For most if not all of my parenting life--that is, eighteen and a half years--Saturdays have possessed a particular dilemma. That is, what to DO. Perhaps it's because we have never lived near family, so we don't have the ability to visit aunts, uncles, cousins, or grandparents. Perhaps it is because we don't load the kids up with activities, so there have rarely been sports practice or music lessons or whatever else it is all the seemingly busy people do on Saturdays. Perhaps it is because my husband has always had to work for at least part of the day on Saturday, so a day-long family activity (not that my teenagers would go for this AT ALL) is not possible.
So. Here I am on yet another Saturday, wondering how to fill what feels a very long day without relying too much on TV and the constant promise of Netflix Kids. My three oldest kids are busy--a field trip to London, a rounders game, and Saturday school for one, which generally takes cares of him. So I'm left with my two youngest, ages four and eight, to fill the day with some kind of fun or at least fruitful activity.
Today I'm planning on a trip the library and garden centre, and then a jaunt in the afternoon to buy new school shoes and pick up some flower boxes I had ordered. We might play a game of Shopping List or Sushi Go, and I might even motivate to bake something with two little helpers.
But I know it will feel like a long day, a day that needs to be endlessly filled, and I wonder, do other parents feel this way? Do they view Saturdays with a mixture of anticipation and dread? And one day, when my youngest are teenagers and disappearing with their own plans, will I miss these oh-so long Saturdays? Or will I just finally be thankful to be able to relax?
So. Here I am on yet another Saturday, wondering how to fill what feels a very long day without relying too much on TV and the constant promise of Netflix Kids. My three oldest kids are busy--a field trip to London, a rounders game, and Saturday school for one, which generally takes cares of him. So I'm left with my two youngest, ages four and eight, to fill the day with some kind of fun or at least fruitful activity.
Today I'm planning on a trip the library and garden centre, and then a jaunt in the afternoon to buy new school shoes and pick up some flower boxes I had ordered. We might play a game of Shopping List or Sushi Go, and I might even motivate to bake something with two little helpers.
But I know it will feel like a long day, a day that needs to be endlessly filled, and I wonder, do other parents feel this way? Do they view Saturdays with a mixture of anticipation and dread? And one day, when my youngest are teenagers and disappearing with their own plans, will I miss these oh-so long Saturdays? Or will I just finally be thankful to be able to relax?
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