Your average sloth sets out more ambitious plans for the weekend than did I.
After two weeks of too-hectic activity I resolved to undertake no project more taxing than climbing out of bed. A Friday spent thigh-deep in laundry and other sundry tedious tasks ensured my child-free weekend would also be mommy-chore-free. Is it worthwhile, I wondered, to work fingers down to nubs in order to get a little time truly off? As I packed little duffle-bags I eyed the thick novel I’d put aside for just such an occasion. Yes, I decided. Yes it it worth it.
I tried to be not too obvious about shooing them out the door at the appointed hour. Shortly thereafter I settled my happy self into bed with a taco and my book, only to fall asleep at the dangerously unseemly hour of 8:30 pm. I know! Can you believe it? What a wild life! But the benefit of falling out at 8:30 pm is that you wake up at 4:30 am completely refreshed and ready for more sloth. I spent the whole of Saturday and the better part of Sunday alternately reading and sleeping, staring out the window and dozing, snacking and relaxing. It was heavenly.
As Sunday morning moved into afternoon I found myself sprawled on the Zeppelin contemplating an Asian beetle‘s progress across the window screen, as bonelessly relaxed as the cats who perched on my chest. How do other parents manage, I wondered, without the enforced breaks I’m lucky enough to get twice a month? Don’t they ever need time to turn off their brains and let their bodies go limp? Do their partners insist that they retreat periodically to somewhere peaceful in a way I could never manage while married?
Or do I bear some flaw that requires hours away from the children in order to be hidden away?
All too soon the hour for their return home arrived; the garage door went up and the children tumbled in hungry, tired and out-of-sorts because of the transition from one house (and parent) to the next. In the space of five minutes we got dinner on the table despite one child’s wailing and another’s damp pants. I cuddled on the couch with the upset child (who was not so put-out that he couldn’t bring his banana with him). My sloth was almost entirely forgotten.
And just like that we were back into normal life.
remember your introvert post the other week? it’s not a flaw! i’m sure most parents would kill for that time to relax and veg out, you’re just lucky enough to get it!
Ah, sloth, one of the 7 deadly sins. You write about lust all the time – you should do a post series featuring each of the deadly sins!
I’m afraid the “wrath” section would be really dull. :)
If, in fact, you are an introvert, alone-time is what recharges you, so enjoy it when you can get it. Being around people depletes your energy. The frustrating introvert cycle is that after an exhilarating weekend of solitude, the introvert’s mind, being refreshed, is ready to pursue many creative endeavors. When the people return, the introvert’s energy is sapped and they don’t end up pursuing those endeavors. It feels to them like they can never get to what they want to do.
I need my alone time, too. I don’t seem to get enough.
I would give anything to have a weekend alone!
Anything? Really? :)
well, almost anything…why you got an “anything” for me to do?
Hmmm…I’ll think on that! :)
While not quite the same thing, when our kids were younger, we had a standing rule that if my wife needed to “go out” when I got home after being with the kids all day, it was fine. She was a “stay-at-home-mom” and i had (have) no illusions as to who worked harder during the day.
It made her a better mother and wife. If I remember correctly, when she got back home, I generally had the kids in bed and she shared some of that re-charged spirit with me :-)
Slothful lazy weekends are the best kind of weekends. I count it as a personal accomplishment if I don’t leave home the entire weekend. I imagine that’s rather more difficult with kids, and commend you for finding ways to escape!
– PB