NEWS photo Mike Wakefield

.DANIEL Oong and Anna Vasudevan attach balloons to a string at West Vancouver secondary school.
Each balioon represented «ne dollar the school raised for Amnesty International.

THOSE of you with a’
little grey around the -
ears and temple might
recall a song entitled
- “I'm Gettin’? Nuttin’

. for Christmas.” -

I ‘don’t: remember the |

artist, but { certainly remem:
"ber a kid’s voice barking this
‘out, complete witha litany of
reasons © why” he © wasn’t
xpecting’.to get too much”
under: the: tree. Perhaps: in.
these hectic: ‘times, we might,
vas parents, . consider: hum-
 iming-a: few'verses of a new
* song, “I’m :Doin’ Nuttin”
for Christmas.” .
.Here’s my thought, Once
“the | unwrapping is inished,
the paper is cleaned up, the”

urkey is finished off and the

elatives have gone’ home, °
turn off the cellphone, the <
‘fax, the Internet and ‘the
‘television’and. sit down, It.
dozsn’ matier if you're a
“mom or'a dad, just'sit. If 5

kids ‘ask what. you ‘are’ -
doing, say. “Nothing wo
“uy /They'should: understand ;

swer they would give -. =
had you'asked them the."

q
owever, they will be

perplexed by this response.
“Don’t you, have an...
ppointment?.A meee AU
meal.to! ‘cook? "they will

“No. Nothing.” you can
reply, taking care not to
make any suggestions which
might lead them to think
you are surreptitiously plan-
ning some surprise event.
After all, most mornings you

An pagneaanvcesceenensesegenensenasseneasossoes

Parental

Guidance

hit them with a.full schedule .

‘of activities and places to be.

Breakfast is nothing short of.

@ major course in time man-

- agemeat-and prioritizing.
Watches are coordinated, .

emergency numbers -

exchanged and check-in:

‘times determined..
. “You mean you're just

. going to sit there?” they will
vask, turning their head...

- slightly. to'the side as most:
"puzzled puppies do. Now's
“your chance to make a sim-
ple plea.

“» #1 don’t know. I might

just sit here all day. -

Essentially, I have nothing -

:-- Planned. { have no intention .

of engaging in the usual «
_ hysteria of charging batter-
“Jes, stuffing gaping mouths

and chauffeuring socialites,
but I am open to sugges-
tions. Right now, I am
doing nothing until I get a
better suggestion.”

1 have no idea where this
might lead in your house
but let me suggest a few
possibilities. Your children
might try to have you com-
mitted. If they begin dialling
9-1-1 and asking for psychi-
atric services, you may have
to get up and gently speak
to the operator to Jet her
know that emergency per-
sonnel are not needed to
help a parent who has decid-
ed to do nothing for a few
hours.

The children may mistake
the notion of having
uncommitted time as being

* synonymous with a discipli-

nary coma, giving them free
reign’ in the house.
With their first test of

this theory, a simple, “Are

you trying to spend the rest
of the day in your room?”

_ enquiry might remind them

that you’re resting, not —
unconscious. ;
They may question your

., motives..

“This is a joke, right? :
You've got a big surprise
coming, right? I know, I
know, we’re going to

. Disneyland, aren’t we?” they

might squeal with delight.
“No. I have nothing.
planned, ”-calraly stated

” COME WITHA’
“SYR WARRANTY . |

should suffice.

Now if you're lucky, or
more aptly, if your children
are lucky, they might go
into a suggestion mode.
“Would you like.to play
Monopoly with me?

“How about a walk
around the block? Want to
try my scooter? Can I just
sit with you? Want to take a
nap?”

You have options now,
suggestions made by your
children to fill something
they rarely get from you, a
completely empty time slot.

If, like most natural vacu-
ums, it attracts ideas to fill
it, and if those ideas come
from your children, you may
well find that your desire to
do nothing, and your will-
ingness to fill that hole with

" something that is their sug---

gestion, will create a little
quality time together that

will-be the finest part of the

holiday season.

if nothing else, it might
wake everyone else up to the
fact that when you do noth-
ing, there’s a lor that’s left

-undone.:

In the seasonal spirit of
giving, it might at least

‘result in a little help with

something. Who knows, it’s
worth ashot!

~~ Graham Hookey is “the
author of Parenting iA
Team. Sport. Send e-mail to

- sahookey®yahoo. com>,

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