But I Refused to Floss

“I’m just letting you know that Friday is going to be a Whole Day of No Obligation for me,” I informed my husband a couple of days ago.

He raised an eyebrow as if to imply that, in the World of Mrs. Cap’n Firepants, every day is one of no obligation.  Since he was cooking dinner at the time of this announcement, I could somewhat see his point.  However, I do actually perform some household duties on a regular basis, and have been feeling the need to boycott all of them since late October when daily obligations to family, home, and work seemed to have kicked into high gear.

“I am going to read all day in my pajamas.  I might even not brush my teeth.”

“Okay,” he said.  This is the same “okay” I get when I tell him I have a really great idea I have for a new invention, like bras that have interchangeable cups because no real woman has two breasts that are the same size.  One of these days, I will divulge a particularly unique inspiration and he will leap up and respond, “By George, that is the most brilliant thing I have ever heard!”

So far, that day has not happened.

Despite my husband’s lack of enthusiasm for the project, I must say, that with the benefit of advance warning for all involved, including my 10-year-old daughter and the two Butts (our dogs), my second Whole Day of No Obligation has been a success.

I completed two books, and when my daughter bounced onto my bed complaining, “I’m bored,” I stifled my motherly/teacherly instinct  to tell her that this would be a good time for her to clean her room, knowing full well that I would then be obligated to make sure the job was completed to my satisfaction – and I was not going to fall into that trap – and said, instead, “I’m sorry, but you will just have to entertain yourself as today is my Day of No Obligation.”  And then I continued to read my book as she silently retreated.  And I fervently hoped that she would not interpret that to mean, “So, go start practicing to be a serial killer who, when caught, will claim that you would have led a legally productive life if you had not had an erratic, selfish mother who refused your every wish and desire just so she could finish reading her book about serial killers.”

It is possible, I suppose, that I will have to reap the consequences of my DNO’s in the future.  But, I think all in the household will agree tomorrow that their lives are much better for having given me a brief respite from laundry, entertaining, dog-bowl filling, and the general multi-tasking usually required of me on a daily basis.

Oh, and I did end up brushing my teeth.  You’re supposed to enjoy your Day of No Obligation, and that is difficult to do when you have sticky teeth and a stale tongue.

Wonderbutt – enjoying his Life of No Obligation

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