Do We Really Need to be THIS Busy All the Time?

I am sitting home looking at the calendar and I can’t believe the number of things we have going on. Usually, the month starts pretty “empty” in the paper planner but by the time we finish, the first week is a party of colors (I use different colors depending on whose activity is) and is mostly kid-related.

Home-Day

In my family, we have learned the hard way that if we don’t have a “home day,” the following week will be rough (er). Let me explain, Home Day is what my 5-year-old calls a day (mostly Sundays) that she will not take her pajamas off AT ALL, which means, we stay home and watch movies, play, and chill basically. So, after noticing how cranky everyone is and how tired we all feel after a busy two-day weekend (even with friends’ birthdays and so), we started making a point of taking one day off.

Multitasking…

I have been struggling with anxiety and one of the things I am working on is to stop “multitasking.” So, now, I don’t check my phone while outside school waiting on the kids to come out, and I turned off the new email notification that shows up on the side of my screen while I am trying to focus. I work from home so it is very easy to get distracted and go and check your social media and come back, but now I set blocks of time that I dedicate my absolute attention to ONE thing and then I stop and do whatever for 5 minutes and then back at it.

Take a break

Even waiting outside the school or the doctor’s office without trying to keep up with everything going on outside feels like a break sometimes. It is nice to just think, be quiet and stare. I am guilty of checking my phone a million times a day and to be honest, it is not doing me any good. Last weekend I went grocery shopping without my phone and by the time I remembered I wanted to check on something, four hours had passed and I did not miss a thing.

The good old days

Going back to the kids’ schedule, I look back and I don’t remember my parents taking my siblings and me to that many places all the time. We didn’t have extracurricular activities until 6th grade and it better have been somewhere close enough that we could take ourselves. I don’t remember them having to go to my school so many times. And it was not a lack of interest, it just was not done.

Quality time.

I sometimes feel that I haven’t spent any quality time with the kids during the week. Yes, we talk and we do homework, and we read at night but I have this feeling we are all just programmed and following the routine. Whereas on weekends, I think that we can let our hair down and freestyle it to where we are doing something fun or silly without a clock setting the pace.

Lazy Sundays.

I remember lazy Sundays and cooking lunch with my dad (he hardly had time to cook so Sundays were his day and we enjoyed it), listening to the music he liked (can you believe that?! Ha), my mom making French toast for dinner while we watched kid(ish) movies. I remember those little “home day” moments and how much of it meant connecting after a week of work and school.

I understand that some of us are busy bees that can’t stay still for long, but since I understand that MY FAMILY needs this regrouping and relaxation time in order to be ready for a new week ahead, I am trying to make a point of keeping it calm, quiet (as quiet as a 5 and 7-year-old can be), and phone-free as possible. So, if you stop by our house on a Sunday remember the dress code: pajama!

How do you recharge your batteries and connect with your family?

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