“I don’t have time for that right now, Emily,” Sarah said, trying to shut the door. Her little sister stood in the hallway, holding her newest library book.
“I want you to read to me, Sarah,” Emily said.
“I know, but I’m busy,” Sarah replied, closing the door another couple inches. Suddenly Matthew and Joshua appeared in the hallway, Matthew carrying the triplets’ favorite board game.
Oh no, Sarah groaned to herself. She knew exactly what the arrival of that game meant.
“I really don’t have time to play right now, guys,” Sarah said. “I’ll see you later.”
Quickly, Sarah shut the door, before the kids’ protests could even begin.
Alone at last, Sarah thought as she leaned back against her door. Of course I love the kids, but they want way too much of my time. I just can’t take it any more. I need some time for me.
Sarah flopped onto her bed. She clicked the remote to turn on her stereo and grabbed a magazine from her nightstand.
I know that what I’m doing isn’t the most important stuff ever, she told herself, but I just need some time alone to relax. I know it’s important to spend time with Emily and Matthew and Joshua, but somehow spending time with them always seems to end up taking over my life.
After only a few minutes of alone time, Sarah heard a knock on her door. She knew it couldn’t be one of the triplets; four-year-olds didn’t seem to understand knocking, only bursting through unlocked doors uninvited. Luckily, Sarah had locked the door behind her. So it must be Daddy.
“Just a sec,” she called as she rolled off her bed and hurried to the door. She opened it to find Daddy waiting patiently.
“May I come in?” he asked.
“Sure,” Sarah replied. She returned to her bed, while Daddy pulled out the desk chair. Uh oh, that looked serious. Daddy only used the desk chair for real talks.
“What’s up, Daddy?” Sarah asked.
“I want to talk to you about your sister and brothers,” he began. “They’ve been down in my office, complaining that you won’t play with them.”
“But Daddy …” Sarah started to protest.
Daddy held up his hand, stopping her mid-protest. “Sarah, I know it’s not your responsibility to entertain your siblings,” he said. “They have each other, and they’re almost five, so we expect them to be able to entertain themselves to a certain extent. I just want you to try to see this from their point of view. Since Dad went back to work, and I’m trying to get work done here at home, we’re all going through an adjustment. But I want you to know that the main reason your siblings want to spend time with you, Sarah, is that they’re crazy about you. Whenever you spend time with them, they feel like they’re on top of the world. I’m not asking you to give up all of your free time for them—I just want you to see this from their perspective.”
Daddy stood up. “Wow, that was a long speech. Sorry,” he apologized. “Just something for you to think about. Oh, and don’t forget we’re doing the family birthday for the triplets on Saturday.”
Sarah flopped onto her back as Daddy left. Now I have two problems, she thought. The new one is that I forgot that the triplets’ birthday was so soon, and I spent all my money at the mall last weekend. And I wanted to get them something special. The old problem is that my sister and brothers want so much time from me. I actually enjoy spending time with them. It’s just that one book leads to another and then another, and every game becomes a marathon, playing by four-year-old rules, and before I know it, my whole afternoon’s been eaten up.
Sarah sat up as the solution to both problems struck her. She crossed the room to her desk and rummaged through it for the necessary supplies. Then she spent the rest of the time until dinner working on the solution.
At dinner, Dad brought up the plans for the birthday party. Soon, the conversation turned to gifts.
“What are you getting me, Sarah?” Emily asked.
“And what about me?” Matthew added.
“And me?” Joshua echoed his brother.
“I’m not telling,” Sarah answered. “Except to say that I’m giving you each exactly what you want.” Sarah smiled at the puzzled expressions on her siblings’ faces.
Every day that week the triplets asked Sarah what she was giving them, and every time, Sarah answered, “Exactly what you want.” And each evening, Sarah barricaded herself in her room to continue working on her project.
On Saturday, after the cake and ice cream, and after her parents’ presents, Sarah gave her gifts to her newly five-year-old siblings. They each stared at the booklet they had just unwrapped.
Joshua asked, “What do these words say?”
“Those are coupons for my time,” Sarah explained. “Whenever you want to spend time with me, and I’m not busy, you give me a coupon, and I’ll play with you for thirty minutes. I promise.” Then she added, “One coupon per customer per day.”
“Wow, that’s a long time,” Matthew said.
“Sarah time!” Emily exclaimed.
“This is the best present ever,” Joshua said.
Sarah laughed. Her siblings were too funny. Five-year-olds hadn’t had the time to receive enough presents to compare to this one. And thirty minutes isn’t a long time at all, Sarah thought. But I guess to them, that time means a lot.
I’m glad I can give them something that means so much to them, Sarah decided. And I’ll still end up with the alone time that I need. So now all of us will get exactly the kind of Sarah time we want.
About the Author: Heather Klassen lives with her family in Edmonds, Washington. She has been writing fiction for children and teenagers for the past twenty years and has had several books and hundreds of stories published in numerous magazines and anthologies. In addition to writing, she works part-time with children. Besides her favorite hobbies of reading and spending time with her family, she is an avid swimmer, having just learned how to swim four years ago.
