March 11 // Bonus // Daylight Savings Time, Spring Cleaning Bingo, Membership Deal, and App!
Here's some optimistic reframing of not-our-favorite-things, plus some announcements!
Hi! Daylight Savings Time is this Sunday, and losing an hour of sleep plus recalibrating everyone’s schedules can be really tough on parents. It’s a whole lifestyle change! In this newsletter, we’re going to focus on the positive aspects of DST and try to reframe the feelings of dread and find things we’re excited about!
There’s also a Spring Cleaning checklist we made for you and some announcements about this newsletter!
A Quick Meditation for Daylight Savings Time
The way our society tells time might be arbitrary and dated, but it’s still a constraint that we can’t change, and that’s okay. This is a chance to let go of our sense of control and choose to welcome unwelcome circumstances.
Now is the time to find favorite places to watch the sunset and go on long walks after dinner. Now is the time to invite friends over and lose track of the hours. Now is the time where your outings have more flexibility and Night is letting you have a little more room in your schedule.
Now is a time where more light can make you feel more safe. It’s true; DST is correlated with lower rates of robbery! You have more freedom to explore cities and run errands without feeling quite so suspicious of strangers in the dark.
Though staying cozy inside during the dark months has its benefits, now is a time to be with people. Now is a time to go to Farmer’s Markets and even concerts and remember that you’re not the only person who likes what you like.
Now is the time for you to go on more dates with your kids. It’s a time to say “sure, I’d love that” when they ask if they can stay up and play with you.
It’s also a time to make boundaries for your kids. To say things like “It’s still light at 8:30, but you need to stay in your room after 7 so Daddy and I can have our at-home date.” Now is a time to prioritize your kids’ sleep and routines if they have to get up for school. It’s a time to invite your kids to trust you.
And yes, now is a time for you to get your kids blackout curtains or maybe a cute sleeping mask 😉
There are many privileges and opportunities unique to this “spring forward” of Daylight Savings Time. The one in November might be preferable, and maybe all DST’s should be done away with, but it’s here, and we’ll adapt.
Spring Cleaning BINGO
Spring Cleaning isn’t terribly fun, but BINGO is. Save this to your phone, track your progress with the “markup” editing feature, and decide how you will reward yourself for getting 5 in a row. And if you complete all of these tasks, then, well, you are a local hero and deserve a Key to the City 😅
Truly, though, you can reframe annoying work as “peaceful self-care” if you put on a good audiobook or playlist. The story is the foreground, the cleaning is the background. That might not work for your brain, but it really helps mine. I try to focus on what I am enjoying, so that what I don’t enjoy happens almost without me noticing 😉 This week, I listened to The Unlikely Thru-Hiker by Derick Lugo and felt like I was on the Appalachian Trail more than my kitchen.
Substack App
I love writing this newsletter here on Substack and I love reading other newsletters on it, too. On Wednesday, Substack released a free app for iOS and it makes reading this newsletter much easier! It really helps!
Here’s a screenshot of what it looks like:
Opt Out
As a reminder, you can opt out of email sections that don’t interest you by going to your account settings and simply un-checking those sections. I definitely don’t want anyone to feel wearied by the quantity of content; only take what you want most! As Switchfoot so wisely put it, “If we’re adding to the noise, turn off this song.”
Anyway, I hope you have a great weekend! See you on Monday. As always, please reply to the emails or leave a comment and let us know how Family Scripts can serve you better!
Warmly,
Hope and the Family Scripts team