When I read A Year of Living Biblically, I was intrigued with Jacobs' struggle over observing the sabbath. According to Jewish tradition, he wasn't supposed to do any type of work at all - no cooking, no driving, no checking e-mails. It was supposed to be a day of rest and reflection and worship. He had a very, very hard time with taking Saturdays off, and I think I would, too.
Sunday is generally my day to catch up on things that didn't get done during the week. We usually spend Saturday playing or going to birthday parties or doing family things, so Sunday is my only day to get things done. Plus, B makes a real effort to not work on Sundays, which means he's home to marshall the troops.
Take yesterday, for example. I folded a record 11 baskets of laundry - a 12th load is still in the dryer. I ran out of steam before I could get that load folded and everything put away; that's on the agenda for today. Plus I cleaned the kitchen twice and vacuumed the house and mopped the kitchen, office and living room. Of course, the kids, who had been playing in mud in the back yard, came tromping through almost immediately. I also went to the grocery store and bought what I hope is a week's worth of food. Phew.
But because I'd done all this work, I didn't feel guilty in the least about feeding the kids left-overs on paper plates. And I sat and knit for an hour without worrying about leaving chores undone.
The best part, though, is knowing that I'm starting the week caught up. All the laundry is pretty much done. The house is clean, and the pantry is stocked. For one day, I can feel like I'm on top of things.
5 comments:
I love that brief fleeting feeling of being on top of it! Usually goes away sometime on Monday, but it's nice while it lasts! :)
Ok, here's your letter - "S"
Have fun!
i finally got out of my mental funk this weekend so I spent it cleaning and doing laundry and organizing (cleaned out the deep freeze for example). Then I quit at noon yesterday and took the boy swimming and after that I watched the superbowl while the boy watched movies on the computer on his bed...great parenting? no. relaxing? yes.
that's awesome! I feel so good when I finally get caught up with housework, even though that great feeling only lasts for a moment and then the house falls apart again. :)
Wouldn't be great if you only had to do things once. After all that you deserve a sit down with the knitting needles
Oh, man, I am SOOO jealous. Nothing like everyone being sick for a week and a half and then a day of babysitter on top of it to leave everything a disaster. I may get caught up next month. We so need our Sunday time, it's when we get ready for the week ahead, so really, it's just not feasible for us to give that up.
Post a Comment