Our 'slow' weekend and why it's crucial for happiness

Generally my weekends consist of a mad rush between sports activities for the kids while my husband visits clients or completes 'urgent' work. We rush in and out of the house, passing the batten of child minding while we try to fit in some precious 'me' time for ourselves - Luke surfs while I clean the house, then I go for a run and do some business work while he takes the kids to the footy. It's all a little bit crazy and a performance that I know is undertaken in many households like ours! 

Every few weeks though when our bodies tell us it's time, we try to take a chill pill to give our bodies the space to heal and our thoughts time to settle and clear. Without this space Luke and I both find it difficult to be calm with the kids, kind to each other and to think clearly and creatively in regards to our careers.

This is a really important part of our busy lives and we have learnt (the hard way!) that when we don't make this space, it will be made for us later - in a much harsher way though - generally severe illness that lays us up in bed! 

So how do we have this space without being distracted by all that or busy lives is throwing at us? Here's our top tips!

• Have a chat about what each person wants to do over the weekend and how you'll support each other to have 'me' time. 

• Make the weekend sacred - when requests for your time pop up, make sure you are assertive and tell people that you need the time to rest this weekend, but next weekend you may be free.

• Use your diary when 'to do' items pop up in your mind. Write them in your diary to take action on tomorrow, then let the thought go and don't focus on solving it today.

• Resist the urge to feel guilty about spending time 'doing nothing'. There will always be a 'to do' list so long that you can't possibly finish it. Although you keep telling yourself that you'll rest when 'everything's finished' - that time will never come. You will never be finished everything. You will be a better wife/mother/father/husband/daughter/son if you are happy, rested and thinking clearly - it is essential that you prioritise your self care in life. 

• Support each other - when one person gets tempted to 'just paint that fence quickly because it's meant to rain for the rest of the week',  gently remind them the importance of a slow weekend and that there will be time to do that job next weekend. It's hard to begin with, but if you have support from your partner or a friend then it will become easier.

• Reflect on how much better you feel at the end of the weekend - that way you're more likely to understand the importance of a slow weekend and therefore repeat it again in the future!

This is what our 'slow' weekend looked like in pictorial form;

Friday night surfing

Baking bread with Mama

5 year anniversary dinner

Just 'being' - so important for teenagers

Jumping for hours - so important for toddlers!

Celebrating being ALIVE! 

Experiencing nature - making whistles from leaves

Creating special memories ( and dancing like only a 3 year old can!)

Go gently this week and love yourself, look after yourself and make your happiness a priority!