Time Well Spent?

During college, I occasionally (or not so occasionally...depending on the day) wondered what it would be like to have free time again. To approach a Saturday without stressing about the papers I should be writing or the text books I should be reading. To start an evening without an overflowing "to-do" list lurking behind my every action.

Now, please don't think that I never dinked away time in college. I did. Frequently. But for the most part, I was a very studious scholar. I worried obsessively about my grades and might have been known to have the irrational break down or two from time to time. Or three. Or four. You get the idea.

Even when I had "time" to play, I would sometimes think about what was looming on the homework horizon. I didn't always enjoy my discretionary time for worrying about how I could have spent it better.

Fast forward two years: I have graduated from college and am now a stay-at-home mom. And, surprisingly enough, I have a lot of discretionary time. Granted, I only have one child at this point and she's barreling her way towards the two year mark. Meaning, I've pretty much got her figured out.

Ha. No, I haven't. But we have a pretty predictable schedule and I know that I can count on two to three hours of nap per day and a child-free evening that begins around 7:30 p.m. And...since Spencer (as of yesterday) now gets home between 9:30 and 10:00 every night (and has had that schedule somewhat frequently for the past year), I definitely have a good amount of time to myself.

So, this begs the question, how am I spending this time? I was thinking about this a lot today. This is kind of a unique period in my life. As more kids enter the equation, things are obviously going to change. My nap-time respite will disappear and as more kids and more life experience lands on my plate, things will only get more complicated. Right now, I have a relatively low work load compared to what is to come.

Now, I always have to remind myself that I do have some things on my schedule. I'm the Cubmaster for my ward (and two others...stop laughing...), I try to be a good visiting teacher and friend, I take Grace on lots of outings and am trying to teach her and encourage growth, I have uneven spurts of sociality ( :) ), I exercise regularly, and I get together with my sister and her kids frequently. Not to mention all the things that Spencer and I do together and those unexpected bouts of inexplicable busy-ness that come along every now and again. I work hard to keep my home clean and my daughter and husband fed and groomed. (and the grooming reference to Spencer is not a typo...I'm pretty sure he'd gleefully never shave if I allowed it... :) ) I really never lack for something to do.

But...the fact of the matter is that I can't remember the last time (before two years ago...) that I was able to decide how to spend so much of my time. No one supervises me, I don't really have anyone to account to, and I have few (if any) deadlines. I am completely in charge. :) Well, as "in-charge" as any mother of an almost two year old can be. :)

And how have I spent my non-Grace/non-Spencer time? Honestly, mostly reading. I read A LOT. Excessively? Perhaps. To be honest, I read books like I eat candy: once I start, I just can't stop. :) Thanks to Goodreads, I think that I could somewhat accurately put my "books-I-have-read-since-graduating-from-college-and-having-Grace" total at 77--though that's kind of a low-ball estimate. That's roughly 3.2 books per month. These books have ranged from the scriptures, to parenting books, to novels, to non-fiction, to biographies, to anything and everything that sounds good and is available at the local library. :)

I do other things (I promise!), but I would definitely say that reading occupies the majority of my free time.

And I'm okay with that.

But I'm open to suggestions. How do you spend your free time?