Some of my friends think I’m crazy to let the Daddy in our house head off for the weekend with his mates for a surf weekend.

Yes, many of my mum-friends do question my sanity when I mention that he is (again) heading away for the weekend with a collection of his similarly surf obsessed friends.

The point is that my mum-friends who tell me that there is no way they would be letting their hubbies head off every now and then (god help their husbands!) for a weekend away, are obviously yet to discover and therefore embrace …

the sheer beauty and total effectiveness of a weekend of pyjama therapy.

And in fact, when administered for at least 48 hours continuously, the health benefits are profound.  So incredible in fact, that I really can’t believe how it has not made it onto the World Health Authority’s list of the Top 100 cure-alls for the ills of the modern mum.

So, do tell I hear you say.  Pyjama therapy is just something my kids and I have kept as our own tradition since my first son was born just over 13 years ago.

To explain; I discovered very early in my life as a mum that everything is worse when you’re tired and that trying to keep up the constant pace of being a busy mum looking after toddlers, babies in utero, newborns and of course, the sometimes very needy partners in our lives is actually draining, tiring and taxing.

Every now and then, we all just need to stop; completely. And so our Pyjama Days (aka Pyjama Therapy) were born.

Pyjama therapy does have rules …

There is no ducking to the shops ‘just to grab something for dinner’, no picking up the kids from a sporting activity or birthday party and certainly no having the kids from down the street in for a play.  And in order to completely stick to the rule of not leaving the house/garden, I established that the only way I wouldn’t do this was to stay in my pyjamas all day.  The kids too.

Pyjama days are all about slowing down the pace of our lives and allowing us all to move at the pace our body requires on that particular day.

We sleep as long as we all like (well the kids, not me); if anyone wants to watch TV for an hour before breakfast, that’s OK and even better if we all eat breakfast WHILE we watch TV.  I find that when I’m in my pjs with no makeup and my hair unwashed and unstyled, the incentive to dash here and there diminishes drastically and in so doing, I am forcing myself to slow down.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like we watch TV for the entire weekend.  It’s not like we just become popcorn munching, coke slurping fatties on the couch – we just force ourselves to think about how necessary it is to race in and out of the house and in doing this, we actually end up relaxing but still achieving quite a lot.

Case in point was the weekend just passed.  We decided Friday night that Saturday would be PJDay – the week had been huge and our tempers had been less than acceptable all week – we were had it.  There was no Saturday morning sport for a change, no birthday parties and no playdates had been organised so we were free.  What a fab day we all had – I read the papers for an hour or so, we made pizza dough for dinner that night and  I pulled together dinner for a few very close friends Saturday night (I did get changed just before they arrived).

Now while I really try to not over-engineer meals when we have friends over, there is always one or two little things I need to ‘nip out’ to buy to make whatever it is I’m making just right.  But not this weekend – this weekend I stood at the pantry and fridge and decided on the night’s menu based on what I could find.  Which raises a very important point – do you know how quickly you can whip up dinner for friends if you’re not zooming ’round the shops as part of the whole exercise.  No wonder those master chefs make it look so easy – I could cook like that too if someone kept my larder constantly stocked!

We loved our Saturday so much we decided to do the same thing Sunday.  Yup, PJs.  All day.  Bliss.  Forget the fact that 5 kids from around the neighbourhood busted in Sunday late morning to see my sitting at my mac in my flannels and slippers – they’re used to it!  I got loads of work done, washed/dried and folded 8 loads of washing, made a yummy dinner for the kids and I Sunday night and even managed to trim everyone’s fingernails, toenails and fringes.  Lovely big baths Sunday night, fresh jammies and then into bed in time for my favourite show!

Pyjama therapy is nothing earth shattering – just some fun for you and your kids that forces YOU to slow down and relax.

Fact is, your kids will think it’s far cooler if you sit down (in your pjs of course) and actually watch the movie with them instead of folding washing and checking emails at the same time.

Much love,

Nikki xo