Taking a Coffee Break

I'm starting to realize that there's a big difference between having some coffee and taking a coffee break. Every morning I stumble to the Keurig, pop in a cup of my choice, tell my kids to just give me a minute to wake up. I get the day started, make more coffee and power through. By the end of the day I know I've had my fair share of caffeine but I never actually remember taking a break, getting that moment to take it all in. It's so important to take an actual coffee break. Tea, diet coke, water- whatever you enjoy, break. I'm learning to make time for that again, and it's harder than I thought.


This came to me just a few days ago when making my afternoon coffee almost felt routine, and not in the "finally, my break time" kinda routine. It felt like it was something I had to do as part of my survival through the day. I decided to just sit down and take it all in. I left the kids toys scattered, sippy cups laying, and kids were yelling in the background. I put my feet up and just took a coffee break. It was great, even for just a few moments. My husband asked me what I was doing, so I snapped a pic (with a filter for effect of course) and sent it. I usually try to multitask when I do take a quick break, and it's pretty effective. I will still do that most days, but I'm going to take a true coffee break once in a while.

It's more than just enjoying that cup of coffee while it's still hot from the actual coffee pot and not the microwave. It's about just taking it all in, leaving the mess, drowning out the chaos and being in that moment. My house will be empty one day and I will wonder where the time went and if I enjoyed any of it. A lot of days I don't enjoy the tantrums and mess that having a full house brings, but that's when I need to tell myself, it won't be like this for long. Not only will I miss having the little ones be little, I'll regret not taking time for myself. My kids need to see me put my feet up, taking a moment and know that I take care of myself too. My daughter walked through the living room and asked if I was ok when she saw the mess and me just looking around. She offered to clean it up, and wondered why I said leave it. Shortly after, the baby cried out from her room and it was time to play again. She went right back to the toys that were out as I finished my coffee. More chaos started, but I had a short break and felt refreshed. When I looked at her with her favorite things I knew I'd miss the mess eventually, I love watching her play. The toys scattered everywhere didn't ruin my day, but I was able to see it in a new light for those short few minutes.

I plan to take more coffee breaks, I want to learn to live in the moment more. It's not easy for me to just let things be sometimes, but I'm realizing how important it is to try. I think we can all be so caught up in what needs to be done, what things should look like, keeping a schedule for the family. We forget to just be present in the moment. So if you're like me, let's challenge ourselves to take a deep breath and take a break. Put on the newest episode of PAW Patrol, grab a coffee and sit. Let the kids watch the tv, watch you do nothing and enjoy the moment together. If your kids still nap at the same time then quickly turn the cartoons off, leave the mess and take it in. We deserve to have these breaks, and I promise we will miss the moments we didn't take in.