bliss
I really have to say that I love summer.
Our routines during the week tend to be the following. We all wake up around 7ish. I go to the gym while Ethan gets Ari and Eli their breakfast and gets them dressed. I drink my coffee on the way to the gym and have a 30 minute work out while reading or watching the Today show or listening to music. I come home and Ethan takes Tika and Ari and Eli on a walk around the block while I take a shower (we live on a really long block!). Then Ethan goes to work. About this time Eli goes for his morning nap for around 90 minutes. While Eli sleeps, Ari and I hang out. No pressure to be anywhere or accomplish anything. We just are. During this time I do the dishes from breakfast and any other errands that I need to get done while Ari keeps himself entertained. Then we play until it is time to get Eli up. With Eli up and energized we go on a morning outing ranging from the park, the children’s museum, the library or the mall. We get home for lunch, a movie and naptime. During naptime…I actually have been also taking a nap! I am years behind on sleep and am happily working on making up on a very large deficit. We all wake up and have a snack and play until Ethan gets home. Then we have dinner and swimming lessons, and by the time we get home from swimming it is bathtime stories and bed. And, here is the kicker. When Ari and Eli go to bed, I don’t crash into an exhausted heap, I stay up! Ethan and I watch movies, I read, I make cookies. It is amazing. Then we go to bed only to start the day over again.
I really can’t think of a time when I have had a routine that I have been happier with. I sometimes wonder if I was a stay at home mom full time if I would like it as much. Maybe I would start to get isolated and bitter and lonely. I also wouldn’t have a husband working the leisurely hours that working at a summer arts program that starts at 9 and is done at 4 either. At least not if we lived in the house we live in now. Either way, I am tanned, getting enough exercise, having the time to prepare salads and cut up fruit with every meal, and well read and without the guilt that I need to spend every waking hour with my boys to make up for the time I am at work. So I will cherish my summer and remember to be thankful for the job that I have that allows me these precious weeks.
