Relaxation Nation: Jammie Days

You know what some of my favourite days are? Jammie Days.

Jammie Days are days when you leave your pajamas on all day long. Maybe they are rainy days. Maybe they’re days when you can sit out on the patio with a mug of coffee and a book in the morning. You can do whatever you want to, really. Just do it in your jammies.

I find that sometimes, it’s just nice to take a day, all day, and make it about comfort. That doesn’t mean sitting like a bump on a log on the sofa all day — but if that’s what you want to do, then by all means. A jammie day means you’ve got your most comfortable pajamas on and, by virtue of your attire, your choices of things to do are similarly limited to the more comfortable things in life. And that means, mostly, staying close to home. Because most of the time, people don’t want to be seen out in stores or the mall or cutting their grass in their pajamas.

What it also means is that, generally speaking, you are staying home and spending time with your family, or your spouse, or your dog. And that’s kind of nice. And silly, when you think of it, all walking around in jammies all day. And silly? Is good.

But that doesn’t preclude getting things done, if that’s how you want to spend your time. There’s no saying you can’t do laundry while wearing your pajamas, or vacuum, or clean the windows. But I’ll bet if you do it in your pajamas, you’ll be a lot more relaxed and have more fun doing it.

The point is, wearing your pajamas all day forces a little rest time upon a person, because they can’t rush about and DO ALL THE THINGS because they are wearing their pajamas. (And those teens who wear pajamas AS CLOTHING? I’m sorry, NOT THE SAME THING. Go put some proper clothes on. Sheesh.)

And that also doesn’t mean jammie days should happen EVERY day. Then it’s just laziness. Or, you know, first year university. NO. Jammie days should definitely be a treat. Maybe one Saturday a month works for you. Or maybe every couple of weeks. Maybe your birthday or a special holiday is your jammie day. Whatever. You know yourself best, so you know how often you would need a day to just decompress, and relax, and hang out in your jammies.

When I was single, jammie days were usually a Saturday, when I used to make a big pot of coffee, and sit and listen to the radio and read the massive Saturday paper. FOR HOURS. Just me and my cat, chilling. It was excellent. And then maybe in the mid-afternoon, we’d take a nap. Possibly in the evening, there would be a movie or a game on the TV. It was one day where we didn’t have to see anyone or talk to anyone or dress up. It was like a mini holiday. It rejuvenated my spirit.

Around here, now that we have a family, it’s less about solitary pursuits, but that’s okay. Jammie days usually mean a big lazy breakfast is in the offing. And, because we need to stick to routine around here to keep the procrastination monsters at bay, even on weekends, we generally speaking do some of our regular chores. Cleaning, sweeping, vacuuming. But beyond that, we take it easy. Maybe there is a movie to watch. Or bubbles to be blown. A dance party may even break out. Who can say? There might even be take out. And perhaps even family nap time in the afternoon.

The best jammie days often mean breakfast for dinner. Yummm. OMG I LOVE BREAKFAST FOR DINNER. Pancakes. Or bacon and tomato sammiches, Maybe bacon and eggs and hash browns. (Sometimes, if you can’t have a FULL ON jammie day, just having breakfast for dinner, and making sure you put your jammies on to do it, can be a treat.  And they you’ve all got your jammies on to curl up on the sofa and watch a movie afterwards.)

My daughter loves jammie days already. We had some while we were on vacation. There’s nowhere to go, nobody to see, and you can just hang out and play and relax.

And I guess, that’s the point, really, for adults. Jammie days mean there’s no place you MUST go and nobody you HAVE to see and nothing you HAVE to do. Except to cut yourself a little slack for the day and spend some fun, restful time with your family, or with your spouse, or by yourself. Your way. In comfort.

A little flannel vacation.