Fall Fantasy

This afternoon, as S and I were walking Maya to the playground for some fresh autumn air and much-deserved playtime, I asked S how he thought the two of us might be spending the day if we didn't have Maya.

S: Well, I'd be going to a movie every weekend. Or, OK, almost every weekend. Including this one.
Me: Oh, you would? Just you then?
S: Well, OK, fine, we would be going to a movie every weekend. Also, we would sleep in. Nothing crazy---just till like, 9:30. 10:00!
Me: And then we'd wake up---
S: Go get brunch somewhere---
Me: Then come home---
S: And feel too full to do anything---
Me: So we'd snuggle up on the couch and watch whatever's saved on TiVo...

We enjoyed our cozy little do-nothing Sunday fantasy. But then I started thinking about how having Maya has forced me to grow up a little, take a little more responsibility, strive to be a better person. For instance, I'm enormously proud of the fact that I now plan our family dinners for the week on Sunday, and I always make sure a vegetable is included. It's just a small thing, but it's the kind of planning that was utterly foreign to me before Maya came along. Also, I waste a lot less time than I used to. I mean, believe me, I still waste time. Just not as much. When I'm home with Maya on Mondays and Fridays, I seize every free minute I can get (when Maya's napping, when she's watching Elmo) to get some small task accomplished. I'll actually think, "Yes! I've got some time to clean the kitchen!" and get to it, which is just, well, weird, considering the way the old, childless me operated.
So, yeah: There's always a smidgen of longing when we think about the Lazy, Slow Weekends of Yore. But these new, structured weekends of errand-running, playground-hopping, and meal-planning are pretty great, too.