A Startling Realization

This morning while I was walking the dog, I got to thinking (always dangerous) about how busy we are every weekend.  And I sort of got to wondering why.  I know that we have kids, and I know that busy weekends are just part of raising children, but we've been booked every weekend since Memorial Day and I think our first completely open weekend is sometime in 2009.  (I'm not kidding.)

When I got home I sat down and made a list of various activities that take up time on our weekends.  In some cases, these activities are only an hour or two, just something we need to juggle. In other cases, these activities are full weekend soirees, involving some efforts.  In some cases, two of these things can occur on the same weekend, and in others, not so much.  

So, here's the run down of one families weekend commitments.  I bet if you think about your list, its similar to mine.

Soccer:  2 games every Saturday for 10 weeks

Dance:  7 competitions, conventions or days dedicated to recitals (assumes only one child dancing)

FCC:     4 adoption related activities including reunions, camp outs and gatherings

Family Vacation:  2-3 weekends depending on lengths

Weekend Getaways:  2-3 depending on year

Y Princess Camp Outs:  1, but it's an entire weekend

Piano Recitals:  2 if Maggie sticks with it

Kids Birthday parties:  1 for each child.  Doesn't include all the other ones they're invited to

SF Giant Games:  3-4 depending on the year

Now, I'm a writer, not a mathematician, but this equals 33 to 36 weekends with something planned.   On the high end that means we have something (even if it's small) planned almost 70% of weekends.  And we don't have kids playing a highly competitive sport.  

Boy, I'm exhausted just thinking about this list.  I think I need to get to bed.