Happy Friday! It's a long weekend for us here in the states since Monday is Memorial Day. Here are 5 things on my mind today.
1. I don't always love long weekends but I'm welcoming this one with open arms because the weather forecast is EXCELLENT. Parenting is far more enjoyable (for us) if we can be outside with our kids. I envision lots of park time. We'll also be celebrating my MIL's 80th birthday which will feature a stop at a local ice cream place in the city where she lives (White Bear Lake).
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| Will was very proud of himself for being able to hang from a bar on the playground last weekend. |
2. I'm happy to report that work has finally quieted down! I still have 3-5 client meetings most days but that is nothing compared to the last 2.5 months. On Wednesday, I met my retired colleague for coffee in the morning and then met another former colleague for an early happy hour in the afternoon. There is NO WAY I could have done either and certainly not both in the same day during the last couple of months.
3. Paul and I have read the most recent Ranger Rick Jr. magazine 4 times this week. He is so obsessed with animals thanks to Wild Kratts (my favorite PBS kids show by far!) so he loves Ranger Rick Jr! The comic in this month's magazine was about the game Simon Says so we taught him how to play that game. Phil, being the genius he is, used it as a strategy to get him to do some tidying. Simon says put the shoes on the mat, simon says put a toy in the toy basket, etc. Paul has since caught onto this and really protests if he has to do any chore type of action as part of the game. But it was nice while it lasted! (Our kids do tidy up but our house is rarely perfectly tidy so there is always some cleaning up to do).
4. Yesterday we had an open house for kindergarteners at the public school in our neighborhood that Paul will attend this fall. A lot of people have asked me if I am sad about him starting kindergarten and the answer is - no. He is very ready for kindergarten and I know he'll love school and thrive there. I have yet to get sad when my children celebrate another birthday. Perhaps that makes me sound like a monster to some, but I am an ISTJ. This personality type tends to be very practical and pragmatic. I'm sure a day will come when I will feel sad that he is leaving certain stages behind, but I am very glad to have the baby and toddler stage behind him as I think I am best-suited to parent school-aged children! So bring on kindergarten - and declining childcare expenses (Paul will go the school's before/after care but it's much cheaper than full time daycare).
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| Enjoying some ice cream at the open house! |
5. I'm reading a very sad book right now. It's the memoir, "A Heart That Works" by Rob Delaney - star of the show Catastrophe. We didn't care for that show but I felt drawn to reading his memoir after hearing such good things about the book. It's a memoir about the loss of their 2 year old son to brain cancer. Why do I read such sad books? Am I a glutton for punishment?
How will you spend your holiday weekend? Do you feel drawn to sad, heart-wrenching books?
I have not read that book, but for some reason I have read a slew of books about death and dying and diseases over the last 4-6 months. I read Lennie and Margo, In Love, Crying in H-Mart, Glad My Mom Died, Eldora Honeycutt...you get the picture. However, I am really not sure if it is a case of Bader Meinhof or if I have really ramped up this genre lately.
ReplyDeleteI hope that your weather behaves appropriately this weekend! I am heading out to the mountains for my first backpacking trip, which could be more of a snow slog, given the high snowpack this year. But even if it is, I have plenty of socks and am happy to just perch on the top of a rock with a good view and read my book all weekend if that is what it is!
The weather does look great!! I hope you can get out and enjoy it a lot. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's exciting when your first kid starts kindergarten! I feel like that is the transition to "bigger kid" parenting- you're officially a "school parent". I remember feeling a little bit wistful but also mostly excited for the new chapter. I feel the same way now about E starting high school. I do feel sad/ nostalgic about him leaving his current school behind, and being newly split up from all his friends, etc as people go off to different schools. But I am excited for the fun things that come with high school. But also, apprehensive because I know how fast those years go, too..... I am probably a bit more emotional than practical in many situations, unfortunately.
I love your pragmatic heart! I think it makes things like these transitions so much easier when you can see it as a good thing. And woop, woop, to that preschool bill going down! That's a REAL NICE benefit!
ReplyDeleteThe saddest book I ever read was Two (three?) Kisses for Maddy - did you read that one? It's a husband's account of his daughter's first year of life when his wife dies after giving birth. SO FREAKING SAD. I had such a huge grief hangover after reading that book. I'm such an HSP that I just cannot do books that are too bleak or sad like that.
I just put "A Heart That Works" on my holds list... I had heard and interview with Delaney (Maybe on Fresh Air?) when the book was first released and thinking that he had so many wonderful things to say about how we love our children. I think Hamnet is one of the saddest books I've ever read - death of children always gets me.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of Simon Says to get kids to clean up! My six year old sometimes asks us to "code" him like a robot to put things away. Some days I am just not. in. the. mood. to play along, but I think I just need to lean into it and enjoy his imaginative brain.
Happy Birthday to Joan! It sounds like a good weekend, Lisa. Now, if they can just settle the debt so that work stays low-key, that would be great. (Not sure if that would have an impact on what you do but seems like it could.)
