Weekend planning: Something for everyone (plus a sonnet)

I think a lot about weekends (I once wrote a short ebook about them! You can also find that short book included with two other short books as part of this paperback, which is priced not that much higher. No idea how this pricing works. Perhaps I need to look into this…).

I know that weekends can wind up being all about chores and errands and shuttling kids to activities. We do what we have to do. A well-planned weekend, on the other hand, allows space for what you want to do.

As my kids get older I’m also cognizant of planning weekends where each of them has something they’re going to enjoy (or nudging them to think about this for the oldest ones). This requires a bit more intention, as you can wind up with a weekend that looks busy because one or two kids have something big, but then another kid has nothing. While several of my kids are fine with just being on their devices all weekend, I’d generally like to avoid that.

This past weekend was an example of this. My two older boys both had regionals for a technology competition (my husband went as a judge). So they were all gone from about 6:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. on Saturday. Complicating matters, I was doing a workshop on Saturday morning (booked six months ago — thank goodness it was this weekend vs. last weekend when I still couldn’t really walk!). The 9-year-old had an afternoon event that had been rescheduled from last week’s snow days. So it was a full day for some of us.

But not for all of us — my daughter didn’t have anything scheduled in. So we reached out to a friend to see if she could come over Saturday afternoon. She could, and all of a sudden her weekend was much more interesting!

Anyway, I watched a lot of football yesterday. I have to say, I really enjoyed the pictures and videos of Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift meeting up on the field after the Chiefs won. A little storybook romance! I love it.

Another love: My miniature scenes. While bedridden a week ago I will admit that I did a little online shopping (OK maybe a lot…) and I bought kitchen furniture, and a bedroom set. Unfortunately, the bedroom set was a different color than I thought it would be– it was “mahogany” but it looked almost red. So, I found a “raw umber” acrylic paint shade from a kid’s art kit and painted the furniture. It is still drying but it’s going to look much better.

I keep writing my sonnets at the pace of two lines each day. Here’s what I wrote last week, called “Magic.”

The sweep of snow, it covers many sins,
the rotting leaves, a rusted, broken rake,
the husks of plants, the glaring garbage bins,
and now the children, suddenly awake

make plodding tracks on shiny sheets of white.
Their boots, they crunch amid the heavy hush
by smaller tracks, laid stealthy in the night,
before the winter sunrise made its flush.

I look into the woods, the arms of trees
are brushing, weaving, tangled like old friends.
A rustle – then these shadows tremble, freeze.
This spirit in the forest comprehends

that I have seen her, hoofs exploring too
the powdered spell that now makes all things new.