Braydon and I have long tried to live by the motto “work hard, play hard.” We learned this in college, of course (Hail Colby Hail!). And while surely Colby is not the only institution indoctrinating this motto (as it turns out it is Lehigh’s motto too, and the motto of many other schools like Colby/Lehigh)… Colby sure was good at getting its people to internalize the idea. Braydon and I embrace it. And it has been really interesting to watch as our boys take the motto on as their own. We four ‘work hard’ (very hard) all week (we try to never forget how much work it is to be a 3 year old). And we very much look forward to our ‘play hard’ weekends. Braydon and I are also very ritualistic people. On the spectrum, we are way over on the highly-routinized end. We have our routines, we have our little habits, and we cling on to them as anchors in our crazy, crazy lives. And again, it has been really interesting (and sometimes revealing!) to watch as our boys live lives of ritual too. They are so ritualistic. We are all four so ritualistic. Whatever other people may think, or whatever others’ philosophies on life, for us these things work; they help us thrive. Amidst our wild-ride-of-a-life these two things — ‘Work hard, play hard’ and ‘rituals as anchors’ — keep us sane; they keep us grounded; they keep us going. Over the course of the past several weeks and months two special rituals have become anchors for our ‘play hard’ weekends (specifically, the weekends that we’re all at home without any houseguests). During the week K & O do not watch t.v. or videos, but on “S Days” (i.e., Saturdays and Sundays), they not only get to watch, but first thing when they wake up they snuggle up into Mommy and Papi’s bed, watching with in-bed breakfast snacks, juice, and milk. (See photos above.) This “S Day” ritual makes K & O crazy happy. Just crazy, crazy happy. And as much as Braydon and I can’t stand all the crumbs that wind up in our bed, it makes us crazy happy too. Another “S Day” ritual these days (especially in the later weeks of Baby Sister’s brewing) is Blueberry Pancake Making (see photos below). K & O stumble into our bedroom, barely yet awake, shaking Braydon to wake him up, saying, “It’s not a school day Papi, come on! Come on! Let’s go downstairs! Pancakes! Blueberry pancakes!” They let me sleep (actually, K & O command me to sleep: “Mommy, you stay right here! You sleep! You don’t come with us!”), and the three boys head downstairs to the kitchen to get the party started. Last weekend they saved some for me (a first, since usually they are all eaten by the time I get up), and I’ve gotta say, they were the best blueberry pancakes I’ve ever had in my life. Our life is not perfect or idyllic by any stretch of the imagination. We’ve got our fair share of struggle. But “S Day”-‘Play Hard’ Rituals… they are just symbolic of the deeper philosophies of our tiny little life here in Johnson-McCormick-ville. And they really make TGIF mean so much more than simply TGIF.
