For as long as I can remember Mr BOTRA and I have generally spent the first half an hour or so after work in what I think of as our evening debrief. Once we are both home from work we will put the kettle on for that essential pot of tea and then sit down and share our news from the day or talk through something we need to sort out. We might chew over a tough problem, making use of the each others insights to find a solution, we might share something we have learnt or blow off steam about something annoying. This dedicated time has always given us chance to catch up with each other, transition from work to home and it allows us to then leave work behind for the evening.
When the weather is warm enough we will take our mugs of tea outside and sit in the garden for this debrief. As our garden is now a shared space this can sometimes mean that we meet neighbours and catch up with them too. Our garden is in a sheltered quadrangle and has benches that catch the evening sun making it a perfect spot to relax at the end of the day.
When it is cooler or wet we will stay in the flat and sit on the sofa, hands hugging our hot tea gratefully after cycling or walking from work. There will be no radio or TV on and we just focus on talking to each other for a short while.
Retirement will mean we will mostly be together during the day and this will change the pattern of our days. The daily debrief will become redundant and I know that I will miss that time. Will we need to build in dedicated time during the day for talking through ideas and issues or, will our relaxed and retired selves find time to chat to each other naturally throughout the day? We shall see.
Back on the road again 
One thought on “Recognising the pattern of our day will be different in retirement”