Something for Nothing

My family excels at nothing.

Literally. We are absolutely unstoppable when it comes to idleness. We love doing nothing. We’ve even coined a term for our passion: QAT (Quality Ass Time). Meaning, we recreationally sit on our asses and have a great time doing it. Curt and I raised our three daughters with this philosophy, and they’ve embraced it wholeheartedly. 



Flag football game at family gatherings? Nuh-uh. Might break a sweat. Pitch a tent in the great outdoors? No, thanks. Too much effort and, mosquitoes, you know.

We prefer to engage in some quiet pursuit as we sit: reading, table games, conversation, puzzles, eating. But don’t assume we’re a passel of slack-jawed two-ton Tessies. Just ask anyone who’s married into the family: we Welsh women are highly competitive at our favorite less-active pursuits, and especially like to demonstrate our prowess at games of skill and chance. I say “women” because Curt wants no part of the competition; he only plays for fun, he says. To which I reply, where’s the fun if you’re not playing to win?

The three idlers doing nothing



Flash to vacation time in Florida last week. For some people, a week of sunning by a resort pool, sipping drinks with whipped cream and a cherry, strolling along a sandy beach, and reading the latest bestsellers would grow tiresome and monotonous. But throw in a few poolside trivia games—with prizes—and you’ve just described nirvana for me and two of my daughters.



Name That Tune winners!



On two days we played TV show theme-song “Name That Tune,” and I’m proud to say that Angie and Christina swept first and second place on both occasions. Not only did they identify slam-dunks like “Family Ties” and “Growing Pains,” but they recognized oldies like “Magnum, P.I.” and “Hawaii Five-O.” The glory of strutting forward to their mother’s cheers to claim free drink coupons, mini-golf passes, bags of candy—why, these are moments to cherish. On another day, Christina and I mined our vast storehouses of knowledge, squashing all competition like bugs at Poolside Trivia. We knew such things as who was Michael Jackson’s first wife (Lisa Marie Presley), how to spell Cincinnati, and the name of Ross’s monkey in the first season of “Friends” (Marcel). Formidable forces we were, indeed, earning more drink coupons and mini-golf passes.



Morning Boggle



With all these free passes, we were compelled to move our legs and arms enough to actually play some mini-golf. Fortunately, I was able to avenge my Boggle losses to Christina earlier in the week with a three-stroke links victory. Now, I must admit we didn’t win at everything. We were losers at Bingo, and that was real money—$2 a card—so it was especially painful. 

As we boarded our homeward-bound flight, we marveled anew at how easily we are entertained, and agreed we could easily spend another week doing nothing without becoming bored. But I have a little secret: For this mother, getting to spend a week with the undivided attention of her adult daughters is not nothing. It’s really something.