Remember the Sabbath Day

The book Simplify Your Life With Kids tells a story of a working woman whose son once asked if she ever sat down. Surprised, she realized that she had no "down time" with her family and decided to establish the weekend as "family time"--no phone calls, social engagements, errands, housework. Mama, who goes from putting in a busy work week to putting in a busy at-home work weekend, thought this sounded appealing. She also recalled that she had always liked, even envied, the way her orthodox Jewish friends had to take Saturdays "off"--no homework, no errands, no chores, nothing but family or friend time, relaxation, reflection, rejuvenation (well, and religion, but Mama wasn't part of that). So, she suggested we do the same, at least a variant of it.

Now, we already pretty much save the weekends as family time, with few social engagements other than all-family ones. But we almost always separate with Mama doing her chores while I play with the kids or Mama playing with the kids while I have some "me-myself" time, which means we are almost never together as a family unit, all four of us doing something. Except, as we realized, when we go out, specifically when we have a family day at a local museum, nature center, or other local destination. Coincidentally, this is our favorite way to spend the weekend. To capture that together feeling without having to go away from home, Mama suggested that we not do any "work" on Saturdays--no laundry, no yard work, no cleaning, no need to accomplish something or finish a task, unless it's together, in other words, no splitting up.

And so we tried it on Sunday, knowing it would be an imperfect test because we always use Sunday to get ready for the week but hadn't had time to prep in advance of our new "family" day. But we did it: we played games, folded origami, cut snowflakes, built snow forts, made hot chocolate, cooked lunch, watched tv in one pile on the bed, read stories, while letting laundry and other things pile up (dishes were the exception; can't ignore dishes for a whole day). The original goal was to continue "family" time past the kids' bedtime, so that Mama and I could devote an evening to each other instead of to our usual chores, but this week, at least, we had to do all the things we usually do on Sunday afternoon. Next week we'll be more ready.