Something else I adore

I've been lucky enough to work only 3 days a week for the last decade.  Decade.  It's truly a gift.  I get to share out my time between a job I love and a family I adore.  My Tuesdays and Fridays are spent hunting and gathering for the SageMart team at the local grocery stores as well as tending to my garden in season.  It also gives me a chance to workout, do the laundry, and sometimes even clean the house off the 'family time' clock.  Weekends and evenings can be devoted to hanging with this great posse.  I am so grateful to Jon for working 5 (long) days each week so that I can have this time to devote to the running of this family.  I like to think that I do work full time.  Just .6 of it receives a paycheck and a title.  The other .4 might be filed under "Household Captain" and the pay comes in 'comp time' in the evenings and weekends with fewer errands and chores hanging over our heads.  And I do like to think that if I were ever to get evaluated as a Household Captain that I would come out looking ok.  I'm a master of efficiency and pack a lot into the 6 hours the boys are absent.  I also need to give myself a little self-adoration for my management of this household's resources.  I can take a look at a fridge full of leftovers and odds and ends and create a fresh new meal that no one knows was whipped up out of oddballs.  I mean the kids never even questioned the presence of turnips in their tacos, they were that good!

Another reason I love being home two days a week is the chance to sneak into Expo.  My volunteering gigs aren't that important in terms of helping kids make academic strides, but I like to think that one more adult taking time to find out how they are doing does make some kind of difference.  My favorite part of being at Expo these days is seeing all the third and fourth graders toting around such huge books.  Any time there is a spare moment, kids in Theo's class pop their noses into Harry Potter or The Hunger Games or whatever the latest fad might be.  And the fad's lately have been challenging!  These kids are not just reading Captain Underpants (although that certainly has its place) but they are making their way through some serious texts.  Early and often.  I am so glad to have found a school and a classroom where the culture supports some serious dedication to reading!