Yesterday, in the Province of Ontario, we had a holiday: Family Day. New to us only two years ago, it comes at a welcome time in the middle of winter when Christmas has long ago left recent memory and Easter weekend still seems oh-so-far away. There's nothing like a long weekend to usher in those deeper feelings of relaxation and breathing room we don't quite feel like we fully get over a regular two-day weekend.
I suppose those relaxation feelings depend on how much you busy yourself over the long weekend. And on whether or not lively action is what relaxes you. If you're an extrovert, you probably feel more re-energized by taking off for a busy bustling action-packed weekend. Though I've got a bit of both introverted & extroverted in me (we all do), I definitely tend toward the introverted side. And got a good combination of activities to satisfy both sides this weekend.
My son and I planned to go skiing on Saturday for the afternoon, but when I checked in with him on Saturday morning, he decided there was too much going on that day and he'd rather not. Which was aok by me. He was going for a play date that morning with my friend Traci's sons while I went to have coffee with a good university friend, Judy; after that I'd visit with Traci when I picked Ryan up, and he had to be at the rink by 6pm for hockey practice.
Monday was our backup plan for skiing, but by the time yesterday rolled around and he'd spent the afternoon Sunday skating with his cousins, he was a bit wiped out and just felt like sleeping in and vegging for most of the day. Which again, was aok by me. I would have gone skiing if he'd been keen, and part of me wonders if we wasted the day by not taking the opportunity to head for the hills in our relatively short ski season, but on the other hand it was a great chance for us to just hang out around the house with each other and putter around with whatever grabbed our attention throughout the day.
And that's something we don't do often enough. There's never a shortage of things to be done, places to go, people to visit with - which is great too - but sometimes it's nice just to hang out. To just be a family hanging out in each other's space and chilling out together. It gave us some time to pursue our own individual interests, and also opened the opportunity for us to have some neat talks. In our busy lives and the prevalence of TV and internet as distractions, we don't always take the time to simply talk with one another. Although there certainly was some TV and internet activity yesterday, it didn't dominate our time together.
And I remembered how very nice it is to just hang out with my son. Whatever you end up doing, that's what I think Family Day is all about.
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