“Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.”

— Ovid

When our son was quite small, about 13 years ago, after an exhausting week, my wife turned to me on Friday night and said, “Why don’t we put Zachary to bed early, make a pizza and watch a movie.”

Seven beautiful reasons to need a rest once in awhile.

Since we didn’t have access to a baby-sitter, and I was thoroughly exhausted, I naturally thought this was an excellent idea.

That evening, so long ago now, started a weekly tradition in our house, date night.

Every week, we work all week at our jobs, taking care of kids, volunteering as much as possible, being parents, being friends, but on Friday night we stop and rest.

As the kids grew up, they could stay up later, but they had to play quietly in their rooms. Today, they have to go watch their movie in another room. Any and all quarrels and arguments requiring parental supervision were put on hold until Saturday. Every child’s request was postponed. (Don’t worry, we still watch movies together from time to time and talk a lot on Fridays. But everyone gets a chance to rest)

Although we keep date night primarily to ourselves, it’s not a hard and fast rule. Tonight, for example, we arranged a birthday celebration night for the girls’ birthday, which was Tuesday. They invited a lot of their friends over and have spent the evening doing what teen girls do. As I write this, they are downstairs plotting world domination to be followed by staying up late.

Which finally brings me to the point of this post.

Rest is good. Rest is necessary. Parent time is important. Self time is important. Giving time is immensely important, but not if one is exhausted. So take a break.

If one chooses not to rest, that’s great, but make it a choice. That is a lot different than feeling an obligation to be somewhere or do something. On that one night a week, don’t feel guilty about anything. Put the feet up. Make a date night out of pizza and a movie. Sleep well.

Life can wait until the morning.

Met with my son and daughter’s teacher to discuss a courtyard improvement project at the school. … Hosting eight teens for a slumber party tonight. … Think my wife and I will need a rest after this one.