It is the half-term holiday this week, which means my teacher husband is home for the week and my over-anxious brain worries less about the unstructured hours the children spend. Since last week's illness, during which we watched hours of tv (some of which was even 'educational'), the children seem to have forgotten how to settle quietly and entertain themselves. It doesn't help that they are not yet fully fit and so are scratchy and irritable with each other.
I have tried quite hard not to fall into my usual trap of over-scheduling the week, which I often do with school breaks, resulting in us all feeling exhausted and frustrated at the end of another over-busy holiday. There is a loose structure, certain appointments that are fixed, but otherwise we're fairly free. My husband came up with the great idea that we would plan each day first thing in the morning, and even pray about it! This is scary for me as I like to know exactly what I am doing at least a month in advance, but exciting too.
Yesterday we went for a walk in the park. We took a picnic, met dogs, climbed trees, sat by a pond, saw some horses and were together as a family with no agenda, no need for time-keeping and happy just to be out. Perhaps, over time, I will be able to wean myself off the need to have every minute planned and let things just happen a little bit more.
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