Well, this was quite a weekend.
It was actually quite relaxing - I really didn't do much. But my family did a lot!
My husband took H to NYC. They went to see "Death Becomes Her", went out for sushi, went to museums, took the ferry to the Statue of Liberty, and came back home exhausted but happy.
In the meantime, C had a sleepover at my parents' house and spent most of the next day hanging out with them and visiting the nearby farm to pet the goats. After she came home, we drove to pick up pizza and Ethan (who had an all-day rehearsal on Saturday for the upcoming highschool musical - he is playing in "the pit" with other musicians) and then E's friends came for a sleepover. It was weird how little I needed to do besides making sure there was pizza and something healthy (vegetables! grapes!) to eat. E took care of snacks and desserts.
Having a bunch of boys who sound like grown-up men in the house is a little cognitive-dissonance-inducing (I've known most of these kids since early elementary school). I pretty much left them be - C and I played board games and worked on a new puzzle. The next morning, E and I made breakfast for everyone, and then the boys chatted for a while (I tried hard not to eavesdrop... except it's hard in our house - the sound carries exceptionally well). There was a discussion of how to get around parental time limits on phones - until E realized that I was within the hearing range of that, and then they proceeded to unconvincingly say how that was not possible with E's outdated model of a phone. There was some talk of girls and dating (I stuffed my ears with cotton or went to read a book with C - one of those things).
After all the boys left, we had some time to do chores, watch a bit of Pride and Prejudice with C, have in-depth conversations about running with E, work on the puzzle some more, read... And then C went to a friend's house for yet another sleepover. We had terrible wind but luckily did not loose power. My husband and H came home, after train delays and awful traffic because of wind damage.
I had lots of alone time this weekend, while C was at my parents', H and husband were in NYC, and E was at the rehearsal. It was weird - I didn't have to do anything or be anywhere... I almost took a nap but decided the time would be best spent reading and daydreaming. I barely cooked this weekend. I mused on the change in dynamics when one or more children were not around at night.
On Monday afternoon, my husband and I went for a walk in the park - it was chilly but felt good to get some exercise and catch up.
In the meantime - I feel exhausted by the constant escalating insanity that's our current government. The only way I can stay sane is block out the real-world news and events. But it's a really bad idea to ignore the real-world news and events. But if I keep up with news, I feel hopeless and depressed and can't function as a caring parent.
How do you set boundaries between being a citizen, a parent, a friend? How do you maintain your integrity?
No comments:
Post a Comment