ReplyDeleteYay for a nice long weekend! I hope it's a fun time for all. (Nice weather can make all the difference!!)
ReplyDeleteI'm drawn to sad books, too. Why?! But I do think it helps me keep things in perspective and realize how short and precious life is. When Breath Becomes Air broke my heart both times I read it, but what an incredible book. I read so many memoirs, and they tend to have a lot of difficult situations/trauma/loss. But it's relatable in that life is hard and complicated, so I think I appreciate the realism and, again, the reminder that I have so much to be grateful for.
Yay for the end of preschool tuition for Paul!!! An exciting next step on your parenting journey.
And my kids went through a phase of LOVING Wild Kratts and still quote facts from that show regularly.
Yay Paul for going to kindergarten! L is also going to kindergarten in September. We were zoned for one school and then we were rezoned just at the board meeting last week to be sent to this brand-new school that will be finished in September 2023. A beautiful building but BIG. Not sure how I feel about sending L to such a big building but oh well. Just being over-protective.
ReplyDeleteWeekend... We have five days off! Today T and the kids are visiting their great grandma in Mass., a four hour drive from NJ. And I have this whole day to myself! I just hope not to squander it. Want to go to a sauna and toast my old bones lol
Tomorrow, a barbecue... Monday and Tuesday- no idea.
Kindergarten is such a fun year! I was just thinking about kindergarten because my younger son had his grad ceremony yesterday, and many of his current strong friendships started in kindergarten. Isn't that neat? And also my best friend's second child just graduated this week and it feels like, wow, remember when they were in kindergarten? The time, it is a landslide.
ReplyDeleteGlad work has slowed down for you because that pace is absolutely unsustainable!!
I don't think I can read a book about kids dying.. it's just too much and I will somehow imagine happening to me.
ReplyDeleteglad to hear that work has slowed down. you can finally take some rest. sometimes our body is on as if we can go through it, but many times it's just a way of burning the reserves, so it is important to recharge and rebuild buffers. I plan to do just that this coming week.
I heard Rob Delaney interviewed on MPR (NPR) and need to read this book even though it sounds so sad. Im not sure what a sad book I have read is...I will have to think on that. Enjoy the weather this weekend!
ReplyDeleteWe are also having gorgeous weather here and it has made my mood so happy. While I do get sad sometimes when Welles reaches a new milestone (I think because he is it for me, so I realize I will never experience it again), I also get really excited. I have had a lot of fun with him in *most* stages of parenting (You know I’ll never forget the horrific toddler stage!!!), and I love seeing the person he is turning out to be. He is such a fun kid and I am just trying to savor our time together because I can hardly believe he is turning 11 in July!!!!!!! Lately I have been reading books with a lot of tough subject matter. Currently reading Mad Honey. Have you read that one? Im also finishing up Spare by Prince Harry and it has been a lot to take in. Enjoy your weekend!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI try hard not to read sad book. LOL. I don't need that in my life! But you do you and if it works for you, go ahead and read all the sad books for me.
ReplyDeleteWe spent yesterday outside for my twin niece and nephew's birthday party and it was so amazing. This weather is blissful and I did have a moment where I was hoping really hard that the weather would cooperate for you in the Twin Cities, too. I'm happy to hear that it did!
Omg- I don't know if I could read that book.
ReplyDeleteI'll be interested to hear if you do end up getting sad at certain transitions as the kids get older. I can see how it would be a relief to have Paul in public school rather than paying for full-time daycare. I get sad at every little thing- it's really ridiculous.
Anyway I'm glad work is more manageable and you are getting some spring weather- sounds like you're in a great phase!
I’m on your side with kids starting school, I was not sad at all. But I’m an INTJ so there is that.
ReplyDeleteI don’t usually pick sad books, but don’t actively avoid them either. I only read memoir occasionally so that is probably part of the reason.
No holiday weekend here, but I was on holiday. I did a half-marathon and ate out a lot, which was fun.
I can appreciate being ready for Kindergarten! I’ve actually known many friends who happily left behind the baby/toddler stage. It’s a personal favorite for me but I get my fix in the nursery at church where I hand them back at the end and go home and take a nap! I’m jealous of your weather! It was cold, rainy and miserable here and I’m definitely feeling my mood be impacted by the weather! I’m forcing myself to move my body bc I know it will make me feel better mentally! I’m so glad y’all had such a great weekend! I am avoiding sad or intense books right now. M suggested the movie A Man Called Otto a few weeks ago and I ended up crying through the whole thing and it took me days to recover. It’s honestly a really beautiful story but I definitely am not in a place where I can easily process right now.
ReplyDeleteI realized recently that I really hated babysitting younger kids when I was a teen. So I suspect I'd be in your category of preferring school age (and older!) kids, if I had them. (I never did, which is probably good. :>) I hope that the report on this weekend indicates that the weather cooperated, and that you thoroughly enjoyed your ice cream. I like your MIL's approach to celebrations! Ice cream every chance you can get in life! :)
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