Oh, how I wish I would have figured this out for myself when my kids (you) were in elementary school!  Life would have been SO different, and probably a whole lot different for you! I have lived my life forever with a kind of pressure that demands that you can't play until the work is done, and, as we all know, at least for some of us, the work is NEVER done.  I think that is why the first time I fully understood the intent of keeping the Sabbath -- about 15 years ago -- I realized that God knows that we all need a commandment to stop working one day a week and just forget the endless list of "shoulds", which would also include for me that make-the-most-of-each-moment concept, that drives every other day.  It was the first time I understood that I had Permission to take a nap and read a book and fritter away time. Just reading your post today made me feel a kind of lightness and a sense that God approves.  One thing I've recently discovered is the freedom of letting go of my daily to-do list, which usually had about 4 days' worth of jobs jammed onto my calendar for one day.  I realized that the list actually eliminated any hope for God to squeeze an idea, even a fun idea, into my day. My drive to complete the list of work always trumped any still small voice calling me in a different direction. I just HAD to scratch things off that list!  Now I try to stay more open to the moment.  That's why I have just allowed myself the fun of sitting here and reading your blog for more than an hour when the Christmas crunch is upon me!  
Love,
Mom