Joyful Vegan Family

Vegan Goodness:

This weekend Dad was out of town, so Mom was in charge and Auntie A was there to help out!  We ate:

• Lots of bagels with tofu cream cheese directly from New York!  Thanks Auntie A!
• Lots of leftovers, including red curry, spicy eggplant and peanut stew and falafel
  
• Lots of snacking on cherry tomatoes from the garden, chips and peppers dipped in hummus and vanilla soy yogurt
• A special treat – we took a trip to Veggie Galaxy and got some fries, onion rings and dessert.

Money Matters:

This weekend we spent the following:

• $30.00 on a Whole Foods grocery shopping trip (which included stocking up on on-sale tempeh!)
• $25.00 on our Veggie Galaxy treat
• $35.00 on the G-man’s cab ride

Mom Musings:

This weekend I was on my own with the kids . . . kinda.  The G-man was out of town from Friday night until Monday morning, and my sister came up to help me late Friday night and left Sunday evening.  It was great to have her help.  Since she was there I was able to take the kids out to the park and out for a treat on Sunday, and we were able to stay and hang out at the block party on Saturday night instead of me grabbing LP and rushing to our house when the baby got fussy.  All in all it was a fun and successful weekend.

One thing I realized during my actual time on my own (Friday afternoon and evening, and all the nights with just me and the baby in my room) was how long it has been since I had some time to myself.  I had several moments where both the baby and LP were asleep (finally the baby schedule is coming together!)  I didn’t use this time for anything spectacular.  I mostly did dishes, cleaned up and replied to some e-mails.  I didn’t even get to blogging, as you can see by this combined “weekend” post.  But it was peaceful.  I could do things in the order I wanted to do them, the way I wanted to do them, without worrying about stepping on the G-man’s toes (which I do often, both literally and figuratively).  Also, I knew who was in charge of both kids – me!  One of the things the G-man and I run into when we are both home is not being sure who is in charge of who, which can lead to children being ignored, or being told two different things at the same time.  This weekend, I didn’t have to worry about who was in charge, even if being the one in charge was taxing at times.

I also appreciated the time to get the baby on more of a schedule.  Since the G-man was gone, there weren’t any big family excursions planned.  We did trips to the park both days, and we did need to do some grocery shopping on Saturday.  However, other than that, we could just do what made sense for the kid’s schedules. This was especially helpful as I wanted to focus on the baby’s schedule and getting Lucas back on track after some late and/or missed naps.

Being able to know/be in charge of our schedule made me remember how much I need my own routine.  I have always liked routine and predictability, but a lot of it lately has not been mine the way I am used when I’m working.  When I’m teaching I am working within the confines of a school schedule, but within that I get to be in charge of what happens in my classroom and when it happens.  At home there are schedules of eating, sleeping, etc, but the aren’t of my own making.  This sounds silly, even to me, but I enjoyed really being in charge this weekend, or at least as much in charge as a person can be with a toddler and a baby.  I’m also excited that the G-man and I are both going to benefit from the baby being on a bit more of a schedule when she naps while LP naps, naps while we prep and eat dinner, and goes to be early enough that the G-man and I can have some evening time together.  I also realized that I need some time for myself once in a while, even if it is to do the dishes while listening to my podcasts.

I have to say I was dreading this weekend when the G-man first booked his trip.  I was totally relived when my sister was willing to come up and help out.  But now that it happened I realized that I can take care of both kids when I need to, and that it can actually be downright pleasant when everything is working.  It’s rare feeling of competence in a role (parent) that I otherwise feel entirely unprepared for.  But no feeling can beat seeing LP run up to give his dad the biggest hug ever this morning to welcome him home!!

Pictures and Video: