many situations. “Mom, are you going to come outside with us?” “Ya, in 5 minutes!” or “Mom, will you help me clean up?” “Yes, you start and I’ll be there in 5 minutes.” Again, the success depends on how interested they are in the activity they’re doing when they ask me to join.
I want to hear when and where you’ve used the Mom (or Dad) Five Minutes successfully in your life. Or is there a situation when it really didn’t work? And how old were your kids when they stopped falling for it? I’m still going okay with it, but I can see the end approaching with Emma very soon! So share your experiences in the comments please – I love reading your thoughts and stories!
Also, I have to thank Heather, my sister-in-law, for seeding this idea in my mind this summer. We were chatting about the Mom Five Minutes and it’s been rolling around in my mind for the last few weeks. I finally sat down and poured all those thoughts out into a post. I enjoyed writing it, and I hope you enjoyed reading it!
~Jess
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