One-Day Holiday

On Friday I took a personal day.  Nicholas was also on Fall Break and I wanted to spend some time with just him and I.  We started our day off by having breakfast at Steak and Shake.  Next we headed to the ortodontist so that I could have my permanent retainer put back in.  All of the doctors were dressed in Halloween costumes.  My doctor was a Russian peasant.  I thought he was one of the Beastie Boys.

We have an exhibit in town at our downtown mall called Bodies…what a perfect Halloween treat or trick, eh?  I caught it while in New York last autumn and it was quite an experience.  I needed to stop at the mall for a few things and I thought Nicholas might be interested in seeing it.  Surprisingly, he declined saying he does not like those type of things.  Our downtown is splattered with advertisements for this attraction and he would shudder everytime we passed one.

My first mission was to find Nic a pair of shoes.  Of course, he didn’t like what I liked and vice versa.  It turns out the shoes I was seeking were only sold at another mall.  I finally found a reasonably priced pair of grey pumps that I needed.  Nicholas spent his allowance on a Clone Troopers game.

I had to force myself to leave Gap kids.  Their fall line for girls is soooooo adorable!!!  I had to remind myself that I recently spent a mini fortune on clothes for Jazmine.

We had an hour to kill before going to see Beverly Hills Chihuaha.  In this time I throughly cleaned the bathroom and gathered clothes to take to the cleaners while Nicholas played his new game.

The movie did not sound very interesting to me but my son really wanted to see it.  I assumed it would be corny and silly with lots of bad acting.  However,  I must say that it was awesome!  It was funny and heartwarming.  At the end I had tears in my eyes.  The animal actors were better than their human counter parts!  I plan to buy it once it is released on DVD.

I was all set to have lunch at a nice restaurant but Nicholas wanted me to fix lunch!  So I did.  Ethan was home by that time so I fixed him a snack as well. 

Shortly afterwards I picked Jazmine up from the sitter’s and we ended the evening by raking a few bags of leaves.  Jazmine “helped” by jumping into the piles and sneaking sips from my coke.

It was nice to be able to get away from work for the day! Even though I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary; I really enjoyed my day.

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The Second Shift

For the last couple of months, my husband has been working the second shift.  By the time he gets home, which is well past 9pm, I am usually in the bed.  He has made the change so that he can put Evan on the bus in the morning when he comes home.  This too, gives him a window of time to pick Evan up if he is having trouble at school.  If he makes it past 11am, Evan is usually okay for the day. 

Therefore it’s just the kids and I.  I get to monitor/help with homework, pick up Nicholas from football practice and Jazmine from the sitter’s, tidy the house, cook dinner, entertain, and everything else in between.  Not to mention all the prep work that I do for school.  I feel like I work a second shift, too (I actually read a book in my college sociology class about this very phenomenon called The Second Shift)!

I do miss my husband.  I am not used to him being gone in the evenings.  The only time that we basically get to spend together is on the weekends.  But then the weekends consist of the many chores that we don’t have time to do during the work week.  The weekends fly by so fast and it’s soon time to get ready for the daily grind…again.

I have two days for Fall Break, today is one of them.  This morning I took Nicholas to school and attended his 7am parent/teacher conference.  When I got home, I slept for an hour before dropping Jazmine off at the sitter’s and my husband at work.  His car is running funny and we don’t want to aggravate the problem.  Then I spent an hour or so working on my friend’s computer before  going to my hair appointment. 

Afterwards I waited for Jazmine to be dropped off (they were at McDonald’s when I went to pick her up) so that we could go to her doctor’s appointment.  Next I had to swing by the sitter’s (again) to get Jazmine’s belongings.

In twenty minutes football practice will be over so I’ll grab Nicholas.  Thankfully, a coworker agreed to bring my husband home tonight.

Tomorrow I plan to take Jazmine to visit her mom.  I also have to get the grocery shopping done.  And I would like to rake a few bags of leaves before they totally engulf us.  I might end the day by watching Bend It Like Beckham and taking notes.  My kids will be studying this film for its cultural aspects and I would like to see it before I show it.

I am the original do-it-yourselfer.  If something needs to be done, by golly, I’m your girl.  I really have trouble allocating tasks as you can see.  If I can do it, I don’t see any reason to ask anyone else.

Maybe I will get to relax one of these days, eh?  However, I think I might take a personal day or two here in the near future!

Fighting Over Chores!!!

The big thing at our house now is that Ian and Imani fight over who helps with chores.

Ian and Imani both fight over getting the mail, washing dishes, sweeping the floor, dusting, loading and unloading the washer and dryer, and folding clothes.

I wonder in a few more years if they will be so eager when they are assigned to do some of these chores by themselves!