Yesterday was Monday. On typical Mondays, Dale picks up both kids after school (first Aaron, then Jordan) and takes them to choir by 4pm. On choir days, you have to remember to get the choir binders when you leave the house in the morning, because there’s not time to go back to the house and get them after school. When he’s dropped off the kids, he stops by the grocery store and goes home and makes dinner. I pick up the kids at 6pm and bring them home and we eat. Then the kids have piano practice and homework for most of the rest of the evening. Last night, Dale also had band practice at our house, so the boys had to get piano done quickly.
Today is Tuesday. Both kids have hot lunch on Tuesday so there is no lunch packing in the mornings, though Aaron still needs to pack a snack (and I wonder if he packed one today). Jordan has flag football after school, so he has to bring his cleats. Normally on Tuesdays my friend Jessica picks up Aaron and her son Adam after school at 3:30 and brings them to Billings at 4pm. She picks up her older son Ian then, who is in track, not football; I meet her there to collect Aaron and also Nathaniel, another Billings friend who is in track. Aaron
and Nathaniel and I have half an hour to kill until Jordan is done with football at 4:30. Then we go back to my house, and the boys have maybe half an hour of time to do one item of homework or piano or something, before walking themselves down to religious school (including pizza dinner) at 5:30. During religious school, Dale and I host Tuesday Soup for parents with kids in religious school – I just make a big pot of soup and anyone who wants to can come and hang out with us.
However, today there is a track meet way down in Seward Park. So instead of the usual arrangement, I will pick up Aaron and Adam after school at 3:30, drop Adam at his home, pick up Jordan (only) at 4:30, and take him and Aaron home, from whence they will walk down to religious school at 5:30. There are track meets every Tuesday in October so this alternate arrangement is likely to persist for a few weeks. Also, there will not be any Tuesday Soup tonight, because it is curriculum night at the middle school.
Tomorrow is Wednesday, another choir day, my turn to pick them up this time (and remember the choir binders). I also have to remember to pick up the farm box, but on the bright side, that makes dinner easy. I do not have choir myself on Wednesday nights this fall, because I am taking a season off, so I am better able to supervise homework etc. in the evening. Dale has band practice at our house again tomorrow, with a different band than on Monday.
Thursdays Jordan gets out at 3:30, and it is his night to make dinner. Normally I pick him up, he and I grab any groceries he needs, and I help him get started cooking. If all this is pretty efficient, he can come with me to pick up Aaron from his afterschool program at 5pm. I also pick up Adam and give him a ride home. When we get back from that, Jordan finishes making dinner, and then there is piano and homework time in the evening. However, this Thursday, Jordan won’t be making dinner, because we are going to a friend’s house for dinner in her sukkah. We do, however, need to bring a dish; maybe Jordan can make it.
A further complication is that this Thursday, Aaron has the day off school because it is the first day of Sukkot. For these school holidays Jessica, Sara, and I have a kid-sitting ring; Thursday is my day to host. It’s only Amara this time because Adam has another thing. I can take a partial day and just do some work from home (the kids entertain themselves), but there is one 90-minute meeting first thing in the morning that I don’t want to miss. I suggested to Sara that we meet at the Billings dropoff and I take Aaron and Amara to work with me from there; they could have screen time or play with physics toys in my office for an hour and a half, and then I’d take them home, then over to a neighbor friend’s house in the middle of the day where there is a big ol’ sukkot shindig for all the fifth graders. Unfortunately, Amara has an interfering orthodontist appointment that morning. We asked whether Amara could go to the sukkot shindig house early, but it turns out their daughter has an orthodontist appointment too. So I will have my meeting on the phone, which is fine, and Amara will arrive at our house during my meeting.
As far as the end of the day on Thursday, I was thinking it would be super easy, because we’re all going to the same sukkot dinner party so I could just bring Amara there. But it turns out Amara has theater rehearsal at 4:30. So the plan is that when I pick up Jordan at 3:30, I will give Amara to her brother Nathaniel (who is also released at 3:30 that day), and they will take the bus together to her rehearsal. (I offered to drive them, but they are jazzed about the bus.) And then we will probably see them at dinner afterwards.
Finally, there is Friday. Normally on Fridays I pick up Aaron at 3:30, happily hang around his schoolyard for a while with lots of other happy Friday parents, pick up Jordan at 4:30 after flag football, and go home and make a nice dinner. However, this Friday is another day off for Aaron. Amara’s family is hosting, and I haven’t figured out the logistics yet. Maybe Dale will be able to take Aaron to their house in the morning, and we will all meet back at the Billings pickup at 4pm (when track is done); Aaron and I would then wait for Jordan to get out of flag football at 4:30, and go home for dinner. Dale has a gig Friday night so it will be just the three of us.
