One of the coolest things about having kids is that you don't know if your parenting strategies are going to work out until *after* they are fully implemented and the repercussions are seen.
It's a leap of faith every day.
You do your homework, read parenting books and the various "Bay Area Kids" type magazines to find all the enriching things to do around town. You build a comforting routine and structure into their school week so they can be relaxed and prepared when they enter and exit school. You build exciting weekends so that your kids can have unique experiences to broaden their horizons. And then you wonder, "Is this too much? Not enough? Should I be filling her/his days with fun-ness or let him/her self-direct playdtime at home?" You (I and nearly everyone else I know) second-guess the process constantly. Balancing. Hoping.
So, all the kids from V to A have their school schedule down pat. Today is the best, hardest, most enriching day of the week (besides Sunday of course). Vee's is usually 6am to 10pm: seminary, school, study, and a game session with friends downtown that is (delightfully) taking the place of potential dating and dancing. (Big whew.) Kee does something similar, but usually spends his Friday night home either teching-out alongside Eee & Me or babysitting so Eee and Me can have a datenight.
But my favorite part of Fridays is Jee and Aee's days. They both have a good breakfast, head off to school and Jee stays at school for a Lego Robotics club. It has lit a fire under little Jee's bum and he is building more intricate structures than ever. For Aee (and this is huge, if you know her, you know this is huger than huge), she goes to school, then spends a well-structured playtime at Kids Village: Legos, snack, story time. Then (deep breath) she gets to go to yoga class with her friends. She is so relaxed, so exhausted, and so at peace after that class.
And me? Lucky me. I get to focus on work, slamming through the heaviest projects of the week since I have 9:30 to 4:00 free. During these hours, I have my best friend, the one I happen to be married to, chatting with me in IM, being present with me.
Even though it feels like I have arrived at that Place of Balance, I know that I won't see the effects until later. Right move? Wrong move? Too much? Too little? Who knows.
All I know for sure is that I love Fridays, not because they are the day before the weekend, but because they are simply Fridays. It is a day we have built and I like the way it looks and feels. I like waking up to a Friday and I like going to sleep on a Friday night knowing that everyone in our nest has had a good, fulfilling day.
