We usually make two to three trips per year as a family. It’s particularly a must during or right after Christmas and over New Years Day. This year, we booked a trip to El Salvador, but a week before we were to go, Joanne and I felt we should stay home with our family, friends and church community.

As a matter of fact, Danny, our 6 ½ year old, told me, “Dad we travel too much. Can we stay home?” That confirmed to me that we made the right decision, and I even started questioning future trips. What transpired during this Christmas week was quite interesting. What happened during Christmas week? Nothing. Doing nothing was our intentional plan. Other than hosting a couple of get-togethers for Christmas, we just chilled.

I was hardly “productive” at all. Spending all day every day with my wife and our three kids around the house was sweet. And hard. Not because the kids were difficult, but hard because I did not know how to just be.  

Usually our family time is spent “doing.” We are always going somewhere, traveling someplace, heading to see something, playing at the park or visiting friends. While all that doing with the family is nice and fantastic for memory (and photo) making, it’s also doing, doing and more doing. We have to spend an hour preparing, then load all of the kids and their things in the car, then handle crying, hunger and all the other needs of our three children.  

You know what’s great? Just getting on the floor and building structures with magnetic boxes, an activity the kids love. Or going to the backyard and acting silly. Playing hide and seek. Or simply running around the house. What about watching a movie or two? Just being with the family is beautiful. It’s when time actually slows down. It’s when I turn to my wife and ask, “What are we going to do this afternoon?” and we both get creative instead of the usual activity-to-activity routine.  

We want to be such good parents, so we pack schedules, create plans and make the most money we can, so we can do more, get more and go more places.  

My dad passed away about 20 years ago. The best memories of my time with him during my childhood happened when we were simply together, doing … nothing. We were present with each other. He was not on his phone, and I was not on my tablet—and not just because those things didn’t exist in the 80s. There were different distractions back then. My dad loved to read, and I had my toy soldiers.

But the best, most wholesome times, were when he was just there to enjoy my company, and I to enjoy his. 

That’s what we attempted to do this Christmas week, and I intend to do more of it. While that was hard to achieve in 2024, I want to grow in this area with my family in 2025. Will you join me?

Written by Dr. Wes Saade, Buckner International board chair and family physician.