An ordinary afternoon together can matter without becoming an educational activity.

Time spent together does not have to earn its keep by teaching something. Adding a lesson to an afternoon often changes what it is: attention shifts to whether it is working, and the other person feels quietly assessed rather than accompanied. Plenty of what matters most between people happens in hours with no purpose anyone could write down afterward.

Let one stretch of time this week stay useless on purpose. Cook something, walk somewhere, sit through a film nobody would recommend. Resist the urge to add a question that turns it into practice. Children in particular notice which one they are getting.