Down time
It's not often my kids have time to watch television. Our days are usually filled with school, homework, piano practice, nap time for the baby, and an early bedtime for everyone. The TV collects dust.
This Sunday after piano lessons, we planned to go on an adventure but it didn't materialize. I just wasn't up to the challenge of managing the three kids at a museum on my own. So we stayed in. The kids played video games, colored, read, and napped and I did laundry. Seven loads worth. My hubby fled for the library after breakfast, so I was playing one-on-three without enough caffeine in my system. A recipe for a losing battle on the scale of the Alamo.
Remember the Law School Widow!
So I gave in. They're glued to the tube right now watching Mickey Mouse's Three Musketeers.
I'm enjoying the down time, sprinkled with the occasional delicious giggles, and loads of laundry. It's not an exciting or stimulating use of our time, but I'm not sure every moment should be. I had a friend back in San Antonio who dreaded the thought of being alone at home with her kids for any extended period of time. She shlepped them to museums, parks, playgrounds, any child-friendly environment she could find. She researched them fastidiously. "Did you hear about this new place?" she'd query us. The response was invariably, Huh?
As mothers we are always weighing the lesser of two evils: bundle your kids, strap them in car seats, and take them out to a place where they will be entertained for hours versus entertain them yourself. Santa Anna versus Davy Crockett.
When my mom visited we dragged her to children's museums, the planetarium, and any other number of kid-friendly places. "Very nice!" she'd nod her head and smile. On the way back from picking up the kids from school, we stopped at the Romanian Kosher butcher shop so she could pick up some salamis for my dad. I stayed in the car with the kids and sent her in. "Come in! Come in!" She came yelling a few moments later. "It's beautiful in there!" I hadn't seen my mother so happy all week.
A butcher shop is beautiful? I'm a vegetarian! To each his or her own. (What's she smokin'? Ah, yes, kosher briskets).
The truth is, kids need stimulation. They need to explore their world, run and play, stretch their legs. Sometimes, however, they just need to relax, kick back, watch some Mickey Mouse.
According to mom, all they really need is a good salami sandwich.
I've been giving all of this some serious consideration lately. The temperatures have begun dropping. Even the low 40's is enough for me to give going out a second thought. I gained ten pounds last winter, bunkering down in my apartment all season. This year I got smart and followed my Skokie Girl's lead, ordering Home Milk Delivery. My husband has signed us up for Netflix.
This winter I expect to gain 20 pounds.
Thank goodness I have a job, and actually have to emerge from under my down comforter...to dust off the TV.
This Sunday after piano lessons, we planned to go on an adventure but it didn't materialize. I just wasn't up to the challenge of managing the three kids at a museum on my own. So we stayed in. The kids played video games, colored, read, and napped and I did laundry. Seven loads worth. My hubby fled for the library after breakfast, so I was playing one-on-three without enough caffeine in my system. A recipe for a losing battle on the scale of the Alamo.
Remember the Law School Widow!
So I gave in. They're glued to the tube right now watching Mickey Mouse's Three Musketeers.
I'm enjoying the down time, sprinkled with the occasional delicious giggles, and loads of laundry. It's not an exciting or stimulating use of our time, but I'm not sure every moment should be. I had a friend back in San Antonio who dreaded the thought of being alone at home with her kids for any extended period of time. She shlepped them to museums, parks, playgrounds, any child-friendly environment she could find. She researched them fastidiously. "Did you hear about this new place?" she'd query us. The response was invariably, Huh?
As mothers we are always weighing the lesser of two evils: bundle your kids, strap them in car seats, and take them out to a place where they will be entertained for hours versus entertain them yourself. Santa Anna versus Davy Crockett.
When my mom visited we dragged her to children's museums, the planetarium, and any other number of kid-friendly places. "Very nice!" she'd nod her head and smile. On the way back from picking up the kids from school, we stopped at the Romanian Kosher butcher shop so she could pick up some salamis for my dad. I stayed in the car with the kids and sent her in. "Come in! Come in!" She came yelling a few moments later. "It's beautiful in there!" I hadn't seen my mother so happy all week.
A butcher shop is beautiful? I'm a vegetarian! To each his or her own. (What's she smokin'? Ah, yes, kosher briskets).
The truth is, kids need stimulation. They need to explore their world, run and play, stretch their legs. Sometimes, however, they just need to relax, kick back, watch some Mickey Mouse.
According to mom, all they really need is a good salami sandwich.
I've been giving all of this some serious consideration lately. The temperatures have begun dropping. Even the low 40's is enough for me to give going out a second thought. I gained ten pounds last winter, bunkering down in my apartment all season. This year I got smart and followed my Skokie Girl's lead, ordering Home Milk Delivery. My husband has signed us up for Netflix.
This winter I expect to gain 20 pounds.
Thank goodness I have a job, and actually have to emerge from under my down comforter...to dust off the TV.
posted by law school widow at 4:48 PM
4 Comments:
I had to giggle. Last week I was desperately tired and baby and I watched--ready for this?--the bull riding world championships! I was flipping through and when they came on, baby was captivated by the combination of big moo cow and people waving their arms. She sat and waved at the television for an hour.
Outstanding! When my son was three he was FASCINATED by Olympic CURLING! Yes! A sport championed by a team of Norwegian Grannies. He could care less about figure skating, Nordic ski jump, or moguls, but could sit for hours watching silver-haired ladies sweeping ice. Go figure.
HI!!!!!!!!!! its me chris boney!! wow its been a long time!! sounds like everything is going pretty well with you and the family in chicago. i just popped on really quickly but i plan on sitting down and reading your adventures!
I once knew a little boy who was spellbound by the lottery drawing . . .
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