Do you speak "Pregnancy"? We do.
Sunday, October 18th, 2009
Sunday morning in DC starts with a stop at Quartermaines coffee, a walk thru the quiet early day streets of Bethesda with Bob and of course, the Central Bethesda Farmers Market…Today was cold and a little damp (feeling that I’ve gotten my money’s worth on those rain boots this week), but still the joy remains. Here is what I came home with…
Sunday, October 11th, 2009
Spoiler Alert – this is completely OT – and may create great anxiety in offend those running against me for Mother of the Year!
I am tired, profoundly tired. Basically, I have spent the past (insert random unit of time here) days teaching by example. You know- moving away from “do as I say, not as I do” and continuing on my bold journey to authentic, “I could live with this as my eulogy” living. To that end, I have been going out of my way (on many levels) to give each kid some extra nutritious food for their soul. This is exhausting.
To reward myself – I have purchased the most beautiful Dahlias (see amazing sun-lit view of my office, below) which are perched on my desk waiting for the new week to begin. In the meantime, let me walk you through why it might be that I am so tired:
FULL WEEK normal full (I would like to see any man work at this capacity) work week, key deadline for Bravado (the BBIC is so so so exciting, but I digress), parent teacher for Bex, college counselor meeting for Matthew, Math night with Sam, various appointments for Lila, too much training with Steve (all this to eat?!?!), strong woman behind the man work for Bob and his latest venture, work on the kitchen (loving my palate – no pun intended), being a super fab friend and actually taking time for lunch, and a million other things. This is completely by choice. Still, I am tired.
Friday PM (theme – we are happy and self-identified Jews) – after a color and blow-dry where I am obviously too strung out from the week’s events to remember to pay for my hour + of beauty and which results in a “collection” call from the salon , I cram in two more hours of work before (while) dressing and packing all kids in the car for a night of super Judaism. For those of you not familiar with the following, ask a Jew. This includes:
Saturday AM (theme – family time is rewarding) – wake up super early – load ¾ kids into the car for a day to trip to Philly. Goal here – extended family time. Show how good it feels to be with our cousins, Aunt/Uncle and of course Grandparents. Side note, I don’t always feel this way and this is in conflict with the fact that I feel strongly that my kids need this level of familial connection. So, I bat my eyelids and make other lofty promises to get out of actual driving (score!!!). By not driving I become the car warden of the car (I really loathe this job). I plug my kids in to avoid the bickering. Bob and I get to talk for a few long, uninterrupted stretches (I really like what he has to say, nice to know). We spend the whole day in Philly which really means we spend the whole day eating. I am not as annoyed by this as I usually am as I am high on the endorphins of teaching my kids by example and also being deeply turned on by the intellect of my chosen life partner. Had I not been so high, I would have stopped at the first meringue or not ordered a dozen oysters and shared everyone else’s food at dinner. I also get entry into my mother’s prize closet (china, silver and other treasures) – fun! We get back late – the car is a mess, the kids are too tired. And they are feeling the love…we all are – hooray!
Sunday AM (theme – support your local community, culture and economy on all levels) – up early again – quality time with Rosie (dogs need love too) which takes us to waking up the girls and getting them ready for their day of being good citizens and (again with this) Jews. I make the first of what will be THREE trips to the synagogue today – Lila to religious school, Rebecca to leadership both working on community service. Once girls are deposited Bob and I make our Sunday AM trek for latte and to the farmer’s market. Again, teaching my example – only local – on all. Here, illustrating to them all the value of supporting local merchants, growers and knowing lots and lots of people at the market. Note, most of my kids feel this is embarrassing and roll their eyes at the number of times I stop to say hello – yet I have noticed they all do the same. Then back home to sort purchases, plan day with Sam, and arrange flowers. We make lunch, and Sam and I plan for a theater excursion – local theater for kids with his buddy Adam (who comes with his mom – my buddy Norma). sans his Mama who got over-scheduled at the last minute.
And that is where we are now. There is still a home-cooked (local) dinner ahead of me and then some great time reading with Sam, planning Lila’s presidential campaign, figuring out Rebecca’s plan for Monday (no school!?) and getting Matthew’s Vermont application in. If all goes well the day will end with Mad Men and some really good sleep…and when I awake – these beautiful Dahlias will be on my desk – encouraging me into another week
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