Thursdays

With the routines pretty much solidified, Thursdays have become scheduled, crazy days.

After getting the kids off to school, I have a little less than two hours to myself. It’s early pick up day at Ian’s school, which doesn’t give me quite enough time to really get into work. So, I just go to the gym, run home to shower, check e-mail, and then I’m off again to pick him up.

After school, Ian gets to pick out where we’re going to eat — pizza or Wendy’s. He’s still struggling at daycare on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so I really like to treat him to something fun on Thursdays. Yesterday, he chose Wendy’s where he got his lumps of chicken and milk. We spent some time going over the cartoons and ads on the side of his kid’s meal bag.

After lunch, we had 45 minutes until his speech therapy lesson with Nancy. Ian had missed last week, because he had a cold, so he was really looking forward to seeing her. Nancy lives 5 minutes away, so I told him that he could watch some Noggin, until it was time to go. We pulled in the driveway, but Ian refused to get out. “No, Nancy’s house.” He waited patiently in the car for a while. Then we drove around for a little bit to waste time. We still pulled into her driveway 15 minutes early. I explained that we couldn’t go in yet, because Nancy was working with another child. He stood outside her home clutching his notebook, until Nancy came out. He really likes her.

Nancy and Ian played various board games for 45 minutes. As she walked out, she mouthed to me, “he did great.”

Then we zoomed home for Theresa the babysitter. On Thursdays, Theresa watches the kids for three hours, while I escape to the library. But today, I had to take Jonah to a make-up Tai Kwon Do lesson, so that shot the afternoon. Since there was no hope of getting work done, I picked up Jonah from school and we had “Mommy-Jonah-special-time.” We ate pastries at Panera’s, and then I dragged him to the Banana Republic and Pottery Barn to check out the sales.

Jonah had just gotten a new science book from a book fair. He followed me around the shopping center with the book open asking me questions about gravity and the planets. “What happens when you go on Mercury? Do you burn up from the heat or die from the poisonous gasses? Is gravity like the wind?” Nothing like an astronomy lesson, while checking out sweat shirts at the Gap.

When we got back into the car, Jonah insisted that I open his Christmas present for me. That morning, I have given him ten dollars to buy gifts for us at the school’s holiday boutique. He absolutely insisted that I open it that minute. In a blue box was a pink jeweled ring that pinched the meat behind my finger. He told me that he had wanted to get me a butterfly ring, but didn’t have enough money for it. “Do you love it? Do you love me?,” he asked. “Oh, it’s perfect, sweetie.”

Jonah was dropped off at TKD, the babysitter paid off, Jonah picked up, the left over Chinese food was nuked, spelling words were drilled, bathes, and a joint reading of Thanksgiving on Thursday. Steve was at a work function until 9:30, so I was solo.

After they went to bed and I caught the tale end of Survivor, I picked up the New Yorker. It’s been sadly neglected for the past month or so. I’m in the midst of reading Tad Friend‘s personal history about his mother. This wife and daughter of academics was vaguely bored with parenting, but was an enthusiastic decorator who created a magical home. Tad describes his mother with a mixture of resentment and admiration.

I’m finding easier as the kids get older to find corners of the day to do my own creating, though yesterday was certainly a wash. And when I’m watching the kids, I’m usually doing two or three other things as well. Like looking at sweat shirts at the Gap. I’m not sure if I’m as distracted as Tad’s mom, but I’m certainly not Mom O’ the Year. Wonder what my kids will say about me.