Hey Mama Monday: The Solution for Family Stress: Family Rest, Mama!

Hey Mama,

Is there stress or strife in your family? When the family isn’t rested, there tends to be more stress and strife among its members. 

I don’t know about you, but our summer so far has been the busiest ever. In fact, we have been doing nothing but running around (all really good things, mind you). When I saw the topic today, it made me pause and think about how I can change all this running around into slowing the family down a bit. I need to intentionally plan the downtime. 

Family unity is pretty important. If all the activities are creating stress in the family, we may need to rethink our priorities and actually plan something different. As intentional moms, we tend to plan all the fun activities but forget to plan the downtime needed after each one. We see an open date and think it is okay to fill it. We may need to rethink that, especially if the family is stressed and needs rest. 

Perhaps some ways to restart and refresh (and still have some family fun) could be. . .

• Create dates on your summer calendar that are only for family time (guard those).
• Sit down family meals together at least 3 times a week with conversation starters.
• Leave Sunday after church open for staying home and resting together.
• Saturday night family BBQ with yard games or board games.
• Plan family movie nights once a week at home.
• Take a few days at home to listen to an audio book together as a family.
• Set up a tent in the backyard and have a family campout.
• Create daily quiet/rest times.
• Everyone picks a personal favorite book to read for family reading time one night.
• Don’t forget family devotions and family prayer—it binds a family together.

Creating consistent family moments become the memories the children treasure. They may like VBS, sports camps, field trips, and all the other things that keep us busy in the summer, but add some downtime with family, and these will be the most precious memories. 

Jesus knew His disciples needed rest; so He had them go to a remote and quiet place. Our families and little disciples need the same. In all of our planning, let’s plan that. 

“And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat” (Mark 6:31). 

~Deborah

Deborah Wuehler is the Senior Editor and Director of Production here at The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine. She would say she is a very ordinary homeschool mom–with one exception: she has an extraordinary God Who provides all she needs for life and homeschooling. She has eight children aged 11 to 29. Deborah’s mission is this: to point other homeschoolers to the Lord in all they do, think, and feel—and to confirm that they, too, can find everything they need for life, godliness, and homeschooling in their knowledge of Him (2 Peter 1:3-4).