Considering how poor my week seemed to be last week, this week is starting out quite nicely. I started by taking the second half of last Friday off, giving me the benefit of starting a long weekend a bit early. Last week felt as though even a full night’s rest wasn’t adequate to provide proper rest and it left me wondering if there was something medically wrong happening. I actually got next to no sleep through the Thursday night/Friday morning transition and woke up around 4 am, giving me time to do dishes and laundry before work but left me exhausted and craving sleep by lunchtime.
Fast-forward to my leaving work at noon. I was lucky enough that my two Friday afternoon meetings got cancelled, leaving my afternoon wide open. I spoke with my boss and he was amenable to my using a few leave hours to take the afternoon off. I ran up to my local retail outlet and picked up some necessities for the weekend. When I got home, my wife was basically as exhausted as I was, so we decided to be naughty and put the baby in his crib with a view of Netflix on an iPad to entertain him long enough for us to get a nap. I slept the sleep of the dead and woke up just before my oldest son got home from school. Guess I really did need the sleep.
My Friday night typically involves entertaining my oldest and spending the evening with him while my wife finishes working online. I sometimes feel that Nathan has felt the effect of having a second child introduced into the mix after four years of having me all to himself. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the cause of some of his behavioural he’s exhibited in the past two years. But we ordered pizza for the boys and Chinese food for the two of us and we all pigged out on take out food. Not a horrible way to start the night.
The weekend was a smooth couple of days of reading newly-purchased graphic novels, snacking and hanging out. The weather’s been a bit too cold for sledding and spending time outdoors, but whatevs. After watching the Paw Patrol Movie, binging Grey’s Anatomy and Squid games as well as writing and researching, I’d say it was a pretty sweet weekend. And this brings us to today, which happens to be a Monday.
Today happens to be a Provincial statutory holiday designated as “Family Day.” On the occasions where I’ve written about some of these so-called holidays, I’ve been able to provide some insight into how they originated and what started them. Of course, that’s usually for silly holidays like “Coffee Day” or “Donut Day.” But in this case, I wasn’t able to find much besides the fact that “Family Day” is a Provincially-based holiday observed on some given way, shape or form in new Brunswick, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and British Columbia.
The holiday is observed on the third Monday of February and has allowed me to have today as a day off. It’s quite nice. Nathan is off school as well and we’ll be spending the day trying to keep him occupied as he usually needs constant stimulation to get through the day. But the additional day off allows me some further rest and shortens the work week to come. Even when one loves their job as I do, it makes for an easier frame of mind.
I don’t think I can picture anything better than cuddling up with one of my boys while we watch a movie, play a game or wrestle on the floor. They both have their own individual personalities and can be challenging but they both provide love to their mom and dad in their own individual way. Do I know if this is how “Family Day” was envisioned? No, not really. But I wouldn’t have had it any other way. My oldest, Nathan, has the entire week off. It should make for an interesting dynamic throughout the week.
Now that the weekend is over, I’ll return to work tomorrow. Rested, spoiled and happy to do so. Life is pretty good, I can’t lie. Enjoying time with my children and my wife is fantastic. Even though I have all of today as a day off, I’m hoping that the work week will go smoothly. I guess time will tell. The big thing to wonder about is whether they’ll have karate class tonight. I haven’t asked about it but given that it’s a stat holiday for the Province, I guess I’ll have to find out the hard way of we have class or not. ☯️
The Blogging Buddhist 