Issue link: https://fredparent.uberflip.com/i/960480
12 Fredericksburg Parent and Family • April 2018 " I'd make a good monk. Husband, child and girl parts aside, I'd look great sporting one of those long brown bathrobes. Making me even more fabulous at my new call- ing would be the whole not talking thing. As an introvert, I can pull this off effort- lessly. Before I had a child, I could easily go for 24 hours without speaking. Now, with my 3-year-old in the house, I can't go for 24 seconds. By the end of the day, my brain hurts, and my tongue needs a massage. As an inherently quiet human being, I'm finding it a challenge to parent my tiny little extrovert. How will I survive? "Mom, that little girl doesn't want to talk. Is she shy?" my son asks. "It seems like she is, and that's okay. Some people are shy. Are you shy?" "Nope!" He couldn't be more correct. My little guy has definitely inherited his father's outgoing nature and coupled with his 3-year-old nature, he is a non-stop talker. Whether I'm fielding a barrage of questions ranging from the traditional, "Why is the sky blue?" to the non-traditional, "Do trees have eyelashes?" I am constantly talking. I've spoken more to my kid in the last three years than I've spoken to every- one else in the last thirty. Finding Quiet Time as an Introvert While Parenting an Extrovert Trying to explain "quiet time" to him is like trying to unlearn the lyrics to Frozen's Let It Go. WRITTEN BY TONILYN HORNUNG