In fact, I put it in writing in green Sharpie about 10 days ago. You can see that someone -- Charlie, I'm pretty sure -- agrees with me.
We don't have what I would consider a big family. Just three kids. But three kids with activities and social lives and parents with outside commitments and their own occasional social engagements make the idea of a revolving door at the front of the house seem like a good idea.
Like many families, we're often home long enough to drop our bags inside the door, change clothes and run back out again. The result is overflowing laundry, messy bedrooms, piles of mail, and crabby people. So this weekend, I'm putting my foot down. There will be (as the calendar reads) NO sleepovers, NO playdates, NO practices (well, this might be negotiable if Charlie's basketball team has its first practice).
See how easily I can get off track? The kids said something about going to visit my parents. I thought maybe we could do that on Saturday -- but then I remembered the declaration. This is going to take some discipline.
Now that I've outlined what we're not going to do, I need to think about what we will do. I plan to sit down and plan out a long-term menu, organize my coupons, clear off the dining room table. And take a nap. Definitely take a nap. Then I'm going to spend 1 hour in each of the kids' bedrooms, helping them regain control of their spaces. I imagine Mike will clean out the garage.
Cleaning is not the only thing on my agenda. I want to spend some family time together . Maybe take a family walk, Gabby the dog included. Perhaps we'll catch a movie or head to the Indiana State Museum, where we have a new membership. Yes! Maybe we'll go there and see the Titanic exhibit. Hmmm...that kind of gets back to the running out the door phenomenon, doesn't it?
Doing nothing might be harder than I thought. But I'm sure willing to try.
12 comments:
you are better off not to plan anything! just go with the flow and try to avoid anything that requires driving!
You had me going, until you neglected to mention no electronics. Good luck!
This is why I like snow days...then you aren't even tempted or expected to go anywhere.
@kimmybeee and @varangianguard -- No driving and no electronics? You people are tough!
I admit I got excited when you mention cleaning out the garage. I looked back at the post last year and I must have been having a bad day - your lighthearted post rubbed me the wrong way - sorry about that one year later!
That was me who said "yea-yuh!" BTW
Nothing weekends are so needed. October was busy for us, and we literally had at least two things every single weekend. Last weekend was busy, but we managed to spend about 2 hours de-cluttering things. It feels so much better now.
Enjoy your weekend! I hope it's relaxing. :)
Hi Amy! Great idea. I hope you have a productive and relaxing weekend of family time! I'm following you here, now. I just started blogging recently if you want to check it out at: http://rachelsreflections-rachelt.blogspot.com/
Such an important thing to do! And seriously- don't set goals! Or if you do, the whole family needs to be part of the plan. Everyone gets together to plan a living room picnic / movie night for Saturday. Have a sleepover for the family. Go nowhere but anything "done" is decided by all.
i agree with lizdom, if you make a plan, keep everyone involved! but i still think that non-planned family time ends up being the best! don't "plan" to clean and do this and that and you won't be dissapointed if you don't get to it! just enjoy your quality time together, and i am sure gabby will love the big walk you all go on!
skip the To-Do list (other than the nap of course) and have a family game night, a movie night, go for that walk....really enjoy a weekend together. Unplug your phone while you are at it so nobody can disturb your peace.
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