Sofa Days

They are necessary, more necessary than you think. I committed to my first sofa day when I had small children. You know the feeling when you totally feel that your tank is completely empty. And it is…… So this is how it went for me. I rose very early and prepared the scene: A basket full of victuals to last the entire day.. (well from children’s waking to around 5 pm). I arranged various activities as though you might be setting up for one of those tabloid sports days. I placed rugs and blankets on the sofa. I had a thermos of tea for myself. I has all the nappy changing facilities on hand. I had selected a number of books to read to the children and at least two children’s movies or very good quality children’s TV programmes lined up ready to go. I had children’s stories organised on CD’s to play. And so the sofa day begins. It is me, on the sofa, calling it my boat. It is me interacting with my children using indoor toys and games and reading books. It is me saving the video respite care till I can no longer function at all. It is me sitting the children beside me and listening to children’s stories on the sofa boat. By the time 4 pm or thereabouts rolls around we are all thoroughly sick of the sofa and go out for a brisk walk before it is time for the tea and bedtime routines.

Now I still have sofa days which usually consist of a netflix binge because I have no energy even to read. By having a sofa day I can work and function on all the other days. It is a practice well worth defining and refining. I have learnt that burn out is no fun. That once you have been to burn out you go back there more quickly than you would had you never been there.

And so design your own sofa days. Enjoy them. Get so sick of the sofa that you crave a day of normal human functioning. And remember this… that you will feel probably extra terrible and miserable when you partake of a sofa day but the day after and the week after that you will be thankful that you gave yourself that day.