Do more of what brings you joy

Yesterday was the last day of school summer holidays so I decided to take the day off and spend it with my son. To say school holidays are stressful is an understatement. Trying to find childcare for the duration of the holidays when both of us work is, well, stressful. Fortunately I was able to take two weeks off which we thoroughly enjoyed, but the remainder of the holidays is filled with work for me. Pooey.

So on Monday I decided to end the summer holidays on a high and take Tuesday off. I gave my son the option of how we would spend our day. Of course he chose the beach. We slept in, we lazed around all morning, I packed his school bag (and I didn’t cover books because I am a rebel!), we pondered what we would have for lunch and then mid afternoon we made our way to the beach. You may know we spend a lot of time at the beach, we go there every weekend weather permitting, and during leave every day if possible. But yesterday when we walked onto the beach we noticed how quiet it was for a change. There weren’t as many kids as usual and the water was as calm as can be. We snorkeled and marveled at what we could see below the water. We talked about just how wonderful the water was, much calmer than most days. We lay on the sand and enjoyed the sounds, we chatted and relaxed. I daydreamed that if I was a SAHM I would spend an hour a day there on the sand, reading or just relaxing. I so would.

Keeping with our theme of ‘the best way to spend the last day of the holidays’ my son decided on fish and chips for dinner. We perched ourselves up on the grass bank and enjoyed our dinner, watching guys play volleyball and enjoying the beauty of the ocean and sky and the slowly approaching sunset. On our way to the car we decided to get gelato, and when we got to the car my son proclaimed it to be ‘the most relaxing we have ever done in one day’. I agreed.

Several years ago I would not have considered taking a day off work ‘just because’. I would have probably felt guilty being at home doing nothing instead of at work. I would not have totally relaxed and would have spent my day checking my phone and possibly even my work email. Now however I am different. I give myself permission to relax, I give myself permission to switch off. And every so often I do something crazy like take a day off to spend it doing nothing with my son.

I love the new me.