The Day in the Life…

Postcards from a full weekend.

“We’re having a great time. Wish you were here”—Love, Karen, Asher and Finn

Friday evening

In the afternoon we have a birthday party. Swimming, cupcakes and then to family fun night at the YMCA. Complete with a bounce house, face painting, cookies and a gym full of obstacles and balancing acts. Tired bodies pile into the car and I am skeptical about how I will work magic and make dinner with the little food I have in the fridge on a Friday. So I adventure to what the boys call the big E, that’s what we call that fast food restaurant we’ve rarely been.
“Where are we going Mom?” I decline to tell them the real name.
“The big E.”
“It’s not an E, Mom, it’s an M. The big yellow M.”
Now that Asher is in Kindergarten, he clearly knows I am wrong.
“Yes, the Big yellow M.” I respond.
“Can we go in?” they ask.
“No, we’ll go through the drive through,” They don’t want to eat there. In fact, I list the menu and they choose, nothing. So I say “they have meals with toys!”
“Okay!”

“Mom, what’s this brown thing?
“I don’t like the special sauce.”
“Asher, LOOK we have HAMSTERS!” (They aren’t hamsters, they are Alvin surfing from Alvin and the chipmunks.)

My friend, our babysitter, tells me the above story is a testament of how well and healthy the boys eat. I smile. They are also a little (not too far) removed from the material world. I think so too. Although, Asher did tell me the other day from the living room after seeing a commercial that…. “Mom! Mom! Did you know there is going to be black ice this winter? You need to buy salt to melt it. I’m serious!…Oh and can we get this doll for Kendall?, It spins, dances and sings, I think she’d really LIKE it.” But when asked what the boys wanted for Christmas they just responded “a Christmas tree.”

Saturday morning
We awake at dawn. The boys are so much longer and they leap into bed with their baby dolls, each named “baby” in one hand and a fist full of matchbox cars in the other. The sun rises to meet our bodies all snuggled together in my bed. I’m sandwiched in between everyone. We snuggle and hide, talk about our dreams, or bad dreams if we had any. I try and get a few more winks. But this morning is Saturday. So we are destined to take our time and play. All together. We make breakfast, waffles, eggs. No rush to get out the door. We bake. We finish up a few holiday painting crafts and then we get dressed. I clean up dishes in the sink and watch the boys independently play in the living room.

“Finn, please don’t waste the tissues.” I instruct as he pulls them out of the box. One of the many reasons I don’t buy tissues. But I splurged. He is wrapping up his “burritos.”
“Finn, can you use clothe napkins? We don’t want to waste paper.”
“Yeah, FINN! Asher scolds, we need OXYGEN!”
There’s a dramatic pause…. (pause, pause, pause) What does he mean? I wait some more.
“Because trees are being cut down to make them!”

After some time I am beckoned to join the boys’ games. Asher has found a game he’d like to play with a balloon and Finn has set up a “Tai Chi Yo” game. Then I receive the official invitation. Finn has a hand-made knit orange scarf I made wrapped around his waste. I follow Finn into the living room, he takes off his orange belt and puts it around me and then has me stand with my two feet at little orange plastic place markers “Tai Chi Yo!” he smiles at me. He lifts his leg, I lift mine. It’s a game of balance. Sound familiar? I copy his instruction, we do some stretching, laughing at Mom’s crazy moves, and then Asher joins in. I then take the lead and ask everyone to sit on their square pillow, everyone puts on a hat (Asher’s suggestion) we hold hands, and we close our eyes. “Imagine we are all floating into the sky…” Finn puts us in a hot air balloon and Asher tells us we jump out with parachutes. We outstretch our arms and float down down down to the grown and tumble into a ball. “You safe, Mom?” asks Asher as he sees me in fetal position. “Great!” I respond. We lift up again and now it’s time for Asher’s game. We keep the balloon up in the air around the living room, using our feet, hands, head and we dive, tap, toss. The game could go on forever but Beep beep beep. The chocolate, walnut banana bread we made earlier in the morning. It’s only 9am. Good morning.

Saturday Afternoon
We drive to a new school friend’s house for holiday cookie decorating. Lots of frosting and layers of sprinkles, gum drops, nerds, and candy canes later we drive home. No nap.

Saturday Evening
“Finn you can’t have your new shoes in the tub”
“Why? The lady said they were water proof.”
“Well at least you took the linings out.”
I take the shoes out, I will stuff them with paper towels. Finn turns, slides down his scuba mask and dives for more treasure and sea creatures.