Mundane Memories

This last summer vacation my family spent the majority of our time at home. I used this opportunity to work on different projects and I attempted to have an overall productive vacation. All the work I was doing also came with a lot of stress, so I tried to find ways to relax and unwind at home, which led to my little sister, Khadeejah, and I developing a habit of watching TV shows together almost every night. Although this act might seem mundane, we made a lot of great memories over the summer while watching tv at home.

One of the shows that we watched together was 90 Day Fiancé. Well technically we watched 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way, the spin off of the original show where multiple Americans move to different countries to be with their significant others. Khadeejah had gotten really into reality tv over the summer and convinced me to watch the show with her. Each episode was an ungodly length with essentially useless but also entertaining drama. The show had many problematic elements, including its stereotypical representations of minorities and oftentimes toxic relationships, but there was something about how bad it was that made it so good. 

Aside from that, my little sister and I would watch random episodes of Supernatural, an unnecessarily long TV show with 15 seasons about two brothers who hunt supernatural creatures together. Khadeejah started the show on her own and I would sometimes sit down with her while she would be watching it. She would catch me up on the plot and introduce me to new characters as we watched a couple episodes together, although I would never truly understand what was going on. We would make jokes as we watched the show together and stay up late talking while everyone else in our family went to bed. 

Alongside watching TV together, Khadeejah and I would sometimes play Uno. With the TV as our background noise, we would get really into the game, playing multiple rounds and keeping track of our wins and loses to determine who the ultimate winner would be.

This habit that my little sister and I developed helped me get through a stress filled summer. It was an easy way for us to relax without using up too much effort. Spending time with her and the rest of my family is something I look forward to doing every weekend. I know that soon I won’t be living at home anymore and that as I become an adult I won’t have the same time that I do now to spend with my family, so I’m glad that I got to spend this last summer at home and cherish these seemingly mundane yet memorable moments.