What do you do when your husband earns a 3 1/2 day Alaskan fishing trip? You pretend you're on vacation too....well, at least you figure that's the best way to do it 1/2 way through.
I originially thought I would have the dining room all beautified and complete by the time he got home, with a chalkboard wall (with an amazingly beautiful quote in the perfect font), new chairs, a table runner and perhaps a clock. Well, I COULD have done that, but it would have involved ignoring Jet and Aijah more than they deserved. C'mon, their dad is gone, the last they need is a busy, frantic mom saying, "Don't touch that, the paint is still wet," "I'm almost done, we can play later." etc etc. So, I decided that I would focus on doing fun things with the kids. We managed to...
-hike Mt. Baldy (up one way, down the other, back up another way, and back down the original way (I didn't drive 25 minutes to hike for 1 mile, no way, and unfortunately Jet was worn out after the first hike, but I was selfish and made him do the rest. He did it. I tried every inspirational idea I could muster. At one point, I gave him a piggy-back while Aijah was in the Bjorn. It wasn't that bad, but Jet didn't like it. Boo. I wanted to feel like Little Miss Powerhouse. I'll never know how tired his legs really were, but he got back to his old self once we were in the shade going downhill, for the most part.)
-Have a pool party with some friends from church
-Pick lots of blackberries
-Run through the EWEB fountains
-Have 2 picnics
-Have a super fun night with Grandma, watering plants, reading books and eating strawberry shortcakes
-Go farther than we ever have at "the place with the hills," along with the dogs, who are always ridiculously giddy there.
-Jared and Hailey watched Aijah so I could take Jet to see The Kroods. Going to the movies is a rare treat these days (that's a big chunk of time for babysitting etc) , and I probably enjoyed it more than Jet. lol.
-Run some pretty lame errands....lol.....that was when I was in "dining room mode"
It was just some good, relaxed times. All I told myself was, "keep up with the house, that's it." It was vacation in a way. I didn't have to cook for Chad ( I'm happy just picking through the fridge, concocting as I go), or do his laundry, or tell him to pick up this or that. I only made the bed once. Give me a blanket and I'm good. Normally, I put more on top of my plate, because really, you have to. There is just more to do. But, I put it on the back burner and focused on being a little more chill and making sure Jet and Aijah got some good lovin'. It was good bonding time. I learned, well relearned, the best way for me to bond with Jet, is to just be silly. It doesn't matter what we're doing. I LOVE shopping with him because I just talk silliness to the kid most of the time. I did this ever since he was a baby. It's so fun. Accents come out, giggles abound. Sometimes I'll play the snob, or the grouchy old lady, or stuffy old man, or Gloria from Modern Family, or just be loopy. I forget to do this sometimes because I'm stressed and in a time crunch, and it's lame. Why not make it fun? When Chad comes with us, he thinks my voices are a wee bit annoying. SOWRY! We's just bees havins some fun. Ah ha ha! Daddy thinks I'm embarrassing......lol.
Unfortunately, this morning, it was back to real life. But, I'm working into it. Got Jet's room a little more organized. I kinda....er.....fell asleep for 20 minutes while Aijah and Jet were playing. Whoopsee. Hurrah, Aijah didn't choke on anything, she's ALIVE!!! Thank GOODNESS!
Why is the "don't want to do list" so long lately? Ug. One thing at time. Chop away. Chop. Chop. CHOP!!!!!!! I'm sick of chopping. See? I'm still in vacation mentality. Chad now has to work for 9 days straight. Lovely. Anyone want to take Jet shopping with them? I promise he'll make you laugh. : )
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1 comment:
haha. Gosh, it seems like once you have kids, it just doesn't calm down, and the "to do" list gets so long and is NEVER COMPLETE! EVER! It's so frusterating. And if you want to do it then you have to neglect your kid! And so you think "ok- well- it's bad to neglect you kid, but if i neglect this other stuff, that's gonna make me crazy too, and that will make me a bad parent" and it's just a vicious cycle. It was really inspiring to hear you say that you decided not to "work" and just bond with your kids. I get in such a work mode, and I think- oh my gosh I didn't ever play with maddie today, and then i feel bad and sad. it's so hard to keep a balance. I hope somewhere in the week you ate like a pig, it's always nice to eat a bunch of junk food, without having someone stare at you- hahah.
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