We've been guilty of using the weekend to try to cram everything we "need" to get done into two days' time, wear ourselves ragged, and wonder on Sunday evenings where our weekend went. We still have a long to-do list, but rather than try to become super-humans and accomplish more in 48 hours than anybody else, we've taken a step back.
Saturdays are my absolute favorite day of the week. It starts by Brent and I being woken up by the sweet mumbles over the monitor from Haley. Usually it's, "I want mommy." which I'm happy, though tired, to oblige. When I take her out of her crib, she almost immediately starts her demands for breakfast, though I try to sneak a few more snuggles. She and I make our way to the kitchen, I start brewing my coffee, and get her situated with her "yoyurt". We end up eating some breakfast together, and I start to savor my first coffee for the day.
She'll entertain herself with her toys while Brent gets a while longer to snooze, and she and I will tell funny stories or build or color. Usually I sip my coffee and she makes me something "delisish" in her own kitchen that I have to sample. When Brent gets up, we watch an episode or two of Dinosaur Train, which is somehow her most favorite thing to watch. What am I doing in a Pteranodon nest?
We'll play outside, tidy the house, have lunch, and then it's nap time. I, for some reason, am never tired the same time she naps. So I use this time to do what I want to do. When she's awake and refreshed, we play some more, and then 5:00 comes. Today we spent all afternoon outside working on pulling weeds and trimming shrubbery. She wore Mommy's gloves and played in the dirt, so had to have an emergency bath time upon reentry of the house.
Every Saturday at 5:00 we turn on the radio and listen to Prairie Home Companion. It's on while I cook us dinner, and we listen to it until it ends. It really is entertaining, and if you've never done it, I would certainly recommend you start. Once it's over, we start to wind down, get Haley into her PJs, brush her teeth, say bedtime prayers, and sing some songs together. Lately, her most favorite song in the entire world is Happy Birthday. So we sing that multiple times.
Once she's tucked in, we come out and do whatever else we need to do to wrap up our day so we can spend the evening anyway we want to. We might clean out the basement, or I might knit, or we might play some two-handed pinochle. It doesn't matter, I love this tradition. I love Saturdays. I love my morning snuggles, my evening singalongs, and everything in between. If my week has to end, I want to enjoy how it comes to a close. I love Saturdays.