Phew. That’s a lot. This week has special circumstances because of the holidays, but honestly every week has something outside of the ordinary, and even just the normal routine is pretty complex. And I haven't even mentioned the morning carpool. Parent friends, I am sure you feel me. I don’t know how we do it!
Today is Tuesday. Both kids have hot lunch on Tuesday so there is no lunch packing in the mornings, though Aaron still needs to pack a snack (and I wonder if he packed one today). Jordan has flag football after school, so he has to bring his cleats. Normally on Tuesdays my friend Jessica picks up Aaron and her son Adam after school at 3:30 and brings them to Billings at 4pm. She picks up her older son Ian then, who is in track, not football; I meet her there to collect Aaron and also Nathaniel, another Billings friend who is in track. Aaron
However, today there is a track meet way down in Seward Park. So instead of the usual arrangement, I will pick up Aaron and Adam after school at 3:30, drop Adam at his home, pick up Jordan (only) at 4:30, and take him and Aaron home, from whence they will walk down to religious school at 5:30. There are track meets every Tuesday in October so this alternate arrangement is likely to persist for a few weeks. Also, there will not be any Tuesday Soup tonight, because it is curriculum night at the middle school.
Tomorrow is Wednesday, another choir day, my turn to pick them up this time (and remember the choir binders). I also have to remember to pick up the farm box, but on the bright side, that makes dinner easy. I do not have choir myself on Wednesday nights this fall, because I am taking a season off, so I am better able to supervise homework etc. in the evening. Dale has band practice at our house again tomorrow, with a different band than on Monday.
Thursdays Jordan gets out at 3:30, and it is his night to make dinner. Normally I pick him up, he and I grab any groceries he needs, and I help him get started cooking. If all this is pretty efficient, he can come with me to pick up Aaron from his afterschool program at 5pm. I also pick up Adam and give him a ride home. When we get back from that, Jordan finishes making dinner, and then there is piano and homework time in the evening. However, this Thursday, Jordan won’t be making dinner, because we are going to a friend’s house for dinner in her sukkah. We do, however, need to bring a dish; maybe Jordan can make it.
A further complication is that this Thursday, Aaron has the day off school because it is the first day of Sukkot. For these school holidays Jessica, Sara, and I have a kid-sitting ring; Thursday is my day to host. It’s only Amara this time because Adam has another thing. I can take a partial day and just do some work from home (the kids entertain themselves), but there is one 90-minute meeting first thing in the morning that I don’t want to miss. I suggested to Sara that we meet at the Billings dropoff and I take Aaron and Amara to work with me from there; they could have screen time or play with physics toys in my office for an hour and a half, and then I’d take them home, then over to a neighbor friend’s house in the middle of the day where there is a big ol’ sukkot shindig for all the fifth graders. Unfortunately, Amara has an interfering orthodontist appointment that morning. We asked whether Amara could go to the sukkot shindig house early, but it turns out their daughter has an orthodontist appointment too. So I will have my meeting on the phone, which is fine, and Amara will arrive at our house during my meeting.
As far as the end of the day on Thursday, I was thinking it would be super easy, because we’re all going to the same sukkot dinner party so I could just bring Amara there. But it turns out Amara has theater rehearsal at 4:30. So the plan is that when I pick up Jordan at 3:30, I will give Amara to her brother Nathaniel (who is also released at 3:30 that day), and they will take the bus together to her rehearsal. (I offered to drive them, but they are jazzed about the bus.) And then we will probably see them at dinner afterwards.
Finally, there is Friday. Normally on Fridays I pick up Aaron at 3:30, happily hang around his schoolyard for a while with lots of other happy Friday parents, pick up Jordan at 4:30 after flag football, and go home and make a nice dinner. However, this Friday is another day off for Aaron. Amara’s family is hosting, and I haven’t figured out the logistics yet. Maybe Dale will be able to take Aaron to their house in the morning, and we will all meet back at the Billings pickup at 4pm (when track is done); Aaron and I would then wait for Jordan to get out of flag football at 4:30, and go home for dinner. Dale has a gig Friday night so it will be just the three of us.
Phew. That’s a lot. This week has special circumstances because of the holidays, but honestly every week has something outside of the ordinary, and even just the normal routine is pretty complex. And I haven't even mentioned the morning carpool. Parent friends, I am sure you feel me. I don’t know how we do it!
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