Weekends are No Substitute for Summer (but I still love them)

When school started last month, I had big plans for weekends. It's hard for me to give up the freedom of summer, so I have to start the year off with the thought in my mind that it will still be possible for us to do fun things. And yeah, it is still possible, but  not quite as simple and streamlined as I had envisioned. Go figure.

The biggest obstacle seems to be that this is apparently a bad time of year for my kids health-wise (allergies, asthma, coughs). We have been to the doctor a ridiculous number of times in the past month. Tomorrow Mattie has one last (I hope) follow-up appointment, and then I HOPE we are in the clear for awhile. Although I don't know, we can't quite seem to get Lucy's asthma under control. And Connor is still coughing. But for all that, no one has missed a day of school yet. (knocking on wood like a maniac)

Now Connor has started up an activity which has Friday night meetings. Lucy was interested in taking a class or two on Saturday mornings, but I've decided to table that for the time being considering that she is ultra run down with all her recent asthma flare-ups. So I guess at least our Saturdays and Sundays are in the clear for now, until basketball games start up in a couple months.

This isn't to say I'm complaining. Our weekends haven't been bad (if unmemorable...). But there were so many things I never got to during the summer, that I thought just maybe I could use fall weekends to squeeze some of that stuff in yet. Well, it's not looking too good for that, but I am still hoping to get in at least one weekend getaway this month, while we still can. It's in the works!

As it turns out, this weekend ended up being pretty good. Friday night I worked, as in drove someplace that was not my house and worked for a paycheck. It was a one-time gig that was a lot of fun and will hopefully turn into more. It's been awhile since I left the house to go to work, so that was pretty momentous for me. All the kids stayed the night at my mother-in-law's, so I even got to come home to a quiet house. I couldn't keep my eyes open when I got home and ended up crashing really early (note: before midnight is really early for me). I set my alarm, just in case, never thinking I would actually sleep more than six or seven hours. But after several nights of four hours of sleep, I was more tired than I thought. I wound up sleeping for an astonishing 10 hours! I could use a few more of those.

Saturday morning, Chris had a job to do, so I tagged along with him so he'd have some company for the drive. I brought my Kindle and read in the car while he worked, then we went out to lunch together, while the kids were at the movie theater with their Meema (Chris's mom). Shortly after they came home, Chris's mom called to say she had play tickets that she couldn't use for that night. Her husband was working late, and she was coming down with a cold and just didn't feel up to it. Chris was working (again) and then had plans to go see his friend's band, so my mother-in-law offered to come over and babysit so I could go to the play with Bethany. This was, remember, after she had kept them all overnight Friday night, taken them all to the movies Saturday afternoon, and had them with her until after 3 p.m. And she didn't feel well either. That is the kind of mother-in-law I have.

One-on-one opportunities like this don't come up very often, so I was really happy to have the time with Bethany. Plus I love the theater and would go to every show that comes to Detroit if I could.

Let me real quick mention what I think is a long-lasting effect of my summer road trip. I use to be much more fearful and nervous of driving certain places. Downtown Detroit, especially at night, would be one of them. Or anyplace I'm not that familiar with. Now I've been to this particular theater many, many times, and I'm sure I've driven there too, if only a few times. But in the past I would have been really nerved up about driving there, especially without another adult present to help navigate. This time, I could feel myself starting to fall back into that pattern, and I quickly reminded myself that I successfully made it across the country and back with nary a mishap. I could totally make it 20 minutes to downtown and be absolutely fine. And of course I was. I didn't even have a GPS with me. Okay, I lie. I did use the navigation on my phone to find my way back to the freeway on the way home. But it's okay to be resourceful! And in my defense, any Detroiter will tell you that signs are pretty sparse and vague downtown. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I think more people would willingly spend time downtown if there were more signs! And signs like "Cultural Center" or "New Center" barely count, because who the heck knows what that means, especially out-of-towners?!

Alright, I digress. But my point is simply that I'm glad our road trip led me to a place where I'm more comfortable driving, and even not knowing exactly where I'm going.

And my other point is that even though our back-to-school weekends haven't exactly been all I've dreamed of and more, they have been fun and relaxing...and I'm grateful for every one of them! If things go according to plan, the next couple weekends should be full of fun and adventure.

If you're wondering about the play Bethany and I went to, look for another blog post very soon!

Another Weekend Gone, But Not Forgotten

I just had the best weekend. It's always hard to get back to the grind Monday morning. But the sun is shining, Mathilda slept in and woke up happy, and Chris is home so I don't have to get Mattie all bundled up to pick Lucy up from school. As Mondays go, I can't complain. Yet.

Friday night Chris's band, The Smiths United, played at the Magic Bag in Ferndale and my in-laws babysat so I could go. My friend Shelly went with me, and we realized we haven't been out together - at night & without kids - in 11 years! That we can remember, anyway. And just an FYI, my memory ain't what it used to be. I loved hanging out with my Shelly and it's always fun to be in the middle of a packed house, all there to see my husband perform. It was a late night for us old ladies, and freezing cold, but it was a good night.

