s l o w * s u n d a y
2013
In this new year, I’ve decided that our Sundays should be slow.
Lovely, creative, even full … but slow. No rushing to get things finished. No hurtling from one end of town to the other. No frantically squeezing in the impossible before Monday comes around again. No catching up on housework, homework, nursing work. Kind and thoughtful words only. No demands on each other’s time. No guilt. Slow and gentle.
There’s but three weeks until Abby’s new school year commences, that means three weeks until babysitting starts up again. Six weeks until university goes back – and oh, it’s going to be such a full year – acute care, preliminary and advanced. Long, intense placements in busy acute care hospitals. As for Julian – well, he works so hard all year round.
Already, I feel a bit daunted. Not ready for such busyness. How has the long summer break begun to disappear already? :sigh:
So …. Sundays should be … need to be slow. Wake up slowly, share a slow and peaceful breakfast. Potter about our home, giving ourselves time to recharge after the previous week, a long and lovely day to exhale before the new week begins. A day in which we look after each other. Enjoy each other. Allow ourselves to move gracefully into the demands of the new week. Not in a panic that oh-my-god it’s here again already.
We practiced today – just Abby and I (Julian’s away for a few days) – and we did okay. We could do better. We have another couple of Sundays to practice – to tweak this slowness. Figure out how best to plan ahead for slow.
I think it will be good. A bit like landing on Free Parking when the Monopoly board is full of hotels and greedy landlords. A moment to go “phew!”
… slow and steady – completing another step on an ongoing costume project – blue sleeves.
… pottering along with slowly building quilt blocks and coming up with a workable bodice pattern.
… a simple dinner put together with those ingredients that are at hand, that require very little preparation, and produce very little washing up.
… a peaceful evening – our favourite distractions accompanied by some delightful BBC drama.
What do you think? Do you need to build some slow into your weekends? Are you already doing it? Let me know how you do it – how you would like to do it – how it works for your family.
I’m keen.
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Sounds like a great idea! Wonder, though, how I would get everything done during the week (university) or just on Saturday (2 volunteer jobs)?! Am I allowed to do my “making” on slow-Sundays (quilting mostly)? By the way, I took your idea of quilting directly onto a woolen blanket (but I used plushy blankets as woolen ones are expensive and hard-to-come-by here) and whipped-up a few for my girlies’ university roommates for Christmas. THEY LOVED THEM and the “quilts” never would have gotten made without this great idea to speed-up the process! We ALL thank you!
Tricia
Oh I’m so glad the quilts worked so well and were much loved! I have some to do today :-)
Making is definitely on the agenda for slow Sunday – best way to unwind. Just not the frantic making I try to do sometimes when I want to start and finish something and don’t come in for lunch and rush rush rush right up to dinner. But I understand the demands on your time – two volunteer jobs! – so full and busy and that’s just how it is at the moment.
Maybe slow Sunday starts at midday?
We’ve been doing this for a couple of years now. It does require planning…and not letting the procrastination bug get the upper hand. It probably helps, too, that hubby and I have no children, so the responsibilities we have are ours – and there is less forgetting of things until the last minute – which seems to be things children do more…maybe I’m wrong on that? :)
Anyway, since we both work all week, we’ve developed a habit of doing our weekly grocery shopping on Friday nights. This usually involves dinner out – our weekly splurge. Then Saturday is devoted to housework and any family visitations we might be doing that week. We keep Sunday pretty sacred in staying home. When it’s football season, it’s football from noon until 11:00 (or we fall asleep, whichever comes first). I do reserve the chore of the weekly laundray to Sundays, but it’s a background chore to me, and easy to do on Sundays, since we’re always home anyway.
If you can get into a habit of completing your weekend chores on Friday night and Saturdays, you naturally leave Sundays free to do what you want. I can see your family spending a lot of Sundays either whiling the day away at home, or tromping around the hills looking for an adventure. Either of these activities qualify as slow in my book – as long as you enjoy them and there’s no agenda – it’s all good :) Good luck!
Exactly! I see it as not about strict lists of dos or don’ts but an attitude – as long as we are all enjoying it with plenty of time and no guilt. I love that you get all your chores done beforehand – that’s what I’m aiming for. Instead of having one of those days where I stagger from one job to the next until the day’s almost done and I’m cranky, we’re going to split them up during the week so they are short and unobtrusive. And you’re so right about planning – making sure we have the food we need for Sunday and Monday, and encouraging Abby to get her school work done during the week and organising herself on Saturday because you’ve described what often happens with children perfectly :-)
Thanks for sharing Erin – I’m inspired!
Love the idea of a slow day each week. Will have to work on it though!! We have slow starts to our Sundays, lingering over breakfast in our pjs, but then it’s normally odd jobs around the garden, and lawn mowing. And as for today, well I’ve just made a long list of what I *need* to achieve …
oh I love this idea – I shall start this weekend! Alas both children are working on Sunday so a slow day just for me? OK -if I must – sounds heavenly! Will give my girl Sunday night. Unfortunately my boy is at an age where his friends are more – perhaps I can talk him and his girl into a slow Sunday evening too! Last night the three of them lay about watching the first season of pokemon I got him as a joke for Christmas – it has proved to be the most popular present!
Can’t believe school is so close – aarrggh year 12!!
Sunday! Definitely a day of rest. Leisurely breakfast and then off to our little house church. Back home by about 12.30 and then we make home made pasta together while the sauce (sugo) is simmering away. We don’t bother letting it dry, it’s straight into the pot of bubbling water. A nice glass of vino whilst it’s cooking and then it’s onto the plates, pasta, sugo and loads of parmesan cheese. We clear up and then put our feet up. The big fella loves to sleep in front of the tv but I like to read on our bed and just maybe I might close my eyes and nap. One thing I do on Sunday afternoon is take the phone off the hook so we can’t be disturbed. Yes I enjoy my Sundays.
Blessings Gail
Love this idea, especially the part about it being a day where you take care of each other …a graceful slow Sunday sounds perfect