Usually when the weekend come around everyone gets extremely excited. YAY, OFF WORK UNTIL MONDAY MORNING!
On weekends, its when most restaurants/diners/cafes, movie theaters, shopping malls, parks and other outdoor entertainment environments are the busiest, just to name a few. On weekends people come out in droves, young thru senior. Weekends are times where people can catch up with others to see how their week went, or not, or how they expect the upcoming week to go, or not. Weekends from Friday to Sunday is when most people travel from state to state or from country to country.
However, how often do you experience leisure on the weekend, especially for parent with children, who have to wait on them hand and foot, catch up on laundry and other house chores, do shopping for the next week. They may also have to take their children to an extracurricular activities, ballet, baseball, soccer, cheerleading practice, basketball, or what have you. Is this really considered leisure. Even on vacation where parent often take their children. Still, is that really leisure or a ‘family vacation”. Because parents are frequently monitoring their child’s comings and goings, even in a totally different space, environment, state, or even country, is running behind children fun. I don’t have any small children anymore, as my children are now adults. But when I look back on taking vacation, I just mostly found ways to entertain the children and not myself.
For those parents and non-parents, vacationing can really mean vacating. Sitting poolside enjoying the sun, beach, and sipping on bottomless pina coladas, mai tais, mimosa, or whatever you drink preference may be, whereas vacating it will be some far from a virgin daiquiri. Going and coming as you please without worrying about where the children are or what they are doing or are they safe, is essentially defined as parental or non-parent leisure. It is also called a temporary escape from reality.
Ok, getting off the vacation and back to the topic at hand, the weekend. How would you describe your weekends, whether they start Friday evening or in the middle of what society titles, “a normal work week”?
Do you take this opportunity to sleep in a few extra hours?
Do you stay up after hours? Or let you kids stay up past their set bedtime?
Do you watch your favorite movies, or binge watch your favorite sitcom?
Do you take the time to exercise or engage in other healthy activities or self-care?
For food and caloric conscious eaters. On the weekends, do you watch what you eat or do you stick to a healthy meal regime? Or do you have the slice of cake, pie, ice cream, or other dessert that you’ve been craving?
On weekends is this when your alcohol consumption is kicked up a notch?
Do you go on a date or take a walk in the park with your spouse, partners, or new found friends?
Do you entertain others at your home or go to others places as a source of leisure or entertainment? This could be a restaurant, whereas you are giving yourself a break from cooking at home or treating the family out to nice dinner. Yet, still its you way of avoiding cooking where you personally can actually sit down and enjoy the meal and not have to prepare it, cook it, and clean up the mess.
I can recall various times when I was always the last person to eat. Yes, its my fault because I tend to clean, cook, feed everyone else while I am cleaning and then I sit down and eat. I mean for me, it is disgusting to sit down at the Kitchen or dining room table knowing that I have made such mess in the kitchen and also knowing that I am the one that is responsible for cleaning it up after dinner. So, I clean first and eat laster, therefore, I do not have such big job post my meal and I can take my time to enjoy what I have prepared. Oh, with being the last person to eat also means having to nook my food in the microwave, whereas eating straightaway, fresh of the burner or out of the oven makes food taste delectable.
Weekends are when most restaurants/diners/cafes, movie theaters, shopping malls, parks and other outdoor entertainment environments are the busiest, just to name a few. On weekends people come out in droves, those young and senior. Weekends are times where people can catch up with others and hang out, not worrying about calling it an early evening because they have to get up for working the next morning. Most adults may have a second glass of wine, at home or out in public.
Are longer weekends any different than a shorter Friday even to Sunday evening. Probably so, where you can actually get more done and find time to engage in self-care or do things that you have always wanted to do that time didn’t allow on the weekdays or short weekends. Maybe gardening, organizing, taking a lesson or educating yourself, in the summer, taking a dip in the pool. Most importantly, thinking about nothing and finding a way to recalibrate your psychological and emotional state.
Why is the weekend defined as being from Friday evening to Sunday evening. Why are people not allowed to chose their own two day weekend. Maybe because most of corporate America operate from Monday thru Friday, mostly from 8 to 5.
Regardless of such, the weekend is what you make it. The weekend may be defined being from Friday evening to Sunday evening, whereas is a result of leisure time, but it all depends on what leisure time means to you as an individual. When you define your leisure time, you define your weekend no matter what day of the week it is. No matter if you are on the clock or off. Take the evening after work on a Monday-Thursday and engage in a leisure activity. This could mean going to happy hour at the bar or restaurant. Stopping off to have dinner with someone or alone. This could go for parents as well, whereas they can take turns picking the children up from school. Each person can pick their day for leisure whereas they get a couple of hours to sit back and relax and allow them to become one with self, engage in self-resonation. This does not mean neglecting wifely or husbandly duties. Yes, women like hanging out with her girls and dude like hanging out with the fellas. Use your leisure day to do that. Having leisure time does not always have to be about you taking time for oneself after the children have gone off to bed. Hell, the children came into your life and you not into theirs.
It is understood that couple have trust issues, so to make it a leisure night, make it a couple(s) thing, whereas you two meet one night a week just to enjoy one another’s company without distractions. Yes, this even means smartphones.
Whichever day you consider your weekend and however you spend it, Happy weekend. Or should I just say happy WEEK-END, whereas the evening of everyday is encompassed into what a weekend entail. Leisure time.
God Bless.
AuPearce
Au'Pearce 