Give It A Rest

Being a single parent with four kids means that there is always something to do. Errands to run, laundry to do, food to buy and cook, or orange poster board to locate at 9pm on Wednesday night for the school project that is due Thursday morning. I vaguely remember a time about 17 years ago, BK (before kids), when I could lounge around the house on a Saturday. I could sleep in, eat breakfast at noon, and stay in my pajamas all day if I wanted to. This past weekend, I really wanted another of those lazy days, and decided to try to make it happen.

I told my boys that we weren’t going anywhere all day on Saturday. They gave me strange looks like they couldn’t quite grasp that concept. Ashley and I got up at our normal time – way too early but changing that aspect of Ashley’s life is a Herculean task – and had a leisurely breakfast. Ashley usually goes back to bed for a while after breakfast, and this time, I joined her. I heard the boys clanging dishes and slamming cabinet doors, but I just ignored them. When Ashley and I were good and ready, we got up and moved out to the family room, I sprawled on the couch and Ash began looking at her favorite books. The boys were starting to get restless at this point.

They asked, “Are you serious? We’re really not going anywhere?” I reminded them again that I wanted just a lazy, do nothing day as I handed them money to order pizza for lunch. (Do nothing means no cooking either.) Like drugs for an addict, the pizza kept them happy for a while. Ash and I, meanwhile, were moving back to her bed for a nap.

An hour or so later, Ash and I were back out in the family room for a snack and some TV watching. The boys were pacing at this point. I suggested they clean their rooms, but that idea was met with eye rolling and that ‘hmmmph’ kind of sound teenage boys can do so well. I turned up the TV volume and shooed them out of the room.

A few minutes later, my 14 year old son decided he would take the dog for a walk. Good idea – exercise would help his restless spirit. My 16 year old decided to watch a movie and do some laundry. I started really liking this lazy day idea! The rest of the day was pretty uneventful – exactly what I wanted. I did decide to break down and cook dinner, but it was an easy dinner filled with kid-friendly food. There wasn’t a salad in sight, only smiles on the faces of my junk food loving family.

Soon it was time for Ashley to go to bed. We skipped her bath because that’s what you do on lazy days. She went to sleep watching her favorite video, and I got a leisurely shower before crawling into bed with a good book and a glass of wine. I told the boys “Goodnight” at about 8PM. All in all, a very, very good lazy day!!