This is just a Public Service Announcement: Take-out Friday might be really beneficial to your relationship with your children.
On take-out Friday we get take-out. Pretty simple really. So why might it benefit my relationship with my kids? I’m not getting dinner on the table after nap time. I’m not chopping vegetables and regulating snack choices. I’m not handing them projects and games while rushing back to the sink. On take-out Friday, I get to sit down and color, read, talk, and play. It’s my own version of quality Daddy time (the kind he gets at night when it’s just him and them and no chores in the mix).
Take-out Friday might not be great health-wise, or budget-wise, but it is great parenting-wise. Right when I think we should stop doing it to save money or put more nutritious food on the table I’m reminded that A) we eat nutritious meals 3 times a day and almost 7 days a week; B) Take-out runs us $20-40 and I could almost spend that on another meal; C) I can’t put a price on these afternoons.
It’s not actually just the afternoon it helps with; it’s the whole day. Who doesn’t like Friday? I wake up feeling like we’ve almost made it to the weekend. I usually plan something fun with the kids and during nap time I get some work done or a project I’ve wanted to do or a phone call I’ve wanted to make. Not once do I think, do I need to thaw something from the freezer? I don’t stress over what I should try to get done while they’re sleeping or playing. I actually just get to be Mommy.
Take-out Friday is a simple way for us to all celebrate the end of the week and each other. Less dishes, less mess, less stress, less busy-ness…. More love, more laughter, more play time and more meaningful conversations. So, if you haven’t tried giving yourself a night off regularly so you can just be with your family, try it!