Saturday morning Bethany had a basketball game. I've missed the last couple games because I was sick, so I was happy to be able to attend this one. By myself. The kids stayed home with Chris, and I got to enjoy conversation with the other basketball moms and a nice hot Starbucks soy latte (my first & so good!) while I watched Bethany's team kick some butt. They are really good. And I'm so proud of Bethany, her playing is really improving. Really I'm proud of her just for trying something new and putting so much effort into it.

Later on, we had some friends over for a little Oral B Mommy Parties get together. I'll dedicate a whole post to that in the next couple days. But it was nice chatting with my friends while the kids played together and watched a movie.

Saturday evening Chris and the kids made a funny little video. Chris is still working on it. When it's all done maybe I'll post it. This is what my family does for fun. Makes videos. Bethany is obsessed with You Tube. She and her friends are forever creating quirky little videos. They had one that was actually getting a lot of hits, it was pretty funny. Until some jack-you-know-what tagged it as inappropriate (seriously - it was NOT - at ALL) and it disappeared from You Tube forever.

Sunday my mom took Connor shopping to get the poor kid some snow boots so that he's no longer banished to the black top everyday at recess. Then she and I took the kids to the symphony. It was a holiday concert put on by the Warren Symphony Orchestra. Besides my kids, there were probably only about 10 kids there. If that. Which blows my mind because kids are free! All the way up through high school seniors! The adult tickets were $23 each (and we could have bought them for $11 via Groupon, which I just now noticed when I visited their Facebook page - sorry mom!), but I still think this was a great bargain for a family outing. I love the symphony. I will admit it was perhaps a tad long for the kids, but they were great and I think they all liked it. Mathilda especially loved it. She kept getting up to dance, and insisting that Lucy dance with her. If Lucy didn't do exactly what she wanted, Mathilda loudly corrected her. "No Lucy! Put your arms up like this!" I'm sure the other patrons appreciated that. Since the kids were all together and dressed reasonably well, I decided it was now or never for a Christmas card photo. I took a bunch of pictures and crossed my fingers that one would be adequate, and that's about all I got. Today (yes I'm behind schedule, whatever!) I ordered my cards from Tiny Prints and I'm a little "eh" about the picture, but they're ordered & it's done, and if you get one please keep in mind it is anything but easy just to get 4 kids in the frame, let alone looking sort of in the same direction.

Just one more weekend before Christmas! I can't believe it, I always know it's coming but it still sneaks up on me nonetheless. I hope you had a good weekend too, and that you have a totally tolerable Monday!

Wonderful Weekend

I cherish the weekends, especially long weekends like this one. Today has been mostly a homebody day so far. Soon the kids will be heading off for a sleepover with my in-laws and Chris and I will be doing a little more Christmas shopping. We're getting close to done with our shopping for the kids and I'd love to wrap it up as soon as possible.

We've done some chores, watched some movies, played some video games, read some books, played Sleeping Bag Slide down the stairs, ate some leftover pie, cuddled a lot, built a fort in Lucy & Mattie's room, and done a good deal of giggling and chasing each other around the house. I love when my kids play together, making up games and laughing and not needing anyone else around to entertain them. Typically they're inundated with social visits and birthday parties on the weekends, but I suppose everyone is visiting with family and putting up their Christmas trees, because our phone has been atypically quiet. And I have to admit it's nice for a change. I'm looking forward to another short week coming up, with one early release day and two half days.

I know school is important and routine is good for kids, but the best days for me are the ones when my kids are off school and we have no obligatory activities planned. The days when we can hang out in our pj's all day if we feel like it, or go on a spontaneous trip to the park, or even just try to put a dent in the laundry without constant interruptions. 

Before I had kids in school full time, it seems like we were always busy doing one fun thing or another. Whether we were going on a trip, to the zoo, a nature center, a water park, visiting with family or friends, or whatever. I always wanted to go-go-go. Maybe I was just younger and full of excess energy, I don't know. Whatever the case, I find that I don't plan as many activities these days. I think it has more to do with the fact that school and kids' extracurriculars keep our family so incredibly busy on a day to day basis, we're all starved for down time whenever we get the chance. Between school, homework, basketball, dance, floor hockey, catechism, everyday errands, play dates, family obligations, and birthday parties, we often don't feel like doing a whole lot when we have a window of unscheduled time.

I know this is the way things go, and it's going to get crazier as our kids get older. But it makes me kind of sad sometimes. I miss our carefree days of doing whatever we wanted. That's partly why I love summer so much. 

As my kids get bigger they also want to spend more time with friends and less time with me. My days of being able to plan their lives out for them are numbered. Some weeks it seems like Bethany is away from home more than she's home.

We will continue to make family time a priority, whether it's hanging out at home or getting out of here for a change of scenery. Either way, we're together and that's the important thing. However, I'm going to make it my goal to make sure we all get out of the house just for fun a little more often too.