Sunday was one of the best weekend family days in recent memory. We drove to the beach (in the rain!) and were rewarded with perfect weather — warm enough but no longer stifling. The kids played at the edge of the waves and there was only one minor dramatic moment where G was tossed under for about 8 seconds (don’t worry, we saved her and I think getting knocked down was probably a good thing safety-wise – she was getting a little too bold for a not-quite-3 year old who cannot yet swim!).
We met up with A’s BFF & her twin brother and the 5 kids played for hours. We then got bold and went out to eat (entirely outdoors, families sitting reasonably far apart, cool ocean breeze). If that weren’t enough, a random woman at another table was watching us and then complimented us extensively on the kids’ behavior — she was a Montessori teacher and noted that our kids were acting like “Montessori kids” (which only 2/5 actually were, but still, kind of cool). And then she bought everyone cheesecake — I couldn’t have stopped her if I tried.
I mean, seriously. I am more used to people staring at me because one of my children is having an epic tantrum, not giving me accolades for exemplary behavior.
But I’ll take it!!!
(I will say G was impeccably behaved at this outdoor dining experience. Will credit 2+ hours of beach/running around time and the fact that she has not been served at any kind of establishment in at least 8 months.)
We cut out G’s weekend naps (car naps only, if they happen to occur), and school has been limiting her to about an hour. Miraculously she is sleeping fine now (with no one staying in her room). I desperately hope the getting out of bed phase is over.
Few other selected notes:
1- WORK – I have the next two days with no structured meetings or ‘hard landscape’ events, and I am thrilled about it. Looking forward to catching up on projects and closing out the month on a good note, as well as spending some time thinking about future goals.
2- PODCAST APPEARANCE! I was on Emily Siegel’s Connected Mom Life podcast this week talking all about — you guessed it — planning. You can find it on any podcast platform or listen directly here.
3- Raptitude’s Three Recession-Proof Investments for 2021. I really liked this post. (I’d add “Learning/Reading” as #4!)
8 Comments
Sarah, in my experience two things work when you want to prevent a car nap on a short ride: big kid harassing sleepy kid and also lollipops. I was almost never prepared enough to have the latter in the car but the former worked really well.
Ohhhhh lollipops is genius but I think after all of that beach activity she would have fallen asleep with it in her mouth!
Agree that having a stranger comment on your kids’ behavior is THE BEST. This has happened to me a couple times over the years when mine were little and I still clearly remember the moments. LOL. We also got some new neighbors last summer and after my boys were over playing outside with the new kids for a few weeks, we ran into the parents. They gushed about how extremely polite and wonderful our kids were. I almost pulled out my phone to ask her to repeat the comment so I could record it. hahaha.
I am so happy for you. There have been a handful of times when I’ve felt like “ this is something I actually wanted to do, not just a shitty pandemic era replacement for what I actually want to do” and those have really kept me going. Our weather is getting worse so I think they are going to be further and further apart for a while. I wish we had eaten outside this summer when numbers were low and it would have been pleasant because it’s definitely not happening here any time soon. Or maybe it would not have been worth it. I don’t know. Just really dreading this winter.
Being outside is the best! I’m glad the weather is improving in your area, and I’m especially glad that you are sleeping better :).
The beach day sounds so lovely. And having a toddler sit for dinner is bonus! We now have snow on the ground and will stay that way until March (cold part of Canada). I do get the kids out on the weekend with a promise of hot chocolate but there will be a couple of months were going outside will not happen much. I know there will be waaay too much screen time but I’m trying to not stress about it. Thank you for sharing the Raptitude link!
That’s awesome that a stranger commented on your kids behavior! So nice when that happens! I’m glad you guys were able to have a mostly normalish day as a family, too! And best of all is the news that G is sleeping better again!
Loved the podcast, Sarah! I’ve always thought that would be fun to have a planner episode of a similar format to What Should I read next! 🙂