I Love Love Love My Weekends

Before having N I knew our lives would change as soon as he was born. My expectations were along the lines of us not having much time for ourselves, we would talk about little else other than our new baby and we would always be tired. Clearly there would be positives too but I guess before he was born my main thoughts were around special occasions (holidays, birthdays, Christmas) and a general sense of being happy.

However there are a couple of real benefits that I didn’t really comprehend before N was born. It’s not to say they are unexpected, I just hadn’t thought too much about it.

Switching Off

Sometimes, like anyone else, my work can get a bit stressful. I think this applies to anyone who cares about their job and wants to do well at it. Sometimes there’s just so much work to do!

When there’s loads to do I would often go home and struggle to switch off. Work could still be going round and round in my head up to the time I fell asleep. Literally all evening. Sometimes I wanted to think about work things as something was exciting, but at other times I really didn’t.

The thing I didn’t think about before having N was just how quickly he would inadvertently help me to completely switch off after work. I mean really and truly switch off. As soon as I walk through the door I put my bag down, take my shoes off and essentially steal him from Clare or pick him up from wherever he is. This is my time with him to play and he is my focus.

Following play time it’s then time to get him ready for bed. I’m always the one to give him a bath, a bottle, a story and then put him in bed.

All in all he is my predominant thought (other than Clare of course) from about 17:40 until 19:10. During this time I focus on him and Clare, and work doesn’t come into it. I really think this has hugely helped me relax, switch off and unwind every single day.

The Weekend

As I said above, N really helps me switch off every single day, and of course this includes Fridays which is a great help as this is the start of a fab weekend time with him and Clare.

What has really struck me is just how much we are using our weekends now. Prior to having N we were frequently known to wake up on a weekend mid morning, have breakfast in bed, watch a bit of morning TV, have showers and get up to go out for lunch. Generally this was on both a Saturday and a Sunday. We would then try and and think of something to do later in the day which generally involved avoiding places with large crowds (keeping stress levels down!!). Don’t get me wrong, I loved our weekends pre-baby too of course, they’re just so different now.

Now we get up at 7:30 and really use our weekend by doing something exciting both days as a family. It amazes me quite how much we can get done now compared to our pre-baby time (especially in a morning!). Core, N and I love spending as much time together as we can.

However I felt compelled to write this post because of a fantastic day we had on Sunday. After going to church we went to a baby disco which N loved and therefore Clare and I loved it too. Clearly we wouldn’t have done this before we had him, that would just be weird! After the disco we went to Lotherton Hall (yes, again. We are annual members, what can I say?!). We had a picnic, took a walk around and took N on the swings which he absolutely loved! Clare and I enjoyed our day there so much, really relaxing and fun. On the way home we went to Miller & Carter for our tea. It really was all family time, and nothing else. Fantastic!

I just needed to write something about this day as it was just so nice, and it became so apparent that we make so much use of our weekends now that we have N. We are always trying to think of ways to make him happy, to entertain him, to make him smile. This in turn means our weekends are so full of joy and are used so much more than before.

Exciting Plans

Who knows what exciting plans we will come up with each weekend, and I think that’s the joy of having a baby or a child, you can make it fun in so many different ways. Stay indoors or go outdoors there’s always so much to do.

I’m always looking for tips though, what things have you tried on a weekend that worked well?