Weekend Recap

Ah, Monday, the day I sleep in, bum around the house, take care of the dishes that have piled high all weekend, maybe throw in a load of laundry, take a walk, call a friend, and reflect on the gifts of our weekends.

{1} shadow play. Aletheia’s curiosity and understanding has grown significantly since we’ve moved. Every day she seems to discover something new, something that excites her, makes her cock her head in wonderment, causes her to ask new questions. This weekend it was shadows. The lighting in this house is incredible and every evening the sun casts new artwork on our otherwise empty walls.

{2} painted. I bought myself a new pair of sandals last weekend and realized my naked toes were begging for their annual polishing. Nail polish only seems to happen 2-3 times a year anymore, but when it does, Ali insists on being pampered as well. With a sick daddy trying to sleep off a virus, we spent Friday evening making shadow puppets, painting our toenails, eating popcorn, and watching The Land Before Time.

{3} heart training. I’ve got a beautifully passionate, intelligent, creative, assertive little girl on my hands and she definitely makes my life sweeter. With that perfect personality of hers comes a lot of stubbornness though. She wants to decide when and if things happen, including potty time. Call me cruel for taking a picture of my kid screaming on the toilet, but I think it will make her chuckle one day, perhaps soothe her tired soul when she patiently walks her tiny through similar seasons. During that hour long struggle leading her to obey, I kept praying that this would be more than obedience training, more than potty training, more than teaching her that Mom is in control. Because modifying her behavior isn’t the point. Showing her that there’s Someone much bigger, more loving, divinely passionate, and perfectly intelligent is.

{4} sand. Along with a growing curiosity and vocabulary, my tiny has also become extremely sensory. I’m lovin’ the children’s museum for providing her with a lot of kid-safe textures and objects to play with and explore. After the morning meltdown we headed to Port Discovery and enjoyed a couple hours of all things mom approved. It’s nice to have a place to retreat to where kids get to hear a lot more “yes” and moms get to hear a lot less “no.”

{5, 6} girl time. Karlyn planned the greatest little afternoon out for us. Coffee {or in my case lemonade} at the cutest bakery/cafe I’ve ever seen {I can see many future date nights spent there!}, and a walk around Ellicott City, exploring the loveliest of vintage shops and local stores. It was so refreshing to connect with another mom, someone who will listen to your struggles, someone who is eager to help you adjust to the city, someone who will stand in a parking spot for 15 minutes in the hot sun, holding their infant, warding off other cars to make sure you have an easy time of it. What a trooper! Thank you friend!

{7} bubbles. I bought a ridiculously overpriced bubble wand while out in Ellicott City. But it was an investment for my sanity, I tell ya. One can only stand so many trips to the park and children’s museum before becoming completely wiped out. And this wand, this mega bubble solution it came with? Well, it will be the activity of many a’ night on our stoop. It will be the incentive that gets Ali to eat her dinner. It will get us outside to meet our neighbors. It will wear Ali out without me even trying. It will light up her face and spark her creativity. And no, my expectations of this wand are not unrealistic. It has already wielded its magical powers and brought much happiness to the land. An excellent investment, if you ask me.

{8} Auxiliary. Johns Hopkins has a social support group for spouses and families of doctors in training. There’s a host of subgroups within it, including play dates, moms’ morning out, gourmet night, running clubs, etc, and I am so excited to jump in and connect with other spouses who are going through the same transitions we are. Ali and I attended a picnic they were having Sunday, and while I didn’t get to talk to many adults since Ali kept sneaking off to run down the hill to the playground all by herself, I managed to meet a few moms and learn about what the group has to offer.

{9} budget friendly. It’s July 29th people. And yes, I am counting down the days until August. I used all but $0.20 of our grocery budget last Monday. I’m trying so hard to make the food we have last without dipping into next month’s spending. I had 3 small potatoes, a bunch of eggs, spinach, black beans, Monterey jack cheese, and green onions in the fridge. So I shredded the potatoes and mixed them with the onions, made hash browns, mixed up the other ingredients and poured it over the potatoes, let the eggs set up a bit, then finished it off under the broiler. Not too bad if I say so myself. Frittata for the win!

Life in Baltimore is good. I think we’ll stick around for a while.

{Linking up to Annapolis & Company}

Tags: budget, Parenting, weekend recap