I Tried Four Ways to Survive Six O'Clock. Only One Let Me Answer My Kids.

Headphones, except everyone could see I'd checked out and they died by four anyway. One earbud in and one out, which just meant I heard everything on one side. Walking out of the room, until someone followed me into it.

I'd written earplugs off years ago. The foam ones take the whole room away and my kids go with it, and that felt like the opposite of being their mother.

Then someone showed me one with a dial on it.

At dinner it stays on one. My son asks for water and I hear him ask. What drops back is the pile behind him — the extractor fan, the TV, the dog, the two of them talking over each other.

I'm still at the table. I just don't feel like the room is shouting at me.

Dinner is loud one way. Nine, when they're finally down and the dishwasher starts, is loud another way. I used to think I needed two different answers.

Now I just turn it. Homework stays at one. The school pickup and the sofa both get three. It moves with the day instead of asking me to plan around it.

Four tip sizes in the box, so I stopped blaming my ears — my left takes a different size than my right, and that's normal. No battery, so nothing dies at four. And the case has a loop, so it hangs on my keys instead of the bottom of a bag.

Click Buy 1, Get 1 Free and pick two colors. One for the nightstand, one for the bag that goes everywhere. Or one for you, one for the friend who keeps telling you she's done by dinner. 60-day money-back guarantee. Popular colors sell out in days. Don't wait.