“Week of Less” #1 – 2025

My husband and I wanted to try an idea we had. The idea was taking off every seventh week as a sort of “Sabbath week“. We weren’t sure exactly what this would look like. We initially decided that he would work at only one job this week and I wouldn’t schedule any medical type appointments. I also decided to skip co-op this week since it’s a source of stress for some of us (me included). My husband would still work at his main job and the kiddos and I would still homeschool. But we would make a concerted effort to do less, hurry less and have less stress this week in particular. It would be set aside as a “week of less”.

Sabbath – After homemade waffles for breakfast, church at home, watching an episode of Drive Thru History: The Gospels, and bean & rice burritos for lunch…

We ended the day with leftovers for dinner and a movie night (Star Wars: episode V) and popcorn. Ah, a nice relaxing day!

Sunday – The morning was spent doing some home clean-up and tidying, putting away the last of the Christmas decor and then a meal of leftovers for lunch. We completed an escape room at the library as a family team + two extra tag-along kiddos who joined our time slot at the last minute – that can happen at free escape rooms at the library. It was an opportunity for us to love our neighbor. We started listening to Little Pilgrim’s Progress by Helen Taylor on Audible. We ran a few errands and tried out a new to us restaurant for dinner. The food was mediocre. Now I want to make my own soup because I like it better. We ended the evening with a spur of the moment movie night to watch Star Wars Episode: VI… I fell asleep about halfway through. Not the most relaxing day, but not too stressful either.

Monday – Regular work & chores & homeschool. I made soup from scratch and assembled a lasagna for dinner tomorrow. I also made a batch of Edamame Dip. B used a big magnet tool to clean up spilled nails and metal staples in the gravel driveway. We enjoyed a family game night with a new game we got for Christmas, Really Loud Librarians.

I felt stressed on this day which was really annoying because the whole point is supposed to be less stress. Without anywhere to go or anywhere we had to be, I tried to cram in too much work at home. It was not relaxing. Cooking from scratch is messy and involves lots of cleanup. I’m going to do less than I had planned tomorrow. We ended the day with family-aloud time.

Tuesday – Regular work & chores & homeschool. I had been slacking in our Bible curriculum because our Christmas things were all biblically-based and Christ-centered. Today, we started with Bible after everyone was up and had eaten breakfast. K made cranberry bread – we ran out of time during the holidays for this seasonal treat, and we still wanted it! We use the recipe from the picture book “Cranberry Thanksgiving” by Wende and Harry Devlin. B started the first step in making mustard from scratch. Brown mustard seed is the next spice for our spice-of-the-month club. The kiddos finished a puzzle map of the USA and the kiddos and I all finished our Map Art Project. The kiddos and my hubs disassembled the trampoline, it needs to be replaced because the webbing that holds a hook that attaches to a spring tore off of the mat. We feel like it’s not safe to use once pieces start to tear off. We ended the day with family read-aloud time and had a little extra time for picture books.

Wednesday – Regular work & chores & homeschool. Yesterday seemed to go fairly well, so we started with Bible again after everyone was up and had eaten breakfast. I was motivated to let the kiddos eat a pomegranate I’d gotten at Trader Joe’s last week. Pomegranates are fun and messy and stain. We started our Marine Biology unit study by The Good and the Beautiful (TGATB) and completed 2 out of 3 science experiments – why are science experiments so stressful?!? Why must they use so much food coloring!?! Food coloring stains too. Unfortunately, my oldest son and I had a meeting we couldn’t reschedule but we left the younger two kiddos at home to hang out with my hubs while he was working. We tried the chicken and rice soup from Costco for dinner and it was quite tasty! And ended the evening with family read-aloud time.

Thursday – Regular work & chores & homeschool. I texted the co-op leaders that were we going to be absent. We started with Bible again and that seems to be going well. I’m hoping I can keep it up next week. We finished up the first lesson in TGATB Marine Biology along with the 3rd experiment which required that we made blue ice cubes yesterday (more blue food coloring). We did a lesson from Gather ‘Round: Human Body – the mouth, including a taste testing experiment. I was planning on making cookies and got as far as softening the butter… maybe I’ll finish them tomorrow… The new trampoline was delivered, so my hubs and the kiddos spent some time starting the set up process. Getting it all finished will probably take a few days. My oldest son screwed in a hook for our new chuck wagon dinner bell. This thing is awesome for calling in the kiddos from “outdoor green-time play”. We had vegetable soup that I found in the freezer for dinner with naan and frozen appetizers from Trader Joe’s.

We ended the day with family read-alouds.

Friday – Regular work & chores & homeschool. The kiddos had a 30 minute swimming lesson (PE) and I went back and forth trying to decide if we should keep it or cancel it. The coach ended up cancelling that morning so it worked out to take a week off. We watered the dormant lawn and then ran a few errands: picked up a grocery order from Walmart, got the car washed, and grabbed a few groceries from Grocery Outlet.

When we got home, I unloaded the groceries while my hubs and kiddos set up the new trampoline. We enjoyed our tradition of pasta, sauces, salad, and French bread for Friday evening, Sabbath dinner. After dinner, we had popcorn and retro TV with an episode of “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” and an episode of “Family Matters”. It’s our own throwback version of the 90s TGIF TV night.

Before bed, I got an email that our local librarian who is also a good friend is moving on to a new job. 😭 Usually, we’re the ones moving away. I don’t prefer being in this end of it. For whatever reason, loss brings up loss.

It was nice to have this “week of less” to reset after the holidays and get back into the swing of things for our homeschool schedule. It was nice to have fewer scheduled obligations and places we had to be at specific days/times. My husband says next time he wants to be away from the house so it’s “a real week off”. Unfortunately, we can’t take a full week off school and work every 7 weeks! Overall, I feel like we did a fair job in scheduling less this week… but there’s definitely room for improvement. I know we can do better to do less next time! 😁

May your week be free of hurry!

💜 heavenstobetty