Weekend Happenings

We had some big goings-on this weekend and we're still limping along trying to recover. I think this probably makes me a bad mom because I should just let everyone rest over the weekend so that they'll be fresh and peppy and ready to learn on Monday, but instead they're all worn ragged and I'm dragging them out of bed ten minutes before they have to be at school. It's hard, though, to strike the balance on the weekends between downtime and activities. If I don't plan enough, they all complain about being bored and we all know boredom is the devil's playground. Also, Devil's Playground is a documentary about Amish kids during rumspringa:

Is it just me, or do all Amish girls look like Martha Plimpton?



To avoid the boredom trap, I tend to over-plan activities which exhausts everyone. I do think that there's a point when you have to say, "no mas" as a parent and make the kids just sit and relax. My problem is knowing when that point is imminent and not passed. Because, once it's passed you have a tantrum-throwing preschooler, a seven-year-old tackling his sisters, and a sulking nine-year-old. Generally speaking, of course.

So, this weekend we started on Friday night when I let the kids fly a model helicopter around the house.

This was fun until the rotors got caught in the Baby's hair and broke.

The Boy had basketball practice, so I took the girls rollerskating at the church where the Baby goes to preschool. This was the second time the girls have roller skated. This meant a lot of falling and clinging to the walls and to me.

The Girl in action

The Baby, hanging on to my purse.

We got out of there without any obvious injuries, which is how I measure success these days.

I don't think I have mentioned here that the Girl's New Year's resolution is to complete the Decatur Grand Slam Fitness Challenge. This involves her running at least three 5Ks this year. This also means that I will have to run at least 5Ks this year. The K has a dead sesamoid bone in his toe and can't run. This is a real ailment that typically affects teenage girls and isn't just his excuse to get out of running. I think. The first of our runs was Run with the Dogs on Saturday morning.

People actually bring their dogs, so the first few minutes it was like "The Hounds of the Baskervilles" and I thought I'd be mauled by a labradoodle at any minute. Once we all spread out it was much better. Some dude ran the whole thing barefoot probably because he read that book about how sneakers are ruining our natural gait, or whatever. I suspect that the barefoot running seemed like less of a good idea when he saw the opossum road kill on DeKalb Avenue.

Because rollerskating and running weren't enough, we spent the afternoon at basketball. The Boy's team, the Celtics, played first and he was the second-highest scorer! Let me explain, however, that this was because one kid on the Celtics scored all the points except for the two free-throws that the Boy contributed. I'm still proud because if it were me, I would have thrown two air balls and cried in embarrassment. Final score: 17-14 Celtics.

The Girl's game was no less exciting and was a defensive battle that left her team, the Frost Giants (don't ask me) on top by a score of 8-6. I know. Believe me, it was quite a game to watch. You just want someone to make a basket. Anyone. Please.

On Sunday, instead of watching the Falcons pull it out last minute against the Seahawks, I took the Girl to soccer "tryouts" for an academy team. I don't know how she was actually moving, much less playing soccer after her athletic pursuits of the prior two days. The excitement at the soccer tryouts was that two girls collided and one hurt her wrist really badly. It's times like that when you are so glad there is a former lawyer present. I mean, I think that the girl's mom was thrilled to hear the liability options while her daughter writhed in pain. I'll admit that the EMT, doctor, and physician's assistant were helpful, too, but I think I really saved the day. In all seriousness, I wish I had skills that are useful in a crisis. All I'm trained to do is file a bankruptcy petition for someone and since it's been ten years, I'd probably screw that up.

The nice thing was to get back home after the tryouts and see that the Falcon was still up in our neighbor's yard:

Whenever one of the Atlanta professional sports teams gets into the playoffs, up goes the wooden cut out. The Braves hatchet was up in the fall and we get to keep the Falcon up for another game, at least. I guess this might seem tacky to some people, but I grew up with a six-foot tall replica of this next door:

So, the wooden cutouts seemed entirely normal and pretty classy to me.