Sometimes it’s hard to remember . . .
- That my kids are older now, and certain choices are more their decisions to make — and that this will be an evolving target until they are out of the house. I can certainly feel a certain way about their choices, help guide them to the best of my abilities, and support (financially or otherwise) some desires and not others, but at the end of the day some decisions are no longer mine. (Don’t get me wrong, some still are! I mean, I’m not planning to allow anyone to stay up all night playing Roblox or drive underage.)
- That I don’t always have to rush. YES, I’ve whined a lot about time scarcity lately when it comes to work these days, but it ebbs and flows and now that I moved a big project forward, I have breathing room again and I don’t always have to rush. This is also kid-development related — for years I felt like I had to finish my workout before the kids woke up. This is totally silly now – today I finished my lower body strength while G got herself breakfast (a Chomps stick, some yogurt, berries, plus I toasted her bagel after I finished — she knows she’s not cleared yet to use the toaster oven or stovetop). She is 7.5 years old and does not need constant “eyes on her” supervision. (Even with a broken arm!)
She’s definitely rolling with it!
Anyway. Deep thoughts on a Thursday that feels like a Friday!! We are getting on an early flight tomorrow, which we’ve done often enough that it doesn’t feel like such a big deal. I also feel like I have reached a travel frequency where I am entirely unphased about packing up the kids, and I’d say even they are getting pretty good at helping! An unexpected bonus to a slightly-too-much travel schedule in recent months.
We’re only going for a short time, but I’m hoping the kids will be a little less . . . . disregulated compared to NH. Will have a discussion with them before we leave and plan for less time in the car without some sort of audio distraction! See, I eventually learn . . .
I am trying to decide whether to do fireworks (closest will be these). Weather in PHL looks amazing so I think we might go for it? The “choose the bigger life” answer would be yes!
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I live two towns over from Narberth. The fireworks are packed. Parking is tough. I personally do not love big crowds, and the leaving aspect of Narberth had me a little panicky. The park is fenced off all around and people push and crowd to get out. Get there early if you go!
Wilson park farm is also very popular with slightly easier parking. Plus you can see these from a lot of the surrounding parking lots of businesses.
If you’re looking for some morning fun, try the Garrett Hill parade! It’s a very local event, and they have hot dogs, bounce houses etc at Clem macrone park after.
ooh I will look into Wilson park farm!!! THANK YOU for the tip!
I was thinking about public trans from the wynnewood station to narberth + walking from there . . . but maybe the other would be even easier. i’d love to just DRIVE somewhere!
You can do that, but people start putting blankets out in the Narberth park at like 3pm. You could go early and put out blankets and go have dinner and ice cream in downtown Narberth which is a cute little area.
we’re doing dinner with my parents so I might check out the other option – it looks pretty close to my parents’ and easier!! and if it’s SUUUUPER packed we can always just watch from nearby lot or turn around and drive back (it’s ~25 min away). so thank you for the intel!!!
Do you guys not normally do fireworks? I would not have previously considered myself a fireworks/Fourth of July person, but starting around ages 6/7 we have always done fireworks with the kids and some friends and I have to admit it is such a blast…and now the kids (tweens) are good about sleeping in the next day 🙂
haven’t done in recent years!! did a DIY version at someones house a few years ago and there was a bit of a near miss so I think that turned us off for a while (everyone was okay and the near miss had nothing to do with us!)
Independent kids are the best! We told our then 8 1/2 year old he was responsible for making his own breakfast at the beginning this past school year. At first he protested and only drank milk before heading out the door to school. But he must have been hungry because he started making breakfast without a fuss after that. Now he’s a pro.
I am having similar conversations with myself lately about that bigger life and just being more out in the world than the last few years. My kids are similar ages (8 & 12) and pre-covid we were in the little kid phase which makes it hard and then in covid times where we just didn’t go anywhere so now it’s a total mental push to make myself get over the planning and anxiety and do fun things. I have found I’ve become a total homebody.
We live in a fun place (Toronto!) and my kids should get to know their home. This past week my husband has been out of town caring for his dad who is in the hospital and i have been on my own with the kids and my normal urge is to stay home and do low-key – chores, watch movies, play in the pool – because regular stuff is busy. But I found the tall ships were at the waterfront this weekend so we braved all the public transit and had an awesome city adventure. We had our national holiday on Tuesday and I did it again where we visited some friends and went to a neighbourhood fireworks show and yesterday my daughter suggested a restaurant she’d read about in another area so i said yes and we had a great time! We are tired but I feel like these are happy family experiences.
Choose the bigger life!
I kept saying the kids weren’t old enough for fireworks and by the time they were, we had reset with another baby. But the “big” kids are 8 and 7, so this might need to be the year! Thanks for the “choose the bigger life” reminder!
We took the kids to Disney last year and did fireworks there. Didn’t hit me until I saw my daughter’s face (age 10) that she had never seen a professional show before. Her face that night is a core memory now.
All this talk of “braving” public transit has me giggling. Starting in middle school, public transit is the transit for kids to get to school in my district. I grew up in an area with no transit, so the amount of freedom my oldest has is mind boggling. He and his friends regularly take the bus or train (and even ferry) on adventures.
Maybe we’ll see you there! My brother’s friend lives next to the park in Narberth making it easy enough to get a spot. We usually park at the shopping center (where Bed Bath & Beyond used to be) and walk over. Weather is gorgeous here! So much less humidity than anywhere south!
Ooh, you’re on your way to Philly right now! Sounds like you’re really going to luck out with the weather. And, it’s the perfect opportunity to go see fireworks (it’s so not fun down here, so hot and icky.) I hope you have fun and that everything works out kid-wise on this trip!