I am very big on holiday traditions. We go to the local parades, including pulling the float in several, take the kids to see
Santa and the Easter Bunny at the mall, have family pictures taken twice a year, and what is on my mind most right now, go to the pumpkin patch to do hay rides, corn maze, and general farm fun. The problem isn't that I love to go places but I also must decorate for all holidays. In fact in January we get a thank you note from the power company for all the extra money we give them October thru December. I seem to have this desire for my children to have a perfect Norman Rockwell existence. They are each in extra activities and my husband and I are very involved parents. With all this we have very little free time. It occurred to me last night as I was finishing the fundraiser order for my 2 two oldest, reviewing the calendar of events and more importantly what I need to get together for scouts, and finishing homework, that October is over and before you know it the holidays will be over! I know . I know. It is only the 6th but I look at time in different terms. Instead of 20 some days to Halloween I see 4 weekends till Halloween. FOUR OMG! Now that seems worse doesn't it. But really we look at things in weekend terms because week nights are out by the time I get home from work and we do what ever activity we have that night we have time for dinner, bath and homework before we have to go to bed. I don't even have time to do the dishes at night I do them in the morning after my older ones leave for school before I go to work. As for the weekends Saturdays go something like this dance 9-10 soccer either 10 or 11 for an hour cheer 2:30 or 5 for an hour and half or more. Sunday church. Yep that's it we take it easy on Sunday. So we have from 1:30 till 6:30 on Sunday to do all the stuff we didn't do last week and need to do next week. At 6:30 we eat dinner and start our bed bath homework routine, not in that order. In case you lost count we're down to 5 hours a week or 5 hours times 4 weekends or 20 hours to make our house spooktacular and create all kinds of family memories for this fall. So what is a crazymama to do? Give up? Stop planning all these memory makers? Pull the kids out of activities? Nope, get your prozac refilled and stop by the liquor store for some wine and keep going. I mean what would life be like without not so perfect adventures.
