Collage Friday - Being Intentional About Doing Nothing
Friday, June 28, 2013 at 5:00AM
This week is one of several in our summer that I have been intentional about having NOTHING on our schedules. No classes, camps, volunteer commitments, or other things to take up our week means we are forced to just BE.
I remember the busy days of our schoool year, and I know there will be busy days coming in just another month or so.
It's IMPORTANT to just let our children have time for unstructured activities. It's IMPORTANT for moms to rest and do things other than school.
That's what this week has been about.
Time For Mom
I've actually focused on myself more than usual this week.
I'm not much into the "selfie" shots, but the other day on the way to pick up Anna from her mission trip I decided to take one. It was a low humidity day and I liked my straight hair. (it's the little things)
I snagged some fun shoes on a shopping trip - Grant helped me pick them out and they are totally fun.
Reading an awesome book also made my week relaxing. Thanks to Karin, I got What Alice Forgot and devoured it this week. If you're looking for a light read that's a real page turner, get this book.
A friend and I went to lunch. I actually sat at Starbucks by myself for an hour and read. (It's great to have a child that is old enough to babysit - I am loving that!)
Loving Our Public Library
We have a wonderful little public library.
Tuesday we went and spent a long time checking out books.
Then, we stayed for a craft program. Anna was able to be a volunteer - and she assisted lots of little ones with their crafts.
Grant got to make a lot of crafts and had a very good time.
I liked it all because it was free, educational, and just a great way to spend our down time.
Outdoor Fun
Each night this week we took a walk as a family (well, except for Thursday night when we went Cosmic Bowling with Aunt Julie and Uncle David!).
We had the chance to see other families in our neighborhood, ride bikes, and see some pretty sunsets. Anna actually asked me to take her picture in the bottom right photo. This doesn't happen much these days, so I gladly obliged!
Another day was spent at the pool - Grant could spend hours perfectng his cannonballs I think.
I brought in gardenias from our bushes in the front yard and picked more hydrangeas. Grant perfected a bike course through our driveaway and back yard, and Anna spent loads of time meticulously coloring an American Girl poster while listening to music.
We took some of our free time to keep reading The Lord of The Rings aloud. We'll be finished by the end of the summer I'm sure!
Unstructured time. Do you make time for that?
Or, do you sometimes feel that if your kids aren't "invovled" in an activity you surely must be failing them?
I used to feel that way. Now I feel that I'm failing them if they don't have time just be with themselves with nothing to do.
That's it for this week... short, sweet, and full of nothing.
Would you say a prayer for Anna next week? She leaves Tuesday for a visit with my sister, who lives in upstate NY. Anna has flown several times before, but this will be her first time flying by herself. I think I'm more nervous than she is, actually. I know she is going to have a great time, but we'll miss her!
Blog Happenings
LEGO Minifigure Writing Prompts - download these 10 writing prompts for free
SQUILT Lesson #11 - Fanfare for the Common Man (a good lesson for July 4th)
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Reader Comments (17)
WHat a great week for nothing ness! I will have to look into that book!
Oh where UPSTATE is she going? How fun! Praying for a safe flight!
What a wonderful week! Enjoy those gardenias. I know the good Lord will have those in abundance in Heaven, but here on earth they are the smell of sticky summer nights. I just love them. They are decadent!
We will miss Anna! Is Grant ready to be an "only" for a while again?
I've come to savor unstructured time. Often I feel as if God is present more in these times. Hard to explain. I love to see the passion for learning when the children hold the keys to discovery. I'm blessed to be able to witness it! And yes, yay for mom time! You deserve it! We love that little library too :)
We've had one of those kinds of weeks too :-) I think my husband and my 8 year old could compete all day to see who could do the best cannonball if they could!
Sounds like you are finding some good "abiding time." This post will make more sense once you read the July edition of the Collect. But it is good of you to abide. Stop. Think. Evaluate. Rest. Prune. Enjoy.
It's funny. You comment about Anna not asking to have her picture taken that often - and I know you're right. But I don't think it's any coincidence that it happens during a week when you are focusing on abiding. Abiding brings back self-confidence. It brings back an appreciation for what God has made in each of us. It brings back that simple joy of life. It allows us to regain energy and focus on our passion. (And it being a week after a mission trip probably doesn't hurt, either!)
Goodness, I hear you about having weeks with nothing on the schedule. This has NOT been one of those weeks, unfortunately!
I hope Anna has a lovely trip, flight included!
I've NOT planned much of a summer for us. What pops up, pops up. We are going on a vacation in mid-August, but otherwise I left the summer as open as possible. We need that! We always find something to fill the time though!
I think unstructured time for kids so incredibly important. They need the ability to sooth themselves when bored and the creativity found in unstructured time is not found any other way. This summer I am calling "The Summer of Unwinding" and I am being extra careful about allowing activities into our days.The last 20 months have been rough in our world as we survived my husband's heart transplant. Now Daddy is doing well and brother is graduated and we're going to enjoy lots of slow lazy days of summer.
I hear you on the need for unstructured time. My goal is for three full days each week on the calendar to be intentionally left blank. By this I don't mean we hermit up, but we have nothing pre-scheduled like classes and such. I am so opposite most everyone I know because their calendars are jam packed, even in the summer. It makes me exhausted thinking about it.
Unstructured time is great - in small, regular doses! We keep afternoons as unstructured time pretty regularly. It's great for mom and kids to have time just to do what they want or focus on their own interests for a bit.
It's such a great idea to leave open time, instead of scheduling every minute. I tried very hard to do that this week after we have been so busy and hectic with the old house sale. There were a few things that absolutely had to be accomplished (my poor car needed its scheduled maintenance), but otherwise it has been a LEGO building, LEGO PS3 playing, shopping, eating, shopping, card game playing type of week.
Anna is just a big traveler this summer! I hope she enjoys her visit to NY.
Have a good weekend.
Thank you so much, Mary!
I love CF!
Your pics and post, in general, are wonderful. So true. Strikes a chord...the need to carve out time for nothing-ness....
My post is not from this week, and if you feel it is not suitable, I will completely understand if you delete,...It is a reflection on our time in the ADS, along with several pics that illustrate...
Have a lovely weekend ad God bless.
~Chris
I am still waiting for that week with nothing to do. Love the 'selfie' and the shoes. That book looks good too. I'll have to see if I can find it. Prayers going up right now for Anna's trip. Happy weekend Mary.
Just put that book on hold at the library. I have been wanting to read, but can't seem to get into any book. Unstructured days are great, but with my 5 and 3 year old, too many of those in a row leads to a lot of bickering. I seem to still need to "schedule" time for them. I just try to remember to balance it all out:)
I did that this week.... Tired of running everyone around, I decided to just be. Now my older 2 are off to DC with my parents so I have more energy to do fun things with the twins. Love the shoes!!
Nothingness and unstructured time sounds great after the busy couple of weeks that we have had...luckily more free time is coming soon for us!
I'm glad you were able to squeeze in some "me" time this week! We all need that once in a while! I still go back and forth between feeling like we're not academic enough and feeling like we're operating too much like school. You'd think after almost 30 years of homeschooling I'd be past that!