Audiobooks: Water in the Desert

Benefits of Audiobooks for Busy Parents

How much leisure time do you have? OK, stop laughing. We both know if you have kids, a household, and a job, you have zero free time. But you’re still a human being who needs to unwind or, at least, feed your mind. Books are a great way to do both—but you don’t have time to read. Or do you?

I love to read—it’s been my favourite pastime since I learned how. When my parents needed to deal out a harsh punishment, they took away my books (yeah, I read that much). So when I contemplated how being a parent would monopolize my leisure time, I started to worry.

Enter audiobooks. Since I became a parent, audiobooks have saved me from a life devoid of reading. The only time I have to sit down with my Kindle is often in bed at the end of the day. That lasts a total of 5 minutes before I’m snoring with a screen on my face—thank goodness it’s not a heavy device.

With an audiobook, I can pop in ear buds or stream from my phone to a speaker and have someone read a book to me while I’m doing something else. I listen to audiobooks while I’m doing yard work or making a meal. Sometimes I listen when my daughter is napping and I need to rest my eyes, but my mind is too awake for me to have a proper nap too. If she’s playing quietly on her own and I feel the need for a bit of me time, I’ll listen then too. The last audiobook I “read” was The Whole-Brain Child. 

Do you listen to audiobooks? Do you have some other trick or tool to get in some much-needed you-time? Let us know in the comments.