Creating Relaxed, Informal Living

Before you need a stiff drink to revive you, before you want to give it up completely and raise the yellow flag, start making time. Give yourself that self-indulgent half hour of doing absolutely nothing or try a simple walk with the dog. Maybe a ten minute exercise. It needs to be an escape route and it needs to be just as much a permanent feature of your life as your daily chores. It will be invaluable for when you decide you really have no use for your aching head. Make it a daily routine and it will help to prevent things from getting you down in the first place.

From: The Family Home by Joanna Copestick

Routine Breakers:

Take the children out for lunch occasionally. For added interest, combine it with a trip to the local library, a visit to the park, or a simple wander around a store. Even a car wash can be fascinating to a toddler and you will be able to sit still for ten precious minutes.

On the weekend take off for a whole day with the family. Leave early in the morning, eat meals out, and return tired but happy.

Write a letter you have been putting off for too long or phone a neglected friend to catch up on all the news.

Start a decorating project - stripping paintwork, painting shelves, making curtains - but make sure you follow it through to the end or you will be surrounded by half-finished work.

Sort through the family keepsakes and decide which ones can go and which need preserving and displaying.

Sort out all your piles of photos and put them into albums.

Weed the garden, then sit back with a drink and admire your work.

Arrange a children-swap with a friend and use the time solely for yourself - to read, exercise, go to a health club, visit a museum, play the piano, or whatever else you never have time to do on a normal day.

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The Family Homebook by Joana Copestick is dedicated to creating relaxed, informal living for all ages. It is a lovely book.