Hectic weekends

Weekends. They are so precious precisely because they are so fleeting. Sigh.  

A description of a typical, hectic weekend is as follows:

Saturday

7am: Calista and Christian wake up. P entertains them while I sleep.

8am: I wake up, we all finish breakfast, change them, take care of all their toileting needs, pack the diaper bag and we race out of the house by 8.45am.

9.15am: We finish trying to find a parking lot at the horrendous HDB carpark near parkway and run with Christian to his piano class.

9.15 – 10am: We catch a breather and try to put Calista to sleep while we walk around..attempt to feed Calista some breakfast (She’s usually fussy and refuses to eat until we bring her out)

10am: Christian’s piano class ends, we drive over to Big Splash, play at the beach or let Christian practice pedaling a trike.

12 – 1pm: Gym class at Big Splash! Calista would have fallen asleep while slung by P in the Baby Bjorn..

1.30pm: Lunch at Nansuttei, Millenia Walk. P loves the ramen and chemical-free pork, Christian likes the fried rice.

3pm: We collapse out of Millenia Walk and head home for a nap.

3.45pm: Christian finally naps, Calista might still be awake and alert thanks to her earlier nap..Either P or I stay awake to entertain her.

6pm: Our only truly free slot of the weekend where we can plan outings or meetups. (Last weekend, we were at XJ’s bridal studio trying on Christian’s pageboy suit, the week before that, we were at cell group..)

We find someplace to have dinner and get home by 9pm to put the children to bed.

Sunday

7am: Calista and Christian wake up. P entertains them while I sleep. (Muahaha. This sounds terrible of me, but I wake up thrice a night to pacify Ms Wang.)

8am: I wake up, we wolf down our breakfast and change them, etc to race out of the house by 8.45am.

9.15: Drive to church and bring Christian to Sunday class.

9.30 – 11am: I am in the baby cry room while P paces up and down putting Calista to sleep in the Baby Bjorn carrier.

11 – 12pm: We find lunch, and go back home. Sometimes we head to the MIL’s instead, if P and I have something on (went to watch Jersey Boys last Sunday, and caught Rurouni Kenshin this Sunday.)

1 – 3pm: Have lunch, shower the children and put them to nap.

3 – 5pm: We take turns napping..

5pm: Off to MIL’s for dinner.

5 – 8pm: Spend time feeding the baby, and showering the two children at MIL’s before driving home..

9pm: Bed time for the children and finally a little time for P and I to discuss big issues like housing, schools, etc, or do mundane stuff like pay bills.

 

Sigh. My children bring me much joy but I can also fully understand why some people choose not to have children =7 P and I have been thinking about making our weekends less hectic so we spend less time rushing from one place to another and packing them all in a car all the time. He thinks we should get down to the basics and spend time with them to mould their character. This was especially after the parent-teacher conference where we heard some disturbing stories about Christian’s behaviour..and after two episodes where Christian tried to bite me while throwing tantrums. Sigh. I suppose P is right that we should focus on building the relationship while we can, and spend time relaxing and talking to them instead of being a harried parent constantly rushing about.

The problem is, what do we give up? We had long debates over what was essential.. and eventually I gave in. We’ll probably stop music class even though I think music learning should start young. He thinks gym class is essential for fostering’s Christian’s psycho-motor skills and confidence, and I agree that is somewhat lacking in Christian right now. P is also in favour of stopping Sunday school. I really struggled with that, but agree that the long drive to Upp Bt Timah just eats up precious time. It will get even worse next year, cos his Chinese class (currently on Thursday evenings) will be pushed to the weekend starting next year, cos his main school timing will change to 11.30am – 4.30pm from next year and it’ll just be too tiring for him to attend Berries at 5pm on a Thursday.

Sometimes I really do miss the carefree couple P and I used to be, where we could do nothing but lounge at Arab St all day, eating ice cream, wandering about and reading..I miss the me time I had, to explore my interests and the world. But I am reminded of the Biblical concept - “different seasons, different things”.. I suppose when this season passes, I will be wistful for those days when every waking moment was spent on my children too. =7