My wife and I officially dubbed December 23 this year, “Bonus Day.” Often we don’t get off of work for Christmas break until the 23rd, making our Christmas stay with my family a mad dash of present opening and event hopping. We arrive, have to rush to fit everything in, then rush to leave to go see her family and rush through it all once again. This year, however, our last day of work was the 22nd. We were able to take the 23rd and simply relax at my parents house: no agenda, no schedule, no gifts to open. It was magnificent. I loved Bonus Day.
We got a Bonus Day at Emily’s family’s house as well on December 26. We opened presents on the evening of the 25th, but the 26th had no schedule at all. It was another great day.
My two Bonus Days got me thinking about how and why humans gather with the people they love. Usually, especially with the distance between families and friends in today’s culture, a special occasion is required for people to get together. An event needs to be planned, like a wedding, a funeral, or Christmas present opening. These are incidents that we make priorities, and we should. They are celebration-worthy.
However, I don’t think we have enough bonus days. We need to make more room for them, make them priorities, find ways to gather with absolutely nothing on the agenda. Weddings are busy - so often the bride and groom and their families lament that they wish they had been able to talk to more people there. Christmas can be hectic, especially when trying to make room for present-opening, church services, and other traditions that are important but fill the schedule.
Essentially what I’m trying to get at here is that I’ll probably have way more memories from my two Bonus Days this year than I will from the actual Christmas events. I’ll remember a spirited game of Wii bowling, my 4-year old leading an exercise workout for all of us requiring invisible kettlebells, and competing to see who could get Jeopardy answers out before the others in the room. I’ll remember the multi-category cooking contest put on by my wife’s family, listening to my daughter laugh while throwing rocks into the river to break the ice, and the random conversations with a family friend around the table. All of these things were possible only on Bonus Day, on unscheduled, uneventful, unplanned time together.
On Friday night several good friends will be staying with Emily and I for one more Bonus Day. The only thing on the schedule is dinner at 8. For the rest, we’ll see where the wine and the conversation takes us.
I love Bonus Day.
We got a Bonus Day at Emily’s family’s house as well on December 26. We opened presents on the evening of the 25th, but the 26th had no schedule at all. It was another great day.
My two Bonus Days got me thinking about how and why humans gather with the people they love. Usually, especially with the distance between families and friends in today’s culture, a special occasion is required for people to get together. An event needs to be planned, like a wedding, a funeral, or Christmas present opening. These are incidents that we make priorities, and we should. They are celebration-worthy.
However, I don’t think we have enough bonus days. We need to make more room for them, make them priorities, find ways to gather with absolutely nothing on the agenda. Weddings are busy - so often the bride and groom and their families lament that they wish they had been able to talk to more people there. Christmas can be hectic, especially when trying to make room for present-opening, church services, and other traditions that are important but fill the schedule.
Essentially what I’m trying to get at here is that I’ll probably have way more memories from my two Bonus Days this year than I will from the actual Christmas events. I’ll remember a spirited game of Wii bowling, my 4-year old leading an exercise workout for all of us requiring invisible kettlebells, and competing to see who could get Jeopardy answers out before the others in the room. I’ll remember the multi-category cooking contest put on by my wife’s family, listening to my daughter laugh while throwing rocks into the river to break the ice, and the random conversations with a family friend around the table. All of these things were possible only on Bonus Day, on unscheduled, uneventful, unplanned time together.
On Friday night several good friends will be staying with Emily and I for one more Bonus Day. The only thing on the schedule is dinner at 8. For the rest, we’ll see where the wine and the conversation takes us.
I love Bonus Day.
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