Mommy Day

Big Bro shows off his cooking class creation

I love my job for many reasons, but perhaps the most important is that it allows me to have a great work/life balance. With a four-day schedule, I’m off on Fridays, and ever since Big Bro was born we’ve referred to Friday as “Mommy Day.”

On Fridays, we wake up and have a leisurely breakfast. When the weather is nice, we go to a park or on a play date with friends, and when the weather’s too hot, we usually take advantage of our local rec center and its open gym and story time for ages five and under. The last couple summers, I’ve enrolled Big Bro in kids cooking class so he has something fun and age appropriate to do while Baby Bro and I hang out in the gym playing with push toys and balls. When class is done we play for a bit, eat lunch at the pizza place down the road and go home for Baby Bro’s nap.

Big Bro and I have been doing this since he learned to walk. There was a time we frequented the pizza place so much one of the servers knew us and our order, and always ended our meal by giving my little guy a lollipop he got to choose out of a jar.

Mommy Day is my favorite day of the week. But it’s about to change.

Today, we woke up and ate a leisurely breakfast. We went to the rec center and I dropped Big Bro at his last cooking class for the summer. Baby Bro and I played in the gym and then we all went to Geno’s for a slice. All the while I soaked it in, knowing next Friday won’t be the same.

Next Friday, I’ll drop Big Bro off at kindergarten. Baby Bro and I will find something to do until it’s time to pick him up again and go home for a nap. The rest of the day will be familiar, always ending in a bedtime story and a song for as long as he’ll let me. Right now, We’re reading Winnie the Pooh House on Pooh Corner, which ends with Christopher Robin starting school and leaving his fluff-filled friends behind.

I thought it was a timely and sweet story to start reading as summer came to an end, but now I can’t help but feel like that silly old bear.

Though it’s bittersweet, I guess the new Friday routine will have its perks. With Big Bro in school, I’ll get one-on-one time with Baby Bro that we’ve never really had before.

I can start to see the next phase of parenthood on the horizon. One where diapers and pull-ups are behind us. One where my kids can both play independently for hours but still want us around. One where we can go to sports games and theme parks and movies but still do bedtime and a song. And a story. For as long as they’ll let me.