May 21, 2012

• Recovering

  The Turningreens were busy, busy this weekend. We had a lot going on, but thankfully the schedule worked out so that we only had to be in roughly one place at a time. That’s always nice.

  We bookended the weekend with visits to our favorite local food festival – Friday night relaxing with friends, and Sunday night for a no nonsense trip to acquire take out dinner. By the time we sat down to that dinner, mama needed a stiff drink. You wouldn’t think that just driving from event to event and mostly just sitting there during the events would be stressful…..but for some reason it weighed on me by the end of the weekend. Too much structure and sitting still, I guess. Luckily, a cocktail with dinner, a quiet evening in front of the TV, and a high energy morning workout have calmed me. I’m sure the kids will appreciate that. Last night, I was standing in a prime location between the kitchen and family room, barking out orders and filling in the gaps by telling them just how many chores they were going to have this summer and how I was going to stand right in that very spot and “drill sergeant them” as much as it takes. (!!) Our son wanted to know what that meant, but my way of answering was to continue ordering him. It worked – the kitchen table got cleared of all the stuff dumped on it during the crazy weekend…..and it didn’t just get moved to the next available surface.

  Why were we so busy? Two triathalons – the boy and the Mr. – which both went swimmingly. (Pun intended.) Two lacrosse games – one on Saturday (won) and one on Sunday (lost). One music recital with three family performances – two solid piano pieces and one little drummer girl who brought down the house.  One swim team event – only an hour long, but filled with reminders of just how much the swim season will be taking over our lives beginning today. One birthday party – attended by our son at the local mall, which provided me and our daughter with a good excuse to shop for 90 minutes.

  Is that it? Yes, I think so. Plus some work on a school project and a meeting after school on Friday for me and the kids.

  Whew.

  I am enjoying some serenity at home today, doing laundry and planning a menu for the week which will be a) portable b) farm share friendly and c) tasty. As I mentioned, swim team starts today. Back to back one hour practices for the kids every day, beginning at 5:30pm. Not so convenient for dinner time. Some of the vegetables that need to be used this week: swiss chard, kohlrabi, asparagus, rhubarb, snap peas, lettuce, lettuce, and more lettuce. So far, I have decided on a potato and swiss chard pie and a kohlrabi slaw. Still working on ideas for the rest of it.

  Here’s something I thought about while sitting on the sidelines this weekend. The Mr. has spent many hours over the years volunteering as a coach for our kids’ sports teams. I have spent many more hours volunteering in various capacities for all things school related. Almost without fail, at the end of every season, he is given a generous gift card as a thank you from his team for his time. He is a great coach and totally deserves this recognition. But it struck me that I have not had a parallel experience for my hours of volunteerism. Sure, I have gotten a few plants and other “token” type gifts, usually from a teacher and personalized by a group of kids. Don’t get me wrong, I love these gifts. (Well, honestly, not the plants. I just end up feeling bad when they die at my hands.) 

  Why do coaches get “paid” for their time and school volunteers get a token of appreciation? Is it because our culture values sports so highly? Is it because men typically coach and women typically help at school — and society says men would otherwise be “employed” while women would otherwise be “home”? Is it because moms on the sidelines organize gifts for coaches while moms whose kids are in school groups are busy doing their own volunteering and don’t have time to collect money for gifts for one another? It’s probably a combination of these factors.

  This time around, the coach’s gift was a gift card to the mall. How many of the (man) coaches will spend those gift cards on themselves and how many have had it spent on their families before they even put it in their wallets? After the 90 minute mall excursion that our daughter and I took during the birthday party on Saturday…..I’ll just consider myself paid. 

  (Although, really, only our daughter got stuff. Darn kids.)

  • 12:07 pm
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