Making Time For A Pizza Date

I have the boys Thursday and Friday, and by Friday, after I pick Bean up from school it’s always a push-pull of figuring out how to balance fun kid stuff with homework. Hey, have you noticed? That seems to be a bit of a theme in my life.

This week when Sprout and I picked Bean up from kindergarten, I dragged them along on several errands and then realized that I needed to chill out and make sure everybody had something to eat (the Cheerios and raisins I’d brought for the car were no longer cutting it. At all.) So I did something I have never done before: I took them to pizza.

I’ll be honest. I expected the worst. I’ve never taken my kids to a sit-down meal anywhere by myself. A stop at the coffee shop is one thing; tabel service is entirely another.

But you know what? It was fun. And it was fun particularly because I was able to switch gears and just go at their speed. No “Come on, come on!” No rush for that half hour. No annoyance when Sprout spilled his juice everywhere. No worries when Bean decided to cover his plate with parmesan. In fact, it felt a bit like playing hooky from our ordinary lives. “Go ahead,” I told him. “You can draw in the cheese with your fingers.”

We played tick-tack-toe while we waited for our pizza. Then played Eye Spy while we ate. And when we got home they were both content and tired and went off by themselves, and played separately (miracle of miracles) for over an hour while I completed some homework. It’s all about not pushing too far, and about stopping while you’re ahead. Oh yes.

And some days it’s about going off the map; about doing something unexpected and totally kid-awesome. Like pizza after school.

Tags: going with the flow, pizza date