So my plan for the delicious 5 (or so) hours a week I have freed up by pre-school was to take my laptop to the Steamed Cow Cafe in Downingtown.

The Chester County Writer's Meet Up meets there but I hadn't yet been in. Let me just plug it here as one of my new favorite places in Chester County. It has a completely urban up-and-coming neighborhood feel, and it is family owned. They have great coffee, lattes, espresso, fruit smoothies, chai, herbal teas, and a solid menu with more offerings than I expected, all combined with free WiFi, overstuffed couches and chairs, bistro tables, AND welcoming children's accountrements (not that I am using that but it gets points in my book!) including toys and a play area.

If you haven't been there, GO!

So far, a lot of my time there has been taken up with a networking meeting, some catch up on review work, and then prep for my writer's critique group... but today... oh today, I had my first real taste of a morning spent writing again. And this time I remembered my ipod... forgotten the last few occasions. This is a critical element for the completely self-indulgent experience.

As a parent, you cannot just lose yourself in something if your kids are around requiring supervision. You always have one ear extended, ready to intervene in a fight, assist to a request, or answer a random question. And it doesn't have an off button, unfortunately. You become trained to this. That makes the ipod a necessity for enjoying child free time... otherwise I'd have half an ear on every nearby conversation and cell phone call. And considering my kids pretend they are cats for about 70% of the day, that might even extend to outbursts by neighborhood cats or dogs!