Pizza, toys, playdