Today was a day to just let the kids stay home.
It’s hard in our fast paced world not to feel guilty about relaxing. Especially if it’s normally a work or school day.
This morning everything I asked of my kids was a battle or an argument. They argued with each other when they weren’t arguing with me. Somehow we managed to get a few things checked off my list, such as some time spent working on reading, cleaning up the living room, and paying some bills. We even managed to be ready on time to get out the door to the kids’ classes today, but just as we were all getting our shoes on, grumbling and unhappy an event as that could be, it dawned on me that we don’t have to go anywhere today.
Why drag an entire tired, cranky family out today when what we truly need is some down time together. We had a super busy weekend, fun, but busy, and though it’s Wednesday, we haven’t recovered. We haven’t had time to, nor have I spent any real quality time with them when I wasn’t distracted or trying to get other tasks done.
So, today, as we laced up our shoes, I looked at my kids and asked, do you want to go?
They both shook their heads and said no. I asked what they’d like to do and they said “stay home and play a game with you”.
We played Take-Off and Memory and then the kids took off to their room and played happily and mostly well together for a few hours. I got some work done during that time and felt better for having it completed.
Sometimes we all need a reminder to do what is best for ourselves, for our kids, not what we feel is “normal” or “expected” of us. Follow your instincts moms.
What my kids, and myself, truly needed today was quality time together that was not structured, not rushed, and where I was fully present with them. As soon as the pressure and distractions were gone, we all enjoyed each other again. And they didn’t even require that much of my undivided attention before they wanted to go play on their own. We were in all in much better spirits the rest of the day.
Truer words have never been spoken. "Sometimes we all need a reminder to do what is best for ourselves, for our kids, not what we feel is "normal" or "expected" of us. Follow your instincts moms."