My Never Ending Weekend

I just had, what felt like the longest weekend ever. And this never ending weekend had nothing to do with the fact that we gained an hour. Besides for the fact that Friday sundown to Saturday sundown is a Sabbath full of gluttonous eating and the age old question of what to do with the kids, Saturday night through Monday morning felt like an eternity. And it all started with my husbands "bright" idea.

Hun recently purchased a projector to use for training purposes at work. It's the kind of projector that can be used for power point seminars and to project computer images and video onto a screen. These projectors typically cost a fortune (although my savvy husband did his research had his assistant do some research and he got it for a great price). The only other people I know who purchase projectors, have a home theater and an extraneous amount of money to spend (and that is not us).

However, Hun thought it would be a great idea to bring the projector home and rent a DVD and create our own personal theater on the wall. Well goodbye four loads of dirty laundry that need a good washing and hello movie night.

We were hoping to get an early night's start on the movie thing, only Ate was not cooperating. His adamant "I not ready yet" and "I wanna play foo minutes" when I broached the bedtime subject turned a 7 pm movie showtime into the midnight showing. I figured, at least we gain an hour tonight.

The movie seats were GREAT. It felt like we were laying in bed. Oh wait, we were laying in bed. And across from us, "Indiana Jones" projected on five feet by six feet of white wall. Who needs a 50 inch plasma?

The movie itself, predictable, watching it in bed in my pajamas on six feet of wall, priceless. The fact that I forgot that I needed to be in my daughter's school Sunday morning at 9am to do lice check... who am I kidding, I still would have watched the stupid movie.

I did lice check from 9 to 12. I will take this opportunity to recognize ant thank the parents who actually have their children bathe before lice check. And to the other parents, thanks for giving my olfactory nerves a good workout. At this time, my husband took the three kids to swim lessons and we were all to get home sometime after 12.

Usually after swim lessons, my kids eat lunch and then nap. Yes, ALL three of them. I am pretty sure my six year old still naps because those golf balls in her throat keep her up half the night (previous post). This Sunday I hopped into the minivan when the kids came back from swimming and we drove off to an event benefiting children with special needs and their families. The event took place at a bowling alley/arcades/laser tag/batting cages/inflatables/ heavenly place for family with kids who need more stimulation when they should be napping. And I didn't mention the doughnuts and never ending supply of caffeinated soda. And yet, it was so much fun.

We ate, we bowled, my six year old played laser tag with other six year olds. So weighs 47 pounds, and the laser tag vest and gun she was wearing must have weighed at least half her weight. It was no surprise when she came out and said, "Mommy, my shoulders and arms hurt".

By the way, if you have never seen six year olds playing laser tag, it is the cutest thing ever. I snuck in the exit door and watched them play. While adults know to strategically run around so you can hit without being hit, six year olds play somewhat differently. At one point I saw five six year olds come together in a tight circle and they just stood there aiming their guns at each other's vests, watching the lights change, no one running for cover.

At 4 pm the party was over and my 2 year old was doing somersaults across the floor, literally. The kids fell asleep on the way home, but it was too early for bedtime. So, we had to wake them, bathe them, stuff more food into them and then convince them that 6 pm is the old 7 pm and it's ok to get in bed now. The girls went, but once again, Ate was not having it.

As I tried to convince Ate that playtime was over and his eyes needed to close their windows for rest time, I remembered that four baskets of laundry still sat, unwashed in my hallway upstairs. So I did what any caring, loving, structured ok, tired mother would do. I put him in his crib and let him cry himself to sleep. (Before you call child services, he was out in less than five minutes).

I spent the next four hours pre-treating stains with my handy dandy "shout" and completing load after load, including separating out all that does NOT go in the dryer, at which point I am pretty sure I heard my bed actually calling my name. And so I went happily.

While writing this blog, I had to actually think hard about what it was that kept me so busy this weekend. But when I was drifting off to sleep last night, all I could think about were the smiles on my children's faces as they watched a bowling pin finally fall, after waiting two minutes for their bowling ball to roll down that never ending lane. And the picture in my mind of those smiles was a perfect way to finally END this weekend.