I’m not sure it’s even worth posting pictures of our weekend, since I only took a few and all we really did was clean and hunker down before our guests arrive this week. Since I’ve started working, even though it is only part-time, I find it so much harder to stay on top of housework during the week! The little things I used to do throughout the day now wait for the evenings or weekends. I am starting to appreciate more of what it takes to run a household, where, believe it or not, I think I started taking for granted the free time we are afforded on the weekends when I am home full time. It’s a good shift, though, as the boys are growing older and need more responsibility and a greater sense of duty to the whole family.
The chores, as mundane as they are, give them a sense of pride. I know Oliver feels so important when he does all the laundry from start to finish, and Emil when he rakes the leaves in the yard and bags them all by himself, he walks a little taller! Milo, well, he’d rather be reading a book any day, but he is getting better at remembering and doing things without us asking, which is hugely helpful.
A few random things: our garden is all full of herbs for the turkey and not much else, other than a rabbit skull leftover from our dog’s latest catch (we are going to keep it!). Our bathroom is coming along so nicely – all the tile work is done and our old cast iron tub has been resurfaced so it looks brand new. It’s looking like the room will be done just in time for the holidays and I can’t wait to show you the pictures! It already looks so much better.
Emil is obsessed with the game Sorry. He plays it 10, 15 times a day with whoever will play. Andrew almost always says yes, and I play once or twice a day, sometimes closer to five. But he often plays by himself, playing two players, and reporting which team wins (it’s puppies versus Lego guys instead of the typical Sorry pieces). I’m always puppies, in case you were wondering. And all of it is so adorable: how seriously he takes the game, how carefully he counts, how he has memorized the game board so well that he knows without counting where he should end up, even how genuinely excited and happy he is for others when they win (he always cheers and gives the biggest hugs, saying “YOU WON!!!!”). He’s become a very good sport.
Looking forward to the down time and family time, the slowing down and enjoying the personalities of my children, the good food, the chilly walks for coffee in the morning, and all the warmth of friends and extended family who come our way. And for now, the house is clean.
Enjoy your day!
