Do you take a day "off"?

[JennifersLost]

I know we've discussed this before. I've always been a big proponent of having one day a week with nothing scheduled but now it's getting worse and worse. I didn't used to do anything on Sundays. Now sometimes I have three activities that day!

 

I posted a pic of my calendar here. I need to come to grips with this one way or another. Either embrace our busy lifestyle cheerfully or just make it stop.

 

What have you all done about this problem? Are you strict about taking a day off? Or do you just grin and bear it because some day the kids will all leave home? If you grin and bear it, how do you handle the "taxi mom" syndrome gracefully?

[Tree House Academy]

Looks like you are giving yourself one day a MONTH (LOL - the 30th just says, "no school.) Isn't that enough????:lol:

 

Personally, when things get hectic, I have a built in FLIGHT :leaving: response and start cancelling out the wazoo. No, I need my days off - the kids need those days too. If it makes you unhappy, and/or if it makes the kids unhappy, then I say start cutting. I like for life to be simple. Your schedule would overwhelm me in a second!

[JudoMom]

My kids are younger than yours, but yes, I do try and have a day where I don't have to go anywhere (this semester it's 2 days). I've scheduled piano so it's right before a Judo class, and I've scheduled co-op so it's right before a church activity the boys always attend. We have Judo on another day, and church on Sunday. Saturday I ususally have to go somewhere, but nothing is scheduled. The piano/Judo day and the co-op/church day is long, but the trade off is worth it.

 

I don't know what it's like with older kids, though. :grouphug: to you--looking at your calendar almost made me hyperventilate.

[Colleen in NS]

I've always been a big proponent of having one day a week with nothing scheduled but now it's getting worse and worse. I didn't used to do anything on Sundays. Now sometimes I have three activities that day!

 

HA! This caught my eye because we are trying out a new routine here! I've always looked at Sunday as our "day of rest," probably because of going to church. And as we've gone along in homeschooling, I've wavered between a 4 and 5 day school week. It's heading to 4.5-5 days now. Saturday mornings we've done housecleaning/kitchen chores (baking bread, a huge crockpot meal, making grocery list, restocking containers, processing big lots of food, etc.) for a few hours, then had lunch, rest, and then out to run errands if needed. Sundays were for going to church, home, lunch, nap, sit for a couple of hours, rush to get supper, and then one of us go back out for a church small group meeting. I have been getting more and more frustrated the past few months with not having a whole day with nothing scheduled!!!!!!!!!

 

So, we are testing it out. Sunday is now NOT a day of rest for us, it's up, breakfast, housecleaning/kitchen chores, church, lunch, rest, sit, supper, out. But this past Saturday, was glorious. We got up, had pancakes, and sat around for the whole day. All we had to do was meals and dishes. Dh and I watched a movie Sat. night, feeling relaxed for once, and I picked up some knitting to do (instead of planning sheets for school while trying to "relax") while watching. Even on Sunday, with its busyness, I felt so good, knowing I'd had a whole day off the day before. We all loved it. And since we're in a more town-ish area on Sundays, if we need something, we can stop on Sunday afternoons (if we remember to pack a lunch that morning) - or dh can pick things up when he's out for work during the week.

 

So, yeah, we're trying to have a day off, and no, I can't keep going like a machine anymore.

[elise1mds]

I would lose my mind with that sort of calendar, too. I can go for quite a while without a break, but when I do hit the breaking point, I need at least three days to recuperate, and nobody dares to get in my way on those days!

[Tracey in TX]

I need to come to grips with this one way or another. Either embrace our busy lifestyle cheerfully or just make it stop.

It depends on how much you value that day of rest. Is it an ideal or imperative? Our days are always filled, 7 days a week. Perhaps only 10 days/year are not scheduled. It's exhausting. I'm stretched really thin right now. (7 games and two practices this weekend. Plus errands, cleaning, and church.) The alternative is to cut back on sports. To do so would eliminate a high level of competition. I value my children's joy of competition and exercise more than my need for one day of rest. For the next 10 years we'll live a frenetic pace and I'll be gladly take them to their events with a joyful heart and a smile on my face. And bags under my eyes.;)

When you can determine what is most important to you and your family, the decision is actually pretty easy.

