Lazy Winter Days

January is here and while the rest of the world tries their best to meet well-intended (but unrealistic) new year’s resolutions, I’m going to give myself permission to have a bunch of lazy winter days. And I welcome you – my fellow fathers – to join me in this season of sloth!

After all, we’ve earned it, right? I don’t know about you, but I’m still winding down from a ridiculously busy fall and all the hustle of the holidays. My calendar was filled to the brim with family gatherings, school concerts, fundraisers, recitals, parades and dinners. I spent much of my spare time shopping, wrapping, planning, scheduling, shoveling and cooking – all the while sporting the itchiest of Christmas sweaters and sweatiest of Santa hats. I bet some of this is sounding mighty familiar, eh?

Well, it’s time to shed the sparkle and tinsel for the flannel and sweatpants. It’s time to practice that restorative rhetoric everyone keeps talking about. I am making an earnest effort to NOT plan a single thing this month. Forget taking down the Christmas decorations, forget the ever-growing “honey-to-do” list, forget the housework and the already frozen over driveway, and forget the exercise my body is so desperately craving! This month, I want to lean into the lazy and enjoy some quality time with myself (and maybe the kids too).

Nothing says winter like a crackling fireplace and lounging in your favourite hoody, thermal socks, and comfy pants. I plan on cozying up on the couch with the oversized blanket I never knew I needed and sampling all the warm hot chocolate packets that accumulated in the junk drawer. It’s time for me to dust off the never-cracked-open books I’ve been meaning to read, binge-watch a mindless series or two, or fine tune my mad Mario Kart skills with the boys. 

So take a page out my leaflet of lethargy and enjoy some well-deserved down time this month.

 

Frank Emanuele is a proud father of two boys, a special education teacher, and a director of Dad Club London.