Guest blogger Pam Heilman shares her secret on how to get a few precious moments to yourself this summer.

I don't know about the rest of you, but for me 20 uninterrupted minutes are equivalent to winning the lotto. While trying to homeschool my older two kids, I have the added excitement of occupying my 4-year-old. I don't want her watching TV or playing computer so I developed "20 Minutes in a Jar."

 I simply place business size cards on which I wrote activities that should take her about 15-20 minutes to accomplish into an empty dog treat jar. I read her the activity and help her gather anything she might need and then set the timer for 20 minutes. Here are a few examples that work well for 3-5 year olds:

• Cut out 10 pictures of animals (or foods or people) from a magazine and glue them to paper
• Make bakery treats of play dough.
• String cereal that has a whole in it on yarn or thin licorice.
• Paint a rock. (For some reason this is really fun.)
• Build a block tower as big as you are.
• Make a duct tape bracelet with sticky side out and stick; leaves, flowers, pebbles to it.
• Find the treasure in the sand box. (I bury a car or some small toy)
• Draw a picture of our family. (I give her a scenario like we are wearing red hats and riding hippos.)
• Make a pet shop with stuffed animals and I will shop in 15 minutes.

Okay, maybe it's not exactly like winning a million dollars but it's close.