[Josie]

We stay home at least two days a week and do nothing but school. We really try for three days of nothing but school. The other two week days we do go out to do other things. Saturday we can stay home or do something fun. The dc really usually prefer to just stay home. Sunday we go to church, out to eat, then we nap, then we do laundry or something. Being out everyday would wear us out and make us grumpy.

 

You really have to evaluate yourself and your family to see how the schedule affects you and if it is within the framework of goals you have set.

[Ellie]

Rules in my house:

 

• No outside activities until at least 3 or 4 in the afternoon.
  
• No regularly scheduled activities on Sunday.
  
• Short-term activities on Saturday (e.g., soccer from August through November).
  
• Field trips only on Thursday.
  
• Housecleaning and laundry on Friday.
  

My dds did Scottish Highland dance for many years, and there were many competitions on Saturdays (and sometimes the whole weekend). However, we often did those as a family, and if not, one of us went with dd and one stayed home with non-dancing dd.

 

OTOH, I only had two dds. I'm sure there would be more scheduling challenges with multiple children. Still, I would not do activities outside the house until at least 3 or 4 in the afternoon, and most Sundays would be free.

[HappyGrace]

We "remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy." Knowing I have that one day every week gets me through the rest of it. We don't do any work and try not to do anything that would cause others to work (stores, etc.) This is a new thing this year-I had fallen into the trap of being busy even on Sunday, until I really read and absorbed the Scripture as the command that it is to me. Saturday afternoons/evenings are pretty low key as well. We actually cut back activities in general this year, and it's helped us bond as a family, and NONE of us has been sick in the slightest all winter, so I think that's been a side benefit!

 

Another thing we've done that may or may not be helpful to you is limiting any errands to just two days a week-some on Wed afternoon and some on Sat a.m. That spaces them far enough apart that we're not dashing in a store every day, but close enough together that if we need something, it can wait til the next errand day.

 

However, you should take this with a grain of salt because no one in our family likes to run around-we're all homebodies and would be happy cocooning all winter! I think some families are built more for the running around and actually even thrive on it, and that's great. When we tried it, we were all fried.:tongue_smilie:

[Peela]

I have two teens but I am finding that altough I am running around being a taxi for them- they also go stay with friends more often, do camps, and entertain themselves when at home.

I definitely cannot handle being too busy, I fry rather easily. I have been known to have naps in the car waiting for my kids- proper ones, stretched on the back seat.

I cut back. I try things for a term, and if its too much, we cut back. Its always a relief. yet we do plenty- but the balance has to be right. Yesterday dd14 wanted me to take her to meet some friends 20 minutes away, and I just didnt feel like it, so I said no. She is learning to ride her bike further distances than before to give herself more independence.

I will only book one off things some days- I always keep some days- more than one- relatively free.

[Donna]

all too often life gets in the way. Fridays, the kids have off of schoolwork and most of the housecleaning gets done but I work on Fridays and there are often concerts at the retirement home (once a month) and wrestling practice (weekly). This time of year, wrestling season, is our busiest time because weekends are often taken up with tournaments though this year I have said only one day per weekend and I try to do the Saturday ones (I refuse to do 2 tournaments on a weekend...it doesn't turn out well for any of us).

 

So, with life in the way and more and more piling on (they don't do so many activities if you look at their interests but there are many components and opportunities attached to what they do), I get by with a couple evenings a week with nothing planned (Mondays and Wednesdays) and the occassional Sunday (we always do church with Youth Group for the boys in the evening on Sundays but some Sundays we also have an Irish session thrown in for dd). We had to prioritize and cut out taekwondo but that is about all we can cut at this point as the kids are very involved in the other activities they do.