We had another fun, full weekend. Friday was a quiet night and our first night back together as a family of 4. I made tacos for dinner since that is a super easy meal to throw together. Everyone except Will - whose nickname is Taco - enjoys that meal. Go figure the kid who goes by Taco doesn't like Tacos! Hopefully this changes with time! Oh and we got the email with the boys' school photos on Friday. We never order pictures since they usually don't turn out well. This year's batch were comically bad. So many tears and Will isn't in the shirt I sent for him. Paul had told us that Will cried the whole time so we figured they wouldn't be great. He was not kidding. But wow they are real life!! Paul's expression cracks me up in his photos! Much to Phil's chagrin, we have family photos on Thursday after work. We can only go up from here!
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| Will is so obsessed with using silverware. He insisted on eating his blueberries with a fork. I guess it's good for his fine motor skills! |
It's getting a little easier to have Will on my own for a longer stretch. The afternoon didn't feel too long on Saturday. It helps that he's more interested in puzzles and books. The reason it's easiest to be outside of our house is because of his limited attention span so the better he gets at playing with things like puzzles and sitting with me to read books, the easier it is to be home.
That afternoon we went to the birthday party for the daughter of one of Phil's high school friends. The boys had fun playing with these push toys. Paul is too big for them but he was a good sport about pushing the toddlers around.
Then it was home for baths and bedtimes. Phil and I have started to watch a new Hulu show called "The Patient" which is written by the creators of "The Americans" which is one of our favorite shows. The episodes are only 20-30 minutes which is perfect for me!
So overall, it was a good weekend. I feel like we are in a good place with how we schedule our weekends. We have a few placeholders - library followed by gymnastics on Saturday morning and the farmer's market/park on Sunday morning. Those are both things I tend to do on my own with the boys. Phil grocery shops on Saturday mornings and often does other things around the house on Sunday mornings, like yard work, house projects, cleaning (since he doesn't want to re-hire house cleaners, he does all of the cleaning), etc. This past weekend he didn't have any "chores" so he went to the driving range. I get breaks, too, which I spent running and doing a workout. And I go up to bed at 8:30 so get time to myself then to read. I'm just looking forward to a time when we have more hours to ourselves on the weekend. I did get an hour during Will's nap on Saturday but since his naps are so unpredictable, it's not the most "relaxing" time since I'm just waiting for him to wake up! I think/hope this is something that will get easier as the boys get older and more independent so I probably just need to accept that this is a "high touch" stage of parenting that is just kind of exhausting but short in the grand scheme of things.
How was your weekend? Do your weekends fill your cup or deplete you? We have a lot of fun with our boys but if I'm honest, I'm usually more tired at the end of the weekend than I was at the start!
11 comments:
PHIL DOES ALL OF THE CLEANING. Omg Lisa, between that and his grocery shopping I am sort of in awe! Way to go, Phil! (Of course, you are on double kid duty, which is NOT nothing.)
Sounds like a wonderful weekend and OH those photos are adorable! Even if they aren't keepers they will be fun to look back on.
Those school pictures are AWESOME. I really love them and would order all of them, particularly the second and third ones. I feel like they really capture a moment, you know?
Weekends definitely rejuvenate me, but I don't have kids, so I can just sleep in and do what I want! That's definitely a different life!
I have to say, I am with Suzanne on this! Phil is a gem!
Those photos are great - what a slice of life. My younger son also haaaaaaated formal photos and we have many tear-stained ones. Ah, good times.
Hmmm...I don't know if weekends deplete me or fill me up. Maybe they are neutral? I definitely get more sleep on weekends but I also try to do a lot of things on weekends so I guess it balances out, sort of.
I think all those photos are ADORABLE. One of my favourite things ever is THREE consecutive Mother's day photos include at least one kid crying. The first year it irritated me, the second year I just shrugged and by the third year I had to laugh.
No tears in recent years, but it's an inside family joke now.
Ugh. I have GOT to think through our family photos. I dread it every year, but love having them.
Weekends can be great or exhausting at this point. If we don't keep the kids busy, the easy default is screens but then they end up in bad moods eventually. It's a tricky balance because of some hard logistics in our neighbourhood configuration right now so weekends feel more hit-and-miss than I'd like (and tend to require some off-site activities), but whatcha gonna do?
How was The Patient? I love The Americans (weirdly I still think about the finals episode often), and I've been wanting to check it out!
It sounds like a good time and that you have finally found a routine that works for you as a couple, for the boys and for some me-time, too. We stayed with the kids on Saturday -- it was fun, but I don'tk now how you do it 24/7!
I can't get over how adorable Paul is in his photos! What a character. I can see him being involved in drama club when he's in high school, haha. He's a little ham!
My weekends mostly fill me up! I also have some standing weekend dates, like writing with Mikaela and game night/football with the fam. And then I try to fill up the other times with friend dates or downtime!
Love the photos!! Haha!! We have one from Ethan in 4K where my husband and I had to work, so my sister-in-law got him off to school for us that day. She put a stocking hat on him and sent him on his way....well, let's just say when they pulled his hat off, NO ONE at school did anything about the fact that his hair was standing straight up!! It's literally the most ridiculous school photo ever. lol!!
Weekends are so different now for us than when the boys were little. Well, when until kindergarten, I worked every other weekend, but I had 2-3 weekdays off. So, I still had a lot of days home with them. However, I found weekdays to be more relaxing, because going out places with them felt more laid back. Just not as many OTHER people around places, so taking them to browse Target and get a treat, or going to the library was really nice. Now our weekends are often busy with sports, but I do love no one waking me up (though now I'm old and wake up early on my own!). The boys usually veg out on video games when they get up for a while, so we often go for a walk or in the hot tub or I putter around on my computer. There's just really no comparison to when they were little! I still can end up feeling "depleted" though, just because having all of us home just provides a lot more stimulation. plus errands, cleaning, running people around, etc.... not the same as a quiet, empty house while I work. :) It sounds like you guys have some nice routines in place, and you seem to do a great job of dividing up the labor + personal free time. That is key!!
Haha, I chuckled that Phil does all the cleaning because he doesn't want to rehire house cleaners. Good for you for letting him make that call... :)
Your weekends do sound tiring to me, but I do get that it's easier to entertain kids outside of the house, so out of necessity, you have to schedule outings throughout the weekend. I definitely like my weekends a bit more 'slowed down'.
Yes, I can see why your weekends leave you tired! As you said- it won't always be this way. I have to laugh at the boys' photos- the last one of Will, especially. It reminds me of Calvin's school photos in Calvin and Hobbes- although there weren't quite as bad of course! Can you imagine being the photographer- I'm sure that was a tough day.
Gracious, that is a busy, full weekend. Whew. I love, love, love the pictures, though. Paul's are classic! Every family has them - I hope you treasure them for the moment in time they captured. :)
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