On paper (and in the photos!) this weekend looks like a lot of fun early fall festivities. My husband and I went to Longwood Gardens on Friday night for a jazz concert, a stop at the beer garden, seeing the late summer flowers, and watching the fountain show. I also went in the hot tub when I got home.
On Saturday morning I ran 10.7 miles, which was four loops around a local nature trail. I’m training for a half marathon, and theoretically if I can run that much without falling apart, I should be OK. It was sunny but not too hot — almost perfect running weather.
On Saturday afternoon, my husband, and 9-year-old and I went to a party for his class. One of his classmates’ parents hosted this “getting to know you” party at their house and the kids had a great time in the rented bouncy house.
I went shopping with my daughter at Marshalls and Target (complete with a Starbucks stop). I took my/my 17-year-old’s 13-year-old car to get serviced and it had no additional issues beyond normal maintenance.
On Sunday, I went to church and sang Olivier Messiaen’s O Sacrum Convivium — quite the lovely chromatic piece. Four out of five kids made it to church. The other child was at soccer with my husband and scored 3 goals!
Then four out of five kids (different set) went apple picking at Linvilla — we got lots of honeycrips and then went to the arts and crafts fair there.
There was a pool trip after, plus apple pie making.
So this weekend all sounds good, and the photo roll looks glowy but…everyone was just. so. whiny. And fighting a lot. Linvilla was a zoo and a lot of the apple trees were picked over. We had gone there vs. somewhere more pastoral because one child was excited about the arts and crafts fair, but then it turned out this child thought we would be making crafts (as opposed to local vendors selling their wares…). The long run did not feel good until it was over. I was constantly haranguing people to get places and I am just so over it.
Needless to say, I am grumpy about this.
But! It is before 8 a.m. on Monday and I am at my desk. I also had a very pleasant solo float in the pool Saturday late afternoon, looking up at the early fall leaves, so I’ll try to keep that as my image of this weekend (of course those leaves all land in the pool and have to be cleaned out but…).
We had something of a rough kid weekend too. I think my kids are more stressed now that school has started, but it does get old. No solutions just sympathy here.
@Gillian – yep, it gets old fast…
There was also SO MUCH WHINING and BICKERING in our house this weekend. The bickering and wrestling is more bothersome for me because someone inevitably ends up crying about getting hurt. But they ignore my suggestion to just keep their hands to themselves. I fear this is not going to get any better and will actually get worse… It was abnormally hot and humid here, too, which doesn’t help my mood. I’ve mentally moved on from temps approaching 90 so dealing with annoying behavior while sweating profusely is not my favorite!
@Lisa- yep, the apple orchard was ridiculously hot, which makes everyone more whiny, which is kind of funny in its own way. I mean, here we are paying for the privilege of harvesting things in the heat — I have plenty of ancestors who did that to make a living and if they had lived long enough to see us paying to do it…
How much say do you give your kids in whether they go to church each week or not? Are they happy to go, or is this where some of the whining happens? My husband sort of grew up with religion crammed down his throat and wants it all to be 100% their decision (and is happy to watch them at home while I go by myself if that’s how it shakes out, which is nice). While I agree that ultimately they have to decide what they believe for themselves, I feel like when I gently pressure (or bribe) my oldest to go she always ends up having a good time. Trying to figure out what this is going to look like for us as they all get older.
@Amanda – I am trying to establish that generally we go during the school year, unless you have something else specific you are doing at the time (See: soccer, or if a kid had a tournament or whatever. Summer can be off.). The 17-year-old sings in choir, so he goes every week. The (almost) 13-year-old really likes youth group. The others (including my husband) are more of a mixed bag. Anyone who goes with me gets Starbucks after, but the kids get Starbucks all the time anyway, so it’s not like that’s a particularly effective bribe.
If I gave my kids the “choice” they would never go. I have decided that it is important to me and to our family, and strongly encourage them to go most Sundays. We have teens (18+16) and a younger kid. They do usually have an ok time when they are there, as far as I can tell. Sometimes they go to a different church with a friend instead and that is fine too.
If my schedule was that packed with activities I would cry! One thing I always find it difficult to navigate is that too many things can be stressful even if they are fun things. I try to explain it to my husband and kids when multiple weekend trips in a row are being planned. It inevitably becomes stressful by Thursday afternoon when it’s time to pack for the next adventure. But, mostly I just opt out and manage myself now that our youngest is 16. Trying to find that balance between doing, and experiencing life and having time to rest, dream, reflect and just BE.
@Gael- well, with five kids still at home there are always a lot of moving parts. Even a weekend where there isn’t that much going on still has a fair amount going on.
thanks for sharing so honestly about this @laura!