Time Flies and Why There Must Be Rest Time

I seriously do not know where the past hour and a half went.  The whirwind of time sweeps up my days and leaves me breathless.  The kicking squirming baby inside definitely contributes to the breathlessness, but really....we picked up the mess from our paper mosaic map of the ancients tribes of rome, i cleaned up a mess from someone who waited a bit too long to get to the potty, reminded someone how to begin the next load of wash, started lunch, read Brave Cloelia to the 4 youngest, helped 2 of them squeeze out sentences for their worksheet about the story (which was like torture since they haven't really written anything in over a week), instructed someone on how to check lunch, answered the door to receive a delivery which was apparently very confusing for the deliverer who had to consult the higher authorities at the store, answered texts from Pete about when in the world AT and T is going to come back to finish installing our phone and internet (Monday! grrrrr...), try to eat lunch, kids are done eating FAST, asking me a MILLION questions this whole time.  And my. brain. is. tired. 
So, each day that we are home we have rest time.  No questions asked, it is a REQUIRED part of our day for ALL ages.  I don't get to actually sleep, but I have one whole hour to not answer any questions and it is lovely.  I HIGHLY recommend it.  If you think your kids won't like it, oh well.  They will get used to it and everyone will CRAVE it.  For one hour each afternooon my children are required to take whatever reading they need to last an hour and go to their own bed.  Non readers look at picture books- and often fall asleep for a bit. I get to drink tea or read or knit or just stare out the window.  Afterwards the whirlwind continues, but I'm a bit more ready for it.