Relaxing on the Weekend is for the Weak!

Weekends are supposed to be for rest.  A couple of days off to spend at home, getting things done in your personal life, pursuing your hobbies or passions, and recharge the battery for the upcoming work week.  Not the case for those living the crazy life with kids.  I’m starting to dread weekends.  To give you an idea what I’m talking about, and to help all you parents that have young children who have yet to embark on participating in organized activities, I’m going to recap this past weekend.

As has been documented in a few of my most recent posts, my oldest daughter was selected to attend the national track and field championships in New York with her high school team.  Even though she couldn’t run in the race due to a conflict with another event at home, she did want to go up on Friday and Saturday to support her team as much as she could.  So, this story starts Thursday…

Thursday

5pm-9pm:  Both daughters have dance rehearsal for the upcoming weekend competition

9pm:  I pick up both daughters from dance and head home.  Of course both are hungry and not a lot of options at that time of night unless you want fast food.  We hustle home and we get them fed and started on homework.  Yes, this is a normal activity – starting homework at 9pm.  My oldest daughter also lets me know that she needs to wash clothes for the trip to New York.  I’m thinking, darks, lights – two loads.  This is going to take a while.  We have front loaders which seem to take at least 8 hours for one load.  I start the laundry and she starts to pack what she can until the clothes are done.

Friday

2am:  Laundry is done.  Now she needs to pack.  She of course was knocked out on the couch.  I woke her up and had her throw together her clothes so we could finally get to bed.

2:30am:  All packed and ready to go

4:45am:  Time to get up!  She needs to be at the school to catch the bus to New York at 6am.  Yes, you are correct, just over two hours of sleep heading into Friday.  Not a good start and really a harbinger of things to come.

6am:  She’s on the bus and off to New York and I’m off to work.  Whew.

Full day of work goes here for both me and my wife.

3:45-4:45pm:  Wife has to tutor after school while my youngest heads over to a friend’s house to work on a school project.

We also have to get over to our car mechanic to sign the death papers on our truck that blew a transmission (probably from driving all over for our kids) and the repair was more than the car is worth.  My plan was well laid out.  I’ll scoop her up at 4:45 on the dot, head to the mechanic, take care of business, and head back over to get the youngest when she’s done at 6pm.

5pm:  We decide to alter plans and pick up our youngest BEFORE going to the mechanic since we weren’t sure if we’d have time to do it the other way.  This plan of course goes awry when my wife walks in to pick her up and she says ‘what the heck are you doing here?” and informs her that they aren’t done yet.  Off to the mechanic we go.

5:20:  Done at the mechanic with all the particulars, except taking the plates off the truck.  I took off the front with no problems but the back plate had rusted and stripped screws.  One in particular was being a problem.  They brought out some tools from the shop to take care of it since my tool bag I brought was not ready for this level of challenge.

5:50pm:  Yes, a half hour later, they finished taking off that last screw.  10 mins to get over to the youngest.

6:01pm:  Arrived in good time and even though a minute late, I’m feeling good.  Now we’re off to the next event.  School Bingo Night!  I drive to the school and drop off wife and youngest and head home ready to relax a little bit.  Wife had the other car at the school so they could make their way home.

6:15pm:  Wife calls and says she’s heading home.  I immediately put two and two together and determine my relaxation plans are done and I’ll be going out in a little bit to pick up the youngest.  I make it home in time to eat my dinner and let the dog out.

7:30pm:  I head out again to pick up the youngest.

8:45pm:  Finally back home.  I had the ‘great’ idea in the car on the way home that we could chill at home and watch Wreck it Ralph together.  She, of course, was excited.

9:15pm:  Movie goes in.

9:45pm:  Daddy goes out – cold.  2 hours of sleep the prior night finally kicked in.

Saturday

Ahhhh, the weekend has arrived.  Saturday morning is spent getting everything ready for the dance competition.  For those unaware, it takes A LOT to go to a dance competition.  Bags, costumes, make-up, hair stuff, shoes, more bags, portable hanging systems, and more bags.  Dancers also have to arrive 2 hours before their performance.  My youngest was scheduled to perform at 2pm.

Noon:  Arrive at dance competition and settle in for 2 hour wait for performance.

2pm:  Youngest performs – love every minute of it.

2:15pm:  She pulls off the quick hit double and completes her second solo performance.  This is good news in that I have to hit the road to go retrieve the oldest.  Remember her?  Yes, she’s in New York.

2:20pm:  ROAD TRIP!  I hit the road from DC to NY.

6:30pm:  Arrive in the NY area.  Even though track meet is in NYC, they are staying in New Jersey.  I come to find out roads don’t make a lot of sense in certain parts of New Jersey.  I talk to the oldest and they are still at the meet.  I expected this and really wanted to arrive with a little bit of time to relax, get some dinner, and stretch my legs as I had to get right back on the road.  They of course run late since they couldn’t find anywhere to eat.

9:30pm:  Depart New Jersey en route to DC.  Coffee is flowing.

9:45pm:  She’s asleep…thanks for the moral support baby.

Sunday

1:30am:  Arrive at home.  What’s that you say?  Daylight savings?  You want to take an hour from me?  Oh sure, why not.

2:30am:  See 1:30am

3am:  Hit the bed

One of the reasons I had to go retrieve the oldest was because she had to perform in the dance competition on Sunday.

6am:  Time to rise and shine!  Early bird gets the worm.  I would say something with the ‘F’ word here but my kids may read this.  3 hours of sleep.

7:45am:  Arrive at dance competition.  2 hours ahead of performance…booyah!  Ok, I didn’t say booyah, nor feel booyah, but I’m delusional at this point.

Both daughters first performance is at 9:45am.  Their team does great and everything starts well.  Oldest has a ton of dances scheduled for the day, basically the entire day.  I had her bring her homework since she had no time in New York and won’t be home again until late.

2:15:  Oldest dances

2:40:  Oldest dances

3:00:  Oldest dances

5:30:  Oldest dances

5:45:  Oldest dances

7:15:  Oldest and youngest dance

8:40:  Oldest dances

8:45:  Oldest dances

9:00:  Oldest dances

9:30:  Oldest dances

That was the schedule at least.  Of course the dance competition was running late (as usual).  The final awards were supposed to be at 9:47pm.  They started MUCH later than than.

11:30pm:  We slowly drag ourselves out of the building, carrying 45 bags, and climb into the car for the ride home.  Yes, we were there for basically 16 hours!  It becomes like a Vegas casino, no lights, no windows.  You completely lose track of time.  Arrive home and the oldest still has some homework to finish.  Are you kidding me?

Monday

12:01am:  Even though it’s technically Monday, it’s still carrying on the craziness from Sunday to me.  Oldest daughter plugs away at some last homework but is fading fast.  I throw in the towel from the corner and send her to bed.  She can do it at lunch tomorrow if she has to.  She is pretty much brain dead and her body is done too.

12:30am:  We hit the bed

5:30am:  Time to get up for school and work!  And here we are….

As you can see…weekends suck.