One thing I've tried:

- Bring a book in the car. My 12-month-old often goes on day-long nap-fasts, leaving me with no time to do my favourite recovery activity: reading. The one exception he makes is to fall asleep in the car, almost infallibly...(especially during particularly short trips when I need to pop him out quickly). I tried hauling him out of the carseat and attempting to nurse him back down when we returned home. Hah! *Never* happened, and I'd get *so* frustrated, and spend the rest of the afternoon trying to put him back to sleep. Now, I carry a book or magazine in the car at all times. Whenever I can, I just hang out in the parking lot, reading, until he wakes up. It's not quite my favourite couch with a latte and a lamp, but it's something.

What do you do?

mom of 1-year-old boy in Bethesda, MD

Siesta time! When my oldest stopped taking a nap during the day, I had him start spending one hour of his brother's nap time in his room playing or "reading" quietly. I have continued that habit since then and now my three oldest use that hour to do some of their homeschool reading. I have that hour free for however I choose to use it. Unless, of course, my infant wakes up.

I've found one of my favorite ways is to get up early enough to go out running by myself in the morning. I don't manage it as often as I'd like by any means, but it makes a great mind-clearing start to the day!
Another quick-fix for me is to just plain lock myself in the bathroom for a few minutes with a book or magazine and say that I'm busy and unavailable :)