Before I became a mom, I made grandiose plans for enriching family time activities and warm, fuzzy moments of true togetherness.
Picture an unholy mix of June Cleaver, The Waltons and a dash of Body Language.
Reality has caught up with me and is laughing its ass off.
I find myself with an extremely active nine month old, writing responsibilities and a husband who has a demanding military career and just picked up a second job.
Our “family time” has suddenly morphed into a real-life version of Mouse Trap.
Tucker gets home as Cara is waking from her afternoon nap. The dogs frantically run around him, vying for his attention.
Cara ends up toddling over to Tucker and usually gets knocked on her ass by the lunatic dogs.
The next fifteen minutes are spent repairing Cara’s hurt feelings, scolding the dogs and somewhere in there acknowledging Tucker’s presence.
So, during the week, “family time” is spent putting out proverbial fires and coping with day-to-day crisis.
The weekend is when we really shine as a family.
Tucker takes over the bath “responsibilities” and he and Cara get a chance to have their time.
Saturdays are filled with trips to the bookstore, the zoo and to the pet store for Henry’s weekly “meal”.
Sundays are when we laze around the apartment and watch entirely too much TV or play entirely too many video games.
Though I’m sure it sounds trite, these days are the ones that I know I’ll look back on with the fondest of memories. These moments of pure family togetherness are the ones that I will cherish.
But, I have to admit that I’m secretly looking forward to the time when Cara is “too cool” for us and I force her to play Scrabble.
[insert maniacal laughter]This post is brought to you in conjunction with Parent Bloggers Network & EA’s Wii-Boogie, a family gaming experience. Shake it. Sing it. Create it.
