It’s funny that I often get the question of how my family and I find the time to relax (especially as it relates to couple time) but also seem to have a very busy and hectic and full life.
I thought our family outing last night would be a nice little example to illustrate how we choose to relax often but also manage to get things done often enough.
Basically-we do things really fast and quickly. That’s the secret for us. Rush, rush, rush from one thing to the next. And care very little about details is the second magic secret (not sure this is a perscription for anyone else, just a reality for us and a choice we have made)!
Hubby and I went to the cottage alone this weekend and took Monday off from work together.
We had a huge very fancy event on Monday night that we had to leave house at 6:30pm in the city for all dressed up with the kids. It was the JC Perrault opening in Laval
We got to be invited because the Perrault’s are our new neighbors at the cottage and our kids are friends with the Perrault kids.
So everyone had to look much put together for this red carpet affair (with a big real red carpet laid out and everything!)
We all had to be ready to leave our home at 6:30 pm sharp.
Four out of five of us walked in the door at 6pm completely a mess and having not showered or picked out our clothes yet (actually one at 6:10pm).
And we managed to leave at 6:30pm and even made time for a picture.
Our trick is we maximize any relaxation time we have until the very last second. Always. At any expense. And then we run crazy wild during anything not as pleasant as relaxing or quality family time. It's like a big workout.
So here we are looking decent. Please note there are many details that cannot be seen on this picture:
1-I have two massive runs in my tights because no time to find a good pair. And the runs totally showed. The mascara I am wearing is from 2 days prior because since then I did not bother to take it off at the cottage.
2-Hubby did not brush is teeth and his shirt is pulling on him as one size too small.
3-Bear is wearing a shirt two sizes too small because the color is just too amazing on him and brings out his eyes so was worth the pulling of buttons in the front we decided. His outfit is just too cool to care about sizes and fit. He also has a sprained hand and should have been at the hospital getting an X-Ray instead of the gala. (We also wrapped up his hand in those 25 minutes in bandages).
4-Beauty’s dress is literally 5 sizes to small and too short! As in SUPER short. It is size 5 and she is a size 10 and refuses to give it away. She is also wearing makeup that I did not even know she knew how to put on or had a chance to decide if she is allowed to wear. The Perrault's thought she looked like a movie star so guess the short look worked out for her.
5-Chase-Well actually when it comes to him in the looks and style department there is very little to say. He always works it out somehow . Also very quickly, as in 1 minute, since he had a huge project for school. I will be sure to pick on him about something else in a future post.
Note: The person taking the picture (my Mom) had no clue how to use a zoom or a camera and so the first 4 shots were AWFUL (head cut off-far, far away) and I was sitting there shouting while she kept trying “Mom didn’t you take a photography course this Fall!!!” During my shouting the kids kept running upstairs one by one to get gum to freshen their breath since no one had time to brush their teeth so by the time my Mom was finally time to take the picture there was always one kid missing!
In the car the kids chastised me for “not giving their Didi a break” apparently she is too old now to know how to take a pictureJ
It’s funny when you look at a picture. All you see is what others want you to see right? I am here to tell you the truth about ours.
All of this chaos for an extra 45 precious minutes at the cottage in the Jacuzzi and it was worth every single minute.
So that’s how we manage our lives pretty much everyday and if it were not for this blog not sure anyone would notice or care about our fashion slip ups or our lack of hygiene at times! We trade relaxation for many many things on many levels.
The event was fabulous-truly amazing with lights, and media and amazing food and gorgeous gift bags. Our kids felt like little superstars being the only kids along with the famous Perrault’s.
So that’s how we do it.
PS-Once we got to the event we drank and ate a lot and sat on a whole bunch of couches from exhaustion and let our kids pretty much run wild on four massive levels.
PSS-I had some extra pantyhose in my purse and didn’t find the time or energy or will to bother to change. I was very content relaxing next to my Hubby on the orange leather fancy couch sipping champagne thank you very much.
