For those of you not obsessed with Glee, here is a normal blog entry for you! See? NaBloPoMo makes me want to please EVERYONE!
I’ve been trying to force myself to take the kids on ONE outing every weekend. Our lives are crazy with theater, soccer, running, parties, trips, and work – and we often can go several days without having quality time together. It’s either rushing to get ready for school in the morning, or rushing to get ready for bed in the evening. Some weeks we do this FOUR DAYS IN A ROW. It’s been insane. To say the least.
So I’m trying to get out with them on the weekends. At least one trip. SOMEWHERE. Where we just play or hang out, depending on the activity. This forces me to focus on them, which I often don’t do during the week when I’m going from work to theater meetings to running groups, ALL IN ONE NIGHT.
Last weekend we went to Green Mountain. There was nothing going on up there (sometimes I try to coordinate with local events) we just went and walked and played and took pictures. And it gave me the time with them I needed to push aside the guilt for missing them so much lately. It also gives me a type of downtime where I get to do something lighthearted and fun to ease my stress. WIN/WIN!
I can’t do this at home like Donnie can. He can have a movie night with the kids and get the same thing. However, I can’t turn off the part of my brain that makes me do laundry or send emails while I’m watching a movie. I have to get out of the house for my downtime with the kids. Or else it’s not me and the kids, it’s me and the laundry, and the dishes, and the emails, and the…you get the point.
What about you? Do you schedule concrete Parent/Kid time amidst the chaos of your life? Can you do it at home or do you have to go out like I do?
Where where WHERE did you get Nikki’s hat? I am in love with it.
I just have the one kid and not too much other stuff going on, but I’m the same way about spending quality time with BZ–if I’m at home, I have the intention of sitting down and playing with him, but I get sucked in by housework or the computer. So we at least head to the neighborhood park where all I have to focus on is him. Much more fun for both of us!
It’s interesting that you should write about this today, because I’ve been thinking a lot about this issue. Granted, my kid is only 3 months old, but it’s still a problem. I used to enjoy him so much more when I was on leave, and then I went back to work. Now I don’t just play with the baby, I try to start dinner, get a load of laundry in, unpack my work bag, maybe do some paperwork, all while trying to keep the baby happy.
We’re trying a new experiment this week. I shifted my hours at work so that I’m home an hour earlier, so that my husband can get to the gym. In exchange, I’m giving myself that hour to spend with the baby. No starting dinner, no laundry, nothing. It’s just for cuddling, playing, making up silly songs, whatever.