• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • My Books
    • True You
    • Katharina and Martin Luther
    • 50 Women Every Christian Should Know
    • Spiritual Misfit
  • Blog
  • On My Bookshelves
  • Contact
  • Privacy & Disclosure Policy

Michelle DeRusha

Every Day Faith. Faith Every Day.

Sabbath and kids

Monopoly is the Bane and My Sabbath is a Flop

January 18, 2013 By Michelle

When I heard that my friend Shelly had begun a Sabbath practice, I emailed her to ask how it was going. Because truthfully, I feel a little lost in my Sabbath practice. I don’t feel like I’m doing it “right.” I feel like I might be missing something. I feel restless and irritable. I keep wanting to paint the bathroom or dust the chandelier. This seems like a bad sign.

Before I launched the new Sabbath practice back in November I established a few rules to keep myself on task. I didn’t go crazy. But I knew I’d cheat if I didn’t have rules.

So.

No shopping.

No cleaning, housework (with the exception of meal prep and dishes), laundry, organizing or aimless busy work.

No technology.

No projects (i.e. no painting the bathroom).

No writing.

Last Sunday Rowan begged to play Monopoly. You should know that Monopoly is the bane of my existence. It’s the game I push under the farthest reaches of the couch in the hopes that it will go unnoticed for months on end. When Rowan asked to play Monopoly, I tried desperately to come up with a reason to say no. But it was the Sabbath. I had plenty of time to play Monopoly.

Suffice to say, it did not end well. Rowan got angry because I refused to alert him every time I landed on his property. (Hey, if I’m going to play Monopoly, I’m in it to win it). He fumed and then in his flailing angst, knocked a spider plant off the shelf, strewing dirt and ceramic pot shards all over the sunroom floor. I made him vacuum it up (after all, I couldn’t vacuum…it was the Sabbath), and he ranted and raved and ended up in his room, and I pouted on the couch and thought, “This doesn’t feel very Sabbath-y.” I eagerly looked forward to sunset when I could dust and waste prodigious amounts of time on Facebook.

When the sun dipped below the horizon that evening I got on the computer and emailed Shelly. Of course, her Sabbath practice is going splendidly. Life-changing. Glorious. But her kids are older than mine. And she lives in balmy South Carolina, not arctic Nebraska. I have young kids. Boys. And it’s winter. With no snow. How in the world is a mother supposed to practice the Sabbath in January with two unruly boys underfoot?

So this is my rambling way of asking on a Friday, as the Sunday Sabbath looms right around the corner again, if you have any good ideas for practicing the Sabbath with unruly boys in January? And please don’t suggest Monopoly. It’s back under the couch.

Filed Under: parenting, Sabbath Tagged With: Sabbath and kids

21st Century Sabbath

November 30, 2012 By Michelle

Two Sundays ago I decided to do absolutely nothing.

I’ve always liked the idea of Sabbath — to dial down my chaotic life for 24 hours; to rest and relax; to honor God. But I assumed a Sabbath practice wasn’t in the cards, at least while I have young children.

After all, how can one rest amid the raucous beeps and blurps of Mario Bros. blaring from the Wii?

How can one relax when laundry bursts from the wicker hamper, sleeves and pant legs dangling like octopus tentacles?

Who has time to honor God when there’s a lasagna pan to scrub, two dozen socks to sort and a pile of Lincoln Logs to sweep from beneath the couch?

I figured Sabbath might be part of my life someday…just not now.

Lately, though, I’ve wondered: maybe the time of life that seems least conducive to honoring the Sabbath is, in fact, the most important time to do exactly that.

…Will you join me over at the Lincoln Journal Star for the rest of the story?

Filed Under: parenting, Sabbath Tagged With: Lincoln Journal Star, Sabbath, Sabbath and kids

Primary Sidebar

Connect with me on social media

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a Triple Type A, “make it happen” (my dad’s favorite mantra) striver and achiever (I’m a 3 on the Enneagram, which tells you everything you need to know), but these days my striving looks more like sitting in silence on a park bench, my dog at my feet, as I slowly learn to let go of the false selves that have formed my identity for decades and lean toward uncovering who God created me to be.

Read Full Bio

Sign Up for The Back Patio, My Monthly Newsletter

Available Now — My New Book!

Blog Post Archives

Footer

Copyright © 2022 Michelle DeRusha · Site by The Willingham Enterprise· Log in