Crazy Day

All the boys having activities means a lot of shuttling around. This is the first time they have all been involved in different activities. While Jordan's practice/games schedule fits almost perfectly in our weekly schedule, it fills most of our empty time slots. We have been working on finding better ways to get everyone where they need to be and still get their other stuff done, as well as making sure we still sit together to for dinner.

Yesterday was one of our busier days, with only a few hours of down time for me. It started with the typical multiple trips dropping them off at school, allowing just enough time for me to grab a quick shower and a piece of toast while making some phone calls, before heading to help in Joey's class. Which I love doing. I often forget how much I enjoy being in a classroom teaching and helping the students. (I really have to finish my teaching degree.) After helping with some reading lessons, I had a few hours to get some thing done around the house and prepare for dinner on the run. (I packed a blanket, plates, cups, and pop so we could have a picnic dinner in the van later that evening.) Then it was time to pick Jordan up from school. We made a run to the bank, post office (Yes, I still use snail mail), and Jordan helped me move the seats from the middle of the van to the trunk so we could have more room later for dinner.

That's when things really started to pick up. I dropped Jordan off for practice and raced to get the other two from school. I collected some food I had ordered from a fundraiser and carted it to Jake's conference, then carted it to Joey's conference. I went over my allotted time slot talking to the teachers. (I don't know why they think they can give you an full update on the students within 15 minutes, especially if the child has been having issues in class.) We darted home so Jake could get his uniform and I could put the fundraiser food in the freezer, then we were off again. We stopped to grab some pizza on our way to scoop Jordan up from practice. We then had 20 minutes to get to where the scouts were meeting and eat dinner.


Once we were in the parking lot the boys helped me lay out the blanket and set up for dinner. We finished our meal with just minutes to spare before Jake's meeting was to start. I know I could have easily grabbed some happy meals and tossed them to the boys in route, but it's important to me that we sit and eat as a family. When it seems we're all just seeing each other in passing, I wanted to make sure we could sit and catch up. As far as picnics go, this was a good one; we ate and joked around with the heat, lights and radio on.

Once in scouts things finally slowed down and  all the boys participated in the making rubber band balls. I'm not sure which patch/badge they are working towards that has them make rubber band balls, but they were fun to make. At 8:30 were finally on our way home to prepare for school the next day and head to bed.

A bit of planning helped us survive a very hectic 2 1/2 hours in which we made seven stops at various places; make it to everything (on time) and still manage to eat as a family. I don't know how some parents manage to have multiple kids in 3-5 after school activities. I feel like I don't have enough time with my boys and they only have one activity a piece plus catechism.