Unscheduled Time?!?!

Every time there is an impending “break” in our schedule, I get nervous about how I’m going to keep my crazy rugrats busy. I line up tons of play dates and plan on extra time at the gym. When it’s over, I’m usually sad. We end up having a nice, relatively unstructured break. And part of me is reluctant to get back to our over-scheduled life.

This break, however, I feel completely different. I am no longer nervous about how we will make it, I’m petrified. I don’t have tons of play dates lined up because I could have this baby at any point. I am no longer up to going to the gym which in and of itself probably adds to my agitation level. And the thought of my kids climbing the walls at our house everyday is less than positive for us all.

I’m very lucky that this is the first break where my mom doesn’t work. I will have the accessibility to throw my children at her individually or jointly for grandparent bonding. With grandparent bonding, though, comes the Grandparent Effect. Plus, once the baby comes I will have no choice but to do a lot of this so I hate to overuse the card (for both my parents’ as well as my kids being deprived of spending quality time with grumpy me).

These days, tying my shoes is enough exertion to warrant a nap. The thought of an outing to a kid friendly location where there is an abundance of children that have been without school sounds like a torture only comparable with childbirth. What is a mother to do?

With Drew’s new “iPad” (Nabi), the recent privilege of Nintendo Wii, new games, puzzles, art materials, etc. we are armed with ammunition for pleasant home play. I am also very lucky because although Adam is saving his vacation days for after the baby comes, he is given quite a few days off with the holidays. So I’m sure this is just another case of me being anxiety ridden in the conceptual phase of this break, rather than it being as bad as I dream it up. What else is new?!?!