Monday Gratitude

What I’m grateful for going into this week:

1. Our co-op preschool. Attending this past year has been really good for B and I both. He has grown comfortable with drop-offs, which has opened up other possibilities like the YMCA, and my drop-off days have given me a much-needed two-hour break every week. B has learned that there are other people besides just me he can go to when he needs something. It has been good for me to go to go out and interact with a group of grown-ups each week. And we’ve met some really great people through the co-op who I hope will remain in our lives now that it’s ending.

2. That this is our last week at the co-op. For the amount of money it costs to attend and what has felt to me like an overwhelming amount of parent work, the two hours of drop-off time each week isn’t enough to make it feel worthwhile. Add to that the weird detour our particular class took into some uncomfortable and harmful drama, and I’m all set with this level of involvement.

3. For the preschool he’ll go to next year. I’ll get ten hours a week of drop-off time, it’s free, and there is no parent work. We know somebody whose son is in that exact classroom this year, and they’ve loved their experience. I’m really glad we found this program.

4. That my new job happened to come along after we moved B into his new bedroom. The move was a lot of work done in small increments whenever I had time, and I wouldn’t have had that time if I’d also been trying to work a job. It would have felt really overwhelming. I’m glad we were able to finish that big project before this opportunity appeared.

5. For a really fun weekend. We spent both Friday and Saturday evening with some new friends we met through the co-op, hanging out in their yard drinking a few beers and chatting while the kids played. This version of parenting, where we hang out with some really cool families and have fun ourselves while our kid is also having a great time with his buddies, feels so much more sustainable than the past few years of parenting in what has felt like isolation. And B was having so much fun it was easy to keep him up pretty late, which we usually hate doing because we’re desperate for his bedtime so we can have some time for ourselves, but keeping him entertained was fun for us too for a change. Staying up late meant he slept in a bit both yesterday and today, which was wonderful. Yesterday we filled the kiddie pool and relaxed for a while in our back yard, and then went out to a big neighborhood festival for another fun night. Best weekend in a long, long time.