Weekend Fun Recap: September 12–15

How was your weekend? My husband and I were a little under the weather, so we had to cancel some plans and take it easy. That gave us some time to catch up on some nagging tasks and do some vacation planning. We’re excited about what’s to come, but this weekend was pretty low-key!

Family Game Night

It was my week to choose for family game night. I knew we needed something simple and (hopefully) quick, so I went with UNO. That was about all our brains could handle after a full week! Our Pixar-themed UNO doesn’t seem to be available anymore, but don’t worry. You can get UNO for a variety of fandoms, from Disney to Friends to Barbie. This game was also a win because we could easily slip the toddler a few cards and help him feel included, even if he actually had no idea what was going on.

Getting Organized

I’ve recently taken on several new roles and projects, including being a room mom and taking a health course, that all picked up speed this past week. Having a lot of vague “to dos” swirling in my head without a clear action plan was starting to stress me out. Thankfully, getting organized is fun for me. And because we had to cancel a lot of plans to keep germs to ourselves, we had some extra downtime.

I used this time to first brain dump all the categories of tasks I had and came up with six distinct areas I could divide all the “should” into. Then I was able to take each category in turn and brain dump just for that category. Then I was able to triage the tasks and start executing them. Going in the right order, Lazy Genius–style, helped everything feel a lot more manageable.

Much as I love a planner, sometimes a scratch pad is all you need.

Little Treats

As part of taking it easy, we didn’t do a lot of cooking. We did do some strategic UberEATS ordering, taking advantage of some deals. One available deal was a free milkshake with a $20 Five Guys order. And I am not one to pass up a milkshake, free or otherwise. (We also compromised on a BOGO burger deal since the burgers had to be identical, including toppings.) Maybe it wasn’t the healthiest choice when I’m trying to fight germs. But it did make the weekend a little more fun.

Reading Recap

This week, I tried another book that had been languishing on my TBR, and it ended up being a DNF for me. (That’s “to be read” and “did not finish” for those who have less nerdy hobbies than book organization.) Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life tells the story of Ursula, who is (still)born in 1910. The book then goes on to describe iteration after iteration of her life (she survives a little longer each time), almost like a masterfully written choose your own adventure.

This book is long, and in deference to my time budget for this week, I’d decided to spread it over two weeks. (I usually attempt to read one book per week.) But I soon realized that reading a narrative of a child’s death over and over was not for me. After about 100 pages in which Ursula died multiple times, I needed to tap out. The concept is interesting, and Atkinson is an excellent writer. But the content wasn’t for me. I think this might be good a fit for fans of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue(which I loved, but Addie is an adult) if they can power through until Ursula (presumably) reaches adulthood.

Since I stopped reading early, I went ahead and started next week’s pick, My Friends by Fredrik Backman. This is one of the books I’ve been looking forward to this year, and it’s also my book club’s current selection. Stay tuned for my review next week!

Little Golden Book

I generally don’t enjoy Little Critter, but I might make an exception for Taking Care of Mom. I’m all for kids learning how hard mom’s job really is! One of my children still complains about that one time I ordered them McDonald’s because I had a stomach bug, my husband was away from 9 AM to 9 PM, and I had a nursing baby. Apparently the McDonald’s was disgusting.

I hope your weekend was healthier than mine! Do you have any tips for dealing with healthy kids when mom and dad are sick since McDonald’s doesn’t cut it? Let me know in the comments—I love hearing from you!

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