Grade 4, Week 11, Day 5 ~ Friday Free Day

One thing I love about Friday is that it has the potential to be a less stressful day. It would be even less stressful is we packed for our park day the night before; we should work on that.

This morning wasn't as stress-free as I would have liked; I was still trying to put the family/learning room back in order. I won't complain about having housecleaners but it does make it hard to tackle a really big decluttering and simplifying project.

It was cold at the park. It's going to get colder, and when it does I will take appropriate clothing! I did have a pocket hand warmer with me so I could warm my fingers and then knit.

There wasn't really anything special about park day today. We like hanging out with friends but the kids seemed a bit off kilter or disconnected. J-Baby was having a little spat with one of his friends and asked to go home early which is quite uncharacteristic for him. They worked it out though. T-Guy played some but mostly hung out with the adults ~ I took the opportunity to comb the tangles out of his hair.

The magic came later. One of my favorite rituals that we started when the boys were little is lighting candles before Papa comes home; it's something we only do when it is dark early. The boys were playing out front; I lit the candles on the mantle and settled down with some shawl knitting. When they came in J-Baby asked if he could light the candles in the fireplace and he did a careful job of it! I decided not to hover or tell him what to do and he was fine; I'm rather proud of myself when I can step back and let him do something that I wasn't allowed to do as a child because it would be dangerous.

Candles lit I started singing nursery rhymes, Mary Thienes-Schunemann style. T-Guy joined in a bit but I know that at this point the songs are more for the mood and for myself than a chance for family singing ~ they'd rather sing the Beatles. The boys decided to weave while I knit and we had a cozy half hour before Papa arrived home. It was a little oasis of peace at the end of our Friday.