An Ode to Doing Nothing

While new mothers were not its target group, the Guardian has some excellent advice for people this holiday season: do nothing.

Doing nothing, the article says, is a hard-earned pleasure.

• By the time you have negotiated the merry-go-round of non-stop parties, competitive eating and out-of-control boozing, sprawling comatose on the sofa after Christmas dinner looms like a dim light at the end of a foggy, congested tunnel. And that is before anyone has mentioned the bits that are meant to be hard work: the frantic shopping, cooking, decorating, finishing things off in the office.

I do feel I have earned a little time to “do nothing” this holiday, the only problem is that I have kids who do not stop. What I need, more than anything, is a way to let them just go in a safe environment while I just kick back and relax.

For many parents, being able to relax in a safe environment means staying at home for the holidays. There is nothing worse than having to worry about kids hyped up on Christmas and the destruction of your great-aunt’s heirlooms. Unfortunately, staying at home can also mean more guests to cook and clean for. There are lots of ways to break that tradition.
It may be time to re-think what it means to have guests. Some of my happiest memories of being with my grandmother is the time we spent peeling carrots and potatoes together. We weren’t just cooking for the Christmas meal, but for the family pot luck at my aunt’s house the next day. There is nothing that says “holiday” to me more than a nice pot luck meal where everyone brings a dish.

I’ve only just realised that by pitching in and being cooperative, that my family was creating time to do nothing together.

P.S. Just a few days left in the Christmas Gift challenge.