Family Fun Day

Normally, our days are spent feverishly running from one thing to the next. From the time we wake up, until the time we go to bed we are busy with school drop-off and pick-up, errands, therapies, etc. I feel like at any given moment I'm juggling 12 different things and trying to keep everything together and on schedule. This hasn't always been the case. 

When Aiden was little, we didn't have much of a schedule except for what time naps started. We had the freedom to do what we wanted, when we wanted. It was wonderful! Often times, we'd just pick up and go to the library, Zoo, Children's Museum, or just for a walk around the block. We also used to have PJ days, where we would spend the day in our PJs, ignoring everything else that needed to be done, and just play the whole day away. It was great!

With the addition of Aiden's school and Maddie's therapies and various appointments, we don't have much unscheduled free time, and the free time we do have is mostly spent playing catch-up with things we have neglected due to our schedule.

Lately, I have been feeling overwhelmed by how on-the-go our lives seem and have felt like I just can't catch-up to everything. Then, last week Maddie had an appointment at the Down Syndrome Clinic at The Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and it was determined that we need to add Occupational Therapy into our schedule. I nearly lost it. This will be our 4th therapy every week. Don't get me wrong, I love our therapists and the work they do with Maddie. Even if it seems like we're not making much progress, I know in the end it will make a world of difference in Maddie's quality of life down the road. However, I just want those days back that I had with Aiden and I want Maddie to be able to experience them, too. I want to be able to pick up at the drop of a hat on a suddenly warm day and go to the Zoo. I want to drop in at the library just because we have nothing else to do that day. I want to wake my kids up from their naps and go on a walk because it's sunny out and we haven't seen the sun in what feels like months. I want to wake up and decide that we can put our errands off until tomorrow because what's important today is to stay in our PJs and play all day long with my babies, and that's exactly what we did today. It was heaven!!

I know all of the appointments we have for Maddie are going to give her the best possible start that she can get, but having time to be a family is also what is best, not only for Maddie, but for the rest of us as well. I know that in the coming months things are going to get pretty hectic, but you can bet that I am going to be building these fun days into our schedule from now on!