“Is everyone up?” Dado asked the maid who stepped into her room with the breakfast tray.

“Not yet,” she answered.

Dado gazed at the wall clock. It was half past eleven. It was the start of the weekend and the family was still resting. She was habitual to wake up early. A couple of days ago, she had arrived at her son’s house to spend some time with his family. Sunday was the only day when the whole family was at home. Instead of making it a family day, they spent it sleeping.

They met at lunch. Slowly, around 12 pm, the kids came out of their rooms. Dado could see that they still looked lazy.

“Dado, last night we watched an animated movie and played video games. We slept late,” the kids told her.

Their father was busy watching a video on his smartphone. The kids were screen-addicts too. Sadly, the whole family had the habit of spending most of their time with screens.

Before sunset, their parents went out for groceries. The kids started playing games on their mobiles once again. Dado sat in the lawn. There, ten-year-old Hamad joined her.

Seeing him low, she inquired, “What happened?”

“I am bored.”

“Credit goes to your routine,” she laughed softly.

“I can’t understand, Dado,” he rolled his eyes.

Maryam joined them out of curiosity. She was eight years old.

“What is your routine?” Dado asked gently.

“We go to school. Once back, we have food and study. We play games on the mobile phone and watch cartoon series on TV,” answered Hamad.

“We watch movies and play video games on weekends. It’s fun to stay up late,” added Maryam.

“Sad! No physical activity, exercise, walks or creative hobbies? You don’t even spend time with family. If you had a healthy routine, you would never get bored,” said Dado in a thought-provoking way.

“Would you like to do something different?” she asked.

“Yes, but what?”

“Well, you have to do as I say. This Sunday will be different from your previous Sundays. Agree?” she asked while extending her hand.

“Done!” the kids eagerly placed their small hands on her palm. There was curiosity in their eyes.

The next morning, the kids got up early. They offered Fajr with Dado and recited the Holy Quran. Then they went for a morning walk.

“How pleasant the weather is. Such a cool, exciting breeze. Wow! We have so many lovely plants and flowers in our lawn,” Hamad expressed his joy.

“It is so peaceful, and the smell is pleasant, Dado,” said Maryam.

After half an hour of exercise, when they went inside, breakfast was ready. They usually ate their breakfast half-heartedly and quite late. But exercising made them feel active and increased their appetite too.

After breakfast, they came out with their colour palettes and brushes. While talking and laughing with Dado, the kids painted flowers and birds. Dado was fully engrossed with them and also gave them ideas on gardening. Till evening, the kids had done a lot of new things. It was surprising that they neither felt the urge for screens nor got bored.

When evening came, the new energy in the whole family made them sit together in the lawn and have tea with snacks. Then Baba played cricket with the kids. They thoroughly enjoyed their family time after a long while.

Published in Dawn, Young World, April 25th, 2026