You cannot do everything, right?

I THOUGHT I was keeping that in mind this spring. I swear that I said no to lots of things. No baseball or tball. No gymnastics. No dance. No starting the violin. No art. No basket weaving, or underwater polo, or baking classes, or pottery, or…well, no baseball, anyway. That’s a classic spring sport! And we are not doing it! So it should all be good and work out for me, because I did say no to something! I did!

But then I started to say yes. Yes to tennis for everyone–they love tennis! Yes to lacrosse for Sam and Lily, who love lacrosse. And yes to soccer for Rory and Wyatt, who love soccer–and since it’s at the same time and place, why not soccer for lily too? She really wants to play…and yes, finally, to piano for Rory, who has wanted to take lessons forever and who has never, not once, chosen an activity for herself and …. Poof.

That was the sound of every single one of our afternoons going up in smoke. Every. Single. Afternoon.

The thing is, I think I thought, that it is spring, and in spring it is nice to be outside, and why not be outside and play your little sport? And soccer is only for five weeks. That’s nothing! Tennis faked me out by starting early, when we had not one single other sport going on. And now Wyatt, in particular, loves it so much I think there is no quitting early to be done. Plus, did I mention it is spring, and so of course it will be lovely to be outside, in the fresh air and the sunshine? Or, of course, the 50 degree drizzle. That’s awesome too, really. Loved that today.

Oh, I hate myself. But I don’t want to say no to any of it, either. Soccer IS only five weeks. And they love doing all of this. I don’t get any blowback at all, not in the rain, not when we say no to doing something else. What I get, usually, are kids that don’t want to go home from whatever sport. But home is so good for them this time of year! We have a garden to get going. The brook to play in. The playhouse, the swings, the GRASS to get reacquainted with. Instead, there is an organized activity every day, and two days a week no time to go home at all before dinner–which also means one messed up Sam and homework. Today was the first of those days. He’s yawning away at it now.

I hate myself.

The thing is, I still don’t like to say onto anything that might be fun. We love fun! Fun is so awesome! And Sam pays the price for my brilliant ideas and agreement. Sure, you can skip homework club and come run wild with your buddy while the littles play soccer! Why not! First we will rush to buy some cleats and then we will rush to soccer and then we will all be so cold and wet from all that glorious playing out in the spring sunshine that wen will need to go eat soup and drink hot tea at the Chinese restaurant. And I don’t know how it got to be 7:30, I really don’t.

I do know that didn’t quite work out as planned, and I suspect–mind you, it’s only a suspicion–that it might happen again if I am not careful. Like, Wednesday.

I am going to have to come up with a better way, and manage not to take the non-participants to the activity even when they want to go, at least when it’s sam. I am still not quite sure what that will be. Sigh.