Like many parents, we split the driving and errands. Recently it dawned on us that instead of always dividing up, sometimes we can share the labor and enjoy an uninterrupted conversation. Umm, NO DOY Ann and Ben??
I can’t explain why this took so long for us to see, except to say that as waitstaff you always try to get the most done in the least amount of trips. One person puts up the chairs after lunch rush while the other mops. Same with parenting tween/teens; one person drives to Hebrew school, while the other makes dinner.
As a childless young and inseparable couple, we automatically wrung every possible moment of togetherness from each day. Decades later, we can barely manage to sync our brains around dinner plans most weeknights. Efficiency wins out over connection too often.
On soccer nights we drive a minimum of three trips from home to the soccer park. Dropping off one kid for his 6:30-8 practice and picking up the other from his 5:30-7 means one driver waits around for 30 minutes, or runs a quick errand in between. Until we realized we could drive the middle shift together, get out of our car (!), put our phones away (!!), and take a stroll around the soccer park while we wait.
Abra Abra cadabra, we reached out and grabbed 60 minutes a week together– quality conversation and connection minutes–free from WHAT DID YOU SAY across the house FORGET IT from the next room and WILL YOU PLEASE REPEAT EXACTLY WHAT YOU SAID down the stairs.
Wishing you some magic minutes today.
