I feel a bit ridiculous discussing weekend events on a Tuesday, but since Monday is for show notes . . . I guess here we are.
When Josh is on call/working, weekends these days can feel like a lot.
During call weekends back in the day, I used to feel like HOW WOULD I PASS ALL THOSE HOURS and just feel really alone with little kids.
Now it’s more like OMG EVERYONE NEEDS TO BE DRIVEN EVERYWHERE AT ONCE AND WE STILL NEED GROCERIES AND CLEAN SOCCER UNIFORMS AND I JUST CANNOT after a certain point. And sometimes I look up and it’s Sunday night and I feel more spent than I did at the end of the work week. To be fair, I am getting to do my marathon training and that’s time consuming and entirely by choice. Allowing the kids to be in a bunch of activities including travel sports is a choice, too (and one I feel is right for the kids and our family, right now). So maybe I should just . . . not expect much else, especially when Josh is on call. But that doesn’t always make things feel easy peasy!
Despite being on call and working, Josh *still* helped with multiple drives this past weekend (took G to tennis and C to soccer game #2 of 3 – the game in particular was such a huge favor to me as he took G and I got to stay in with A).
ANYWAY. We made it. It wasn’t always pretty but everyone got where they needed/wanted to! Next weekend no one is on call and there is no soccer tournament (just one game!), so it will be comparatively glorious. AND we have a date night planned! So that’s fun.
In other news, we have a 12 year old!!
One thing we did do was celebrate Annabel turning 12 on Friday!!!! I would love to post a whole montage of pictures but she has become quite the curator of her own online image so I can only share what I have been approved to share. So, here we are at her requested AM Starbucks run!
She received from various sources: some Sephora goodies, a Lululemon outfit, a new limited edition Stanley, a Kendra Scott necklace and . . . Taylor Swift tickets for Miami that I had purchased back in the fall but did not tell her about. She was happy!
I remember when the kids were really little I envisioned 6 / 10 / 12 to be The Promised Land of child-rearing. Packed call weekends aside, I really do enjoy this phase.
11 Comments
That sounds like a pretty fantastic 12th birthday. In case you need a reminder, you’re a cool mom.
That’s an amazing 12th birthday! I mean, I am 38 and would be thrilled to receive that stuff! 😂 complete with the Starbucks trip! Happy momiversary.
Haha! So true.
Sarah – I feel like if I were in this situation, you’d ask me if I needed additional weekend childcare to help get the kids where they need to be. Just a thought.
I think this decision is going to be a tough one for me when the time comes, I.e. be ok with lots of activities versus not. I don’t like having my 5 year old (oldest) in more than one activity at a time right now bc I really do like having a lot of time at home. But, I also think activities will become much more fun for everyone when the kids are older and obviously there’s value in cultivating different skills. I’m glad things are working well for your crew right now, even if it’s not always the most relaxing!
I feel this so so much. Maybe it’s the kids getting older (mine are 7 & 10) or their activity schedules (violin, lacrosse, soccer), but I often get to work on Monday feeling like I need a weekend from my weekend! I’ve taken to working from home on Fridays so I can have some pre-weekend quiet and work at a more relaxed pace / do deep work without distraction, but that still doesn’t solve the Monday morning feeling. This coming weekend we have two birthday parties, a lacrosse practice Friday and tournament Sunday, and I’m singing in church Sunday morning. All very fun enjoyable things but a reminder to myself to carve out some actual rest time too!
happy birthday to A. You spoiled her with the ticket to see Taylor swift. Did you do a party too? I’m so bad organizing birthdays. We are so low key.
And omg all the driving. I can’t imagine not resting on weekends after a full week of work. Husband is tasked to do those and I tag along only when I have energy. I know, very grateful.
Taylor Swift is the best birthday present! I took my daughter last June and it was a birthday present for both our July birthdays. Is it just you and A going or the whole family?
Just me + A!!! 5 tickets I just could not do given the $$$$$$$$$$$$! She and I are the Taylor superfans of the family 🙂
Those are pretty sweet ages. I have a totally amazing 17 year old, as of last month, but it’s starting to be bittersweet because I know she’s looking to a future beyond our nuclear family. We’ve had a lot of great years together though!
Happy birthday, A — so glad you were able to get the Taylor Swift tickets!! I totally feel you on the weekends sometimes being more taxing than a work week, and my youngest is 2 and not even in activities yet (and we don’t have call weekends in the mix). Our oldest two are boy (9) and girl (6) and the tricky thing is that they have completely different interests and activities, aka no overlap whatsoever. We joke that the silver lining with our big age gap between kid#1 and kid#3 is that by the time our youngest is wanting to play AAU basketball (or whatever high-commitment activity), our oldest will be a teenager and driving/wanting nothing to do with us! My one current solution is that every other week I can usually finagle a WFH day on either of Monday or Friday — with no commute and fewer meetings, plus the ability to do a target or grocery pickup order.
How much was your Starbucks order lol I took my two for a treat on spring break and it was $18 for 3 drinks, so crazy! Which is why it’s a treat, not regular haha! Sounds like a great celebration.