There’s this art house movie that I’ve been meaning to rent, about four young Japanese children abandoned and left to fend for themselves.
My kids have gotten used to the idea that mom, however helpful and teacherish during the week, is bloody useless on the weekends. I think it started around the time I started paying the oldest, who was 8 at the time, to watch his baby sister on Saturday mornings, so that I could “sleep in”. I use that term broadly, because I still had the 3 and 5-year olds jumping on my head and poking at my eyes, but at least I was IN BED and not having to go up and down the stairs with the baby, who was insistent on mastering her gross motor skills.
At this point, the kids are so capable and independent that on Saturday mornings, I can sleep in, get up when I want, drink a cup of coffee, do the crossword, go for a run, and have a shower. All I have to do is ignore the crumbs, dirty plates, open bread bags, and sticky knives. There are always lots of children around, making their usual racket, but as long as I am left alone, I leave them alone. It’s a good compromise.I spend almost every waking second with the two youngest during the week, and spend every single evening driving all four of them around, so instead of weekends being family time, it’s me time. The mornings, anyway. The afternoons are yet again giving way to the boys’ basketball games.
The downside of this benign neglect is a very messy house. But it’s a price I’m willing to pay.
team effort 