Saturday Sponteneity

I frequently overdo it on the weekends.

As you all know, I work all week, 8-5. Our mornings and evenings are carefully structured (though frequently chaotic) ballets called "get everyone ready to go to work and daycare" and "have dinner and get the kids to bed and get ready for work the next day." At the end of each day, we maybe have time to watch an episode of Downton Abbey (love love love) before Jon pulls out his school work and I get my butt to bed.

On the weekends, I find it necessary to:

• enjoy quality time with my kids
• take the kids all the places I want to take them during the week (library, nature center, market, etc)
• Do the laundry, sweep the floors, straighten, vacuum, clean the bathroom, change the sheets... you know. Everything. All cleaning happens on the weekends. 

Far from being oases of rest from the workweek, then, weekends mean frenzy. You will not reach me by email on the weekends. You might reach me by phone, but be prepared to share my attention.

Captured by the nice people at Price House

Anyway. Story time. We made it to the nature center and the library on Saturday morning this week. When it was time to leave the library, I gave Miles his three minute warning, and then time was up, we were leaving. And, two-ishly, he collapsed on the floor sobbing "I'M NOT TIIRREED!!!!" 

At that moment, a Kind Lady approached and asked if I needed a hand with our books. I did. My son needed to be dragged/hoisted out of the library at the same time that my daughter was riding in the Moby wrap. There just aren't enough arms. Kind Lady walked me to the car and said, "You know, you're doing a good job. Sometimes they need to be carried, and I applaud you for it. My kids are 5 and 8 and they don't need to be carried anymore, but I think that's because when they were little and they needed to be carried, I carried them."

Besides being sooo grateful for the help and the pep talk (thank you Kind Lady!! Whoever you are!), I had three reactions to this.

1. OH NO, my kids will one day be 6 and 8. HOW WILL I CARRY THEM WHEN ONE OF THEM IS HAVING A TANTRUM?? I understand there are fewer tantrums among six year olds. I can only hope. 
2. I suppose she is saying that kids don't need to be carried when they get older because you established their boundaries while you were able to physically enforce them. She is saying that by carrying Miles today, I am teaching his future self that "time to go" means time to go, for realz, now. 
3. Then again, she might also be saying that investing the time in carrying them now means that they'll be more secure, more independent as older kids. They'll remember being carried and remember the love, and it will make them more willing and able to walk. 

Made for a pensive drive home. Miles was over it by the time we got outside, by the way.

Saturday afternoon, after the Naptime-that-wasn't, I decided that with weather like this I'd regret it if we didn't go for a walk. *Spontaneity* for beginners: We intended to be gone an hour. I still brought the diaperbag.

And it's a good thing, too. We ended up staying out until Papa got home, and then longer as Miles had made two new friends at the park and their parents invited us for pizza! We had so much in common with these parents, I couldn't believe we hadn't met somewhere before. Of course we had two common acquaintances; this IS Blacksburg, population: 30,000 when school is in session.

So we ended up staying at the playground and staying till quarter till bedtime. And I had my camera :-)

Adele in her Moby. She loves gliding around in there and looking down on her brother.

Mum. A complete maniac.

Miles will probably double the local population of dandelions this spring. He always has one on hand. Please no one tell him not to call them "sea lions;" I love it so much!

 

Adele's first park swing! She LOVED it!

                                          Both my kids in swings...

                                         She was solidly asleep in her swing within 10 minutes. You know I kept pushing that thing as long as I could manage it!!

                            One of Miles' new friends! A. is about a year younger than Miles...

                            It was adorable to watch them play house.

                          E. is a year older than Miles, so they're in order of age as well as height. They were totally bffs-for-a-day. Wish I had gotten the picture of E. and Miles holding hands running through the weeds after a ball. But then all my blog readers might have died from cuteness overload.

Miles seriously has only gone down this slide two of the times we've been to this park (he's normally scared of slides this big) and both times it was to show off for E. (he's played with her once before).

Overweening boldness! She was still watching, after all.

A seriously good time was had by all. And Jon showed up and we got to know A. and E's parents, who also have a 4 month old. A friend for Adele! And, the parents and we have a lot in common. So we have new friends. Bonus!
How's that for a full day?