Based on my Top 13 List from my last post, I decided to give myself the task of putting together my current vision of an ideal, non-travel day of retirement. The actual retirement schedule will not be exactly like this, because I hope that we can travel multiple times a year. Thus, this scenario is for when we are home and the kids are not in school. AND we do not have scheduled plans. Here I go!
Try to wake up 30 minutes before the kids (I said "kids", plural, because we are hoping to have our second child soon) and my wife.
When the kids ultimately wake up, I would already like to be pretty awake.
So, within the first 30 minutes of waking up, I would want to do some sort of physical activity outside.
Options:
Jumping Jacks, high knees, and squats for 10 to 15 minutes
1 and ½ mile jog
Fast 1 mile walk
Outdoor activity that needs accomplished, such as cleaning out shed, garage, or raking leaves.
Once the kids wake up, I would love to make breakfast with the kids and eat breakfast with my family.
This is flexible based on kids ages and when they may wake up, AND if they are in school.
I would like to spend just 1 hour (maybe at 9am or 10am) checking emails for any work stuff that I have going on or doing work.
I would like to stay home for this, but I may end up having to go somewhere if I really needed to focus during that 1 hour.
Around 11:30am ish, start putting lunch together with the family.
After lunch, do something outdoors, weather permitting, with the kids.
Current ideas:
Fishing
Other lake stuff
Disc Golf
Going for a walk
Going to the park
Just simply playing in our yard
Have a little “quiet” time inside before dinner.
At this time, I would do my daily workout (I lift weights 3 times a week and run 3 times a week – I also do 6 to 10 minutes of HIIT 2 times a week).
When I begin making dinner, the family can help prepare it with me or not.
I really enjoy cooking, it actually made my current "Top 13 List". So, if the family did not want to help and my love for cooking doesn’t stop, I would just do it on my own.
After dinner, we would choose between playtime or watching a family movie.
We would then clean the toys up and then get the kids ready for bed and do the whole bedtime routine.
After kids were asleep, I would like to spend time with my wife.
At this point, hopefully all the cleaning would be done.
At around 10pm, if I was not too tired, I would want to read or listen to a podcast or audiobook.
Well, there it is. Of course, no day will be as structured and go as planned as the above day I laid out. Trust me, I have a 2-year-old, I know this. But, I wanted to carry out this exercise to make myself consider what a “perfect” day would look like. I am not surprised at all either that this “perfect” day does not require much money at all. I may reread it a couple of times and tweak it throughout the months and years, but that is my current version of an ideal day in retirement with kids.
The purpose of this exercise was ultimately just another way to make me zero in on my current "why" in life. Since my final goal is not to obtain financial independence, I want to focus on always being able to know "why" I get up in the morning and "why" do I continue to go to work.
Thank you for reading until the end. I am planning on diving head first and getting nerdy in my next post with Step two on The Seven-Year Time Challenge!
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