“Is he still on two naps?” I asked, not because I was particularly interested, but because it’s Park Mom protocol after someone has asked about your child’s routine.

“No, he only does one nap in the morning,” she answered, “But he has Baby Contemplation Hour in the afternoon.”

“What is Baby Contemplation Hour?!” I asked, now very much interested. I envisioned her eighteen month old engaged in a calming yoga session or perhaps meditating. How progressive! How civilized! And what would a one year old meditate on, anyway? Fire trucks? Maybe, with enough practice, he could transcend to another level of consciousness and be the first person to understand the difference between an excavator and a front loader.

“Oh, you know,” (No, I don’t know! But I am desperate to!) “He sits in his crib and reads books,” she explained.

“Oh, you mean, like quiet time,” I responded, disappointed, and feeling rather misled.

This is a smart, normal mom, I thought to myself as my eyes slowly rolled back down into their usual position. She can’t possibly be serious. And then it occurred to me that she probably isn’t and that, just maybe, she’s onto something. Maybe it’s having that little joke with herself right at the point in the afternoon when the clock starts reading “Time Remaining Until Bedtime” that gives her the second wind she needs to finish strong. If I’m honest, I could probably stand to have a few reminders that, in spite of its importance as a whole, every moment of motherhood doesn’t need to be taken quite so seriously.

So, in that spirit, I think I will refer to time spent with only one child as “vacation,” solo trips to the grocery store as “going to the spa,” and bedtime (sorry kids) as “happy hour.”