Planning in Rest

By: Alexandra Murtaugh

There was a fascinating thing that happened right when the covid lockdowns started in 2020– initially, most people seemed to sort of relish the opportunity to be at home and relax. That quickly waned and by the time it became safe again to increase activities, people (and parents, in particular) mostly dove back into packed schedules. I’m certainly guilty of this, too, as most weeknights during the school year, me and my husband are bringing our kids to their various activities. However, as most of you get ready to head back into another school year, I urge you to plan for downtime in your schedule.

This could look like having at least one evening a week where no one does any activities. Or, it could be one weekend a month you block off as a time where no one can say yes to any activities. It could even be about limiting the type of regularly scheduled things each family member can say yes to. It will look different for each family and with kids of different ages.

While it can certainly be fun for kids to be involved in sports, extracurricular activities, and afterschool clubs, and likewise can be fun and/or meaningful for adults to be involved in activities and events outside of our work, we want to make sure that we don’t get stuck in a pattern of moving from one thing to the next without time to pause and rest. Even though kids don’t often have the language to tell us, they can get really worn down by the constant pressures activities bring. Rest works best when it’s built in, not when it happens just as a response to exhaustion. Don’t wait until you or your kids get to that point- be proactive in planning rest into your weeks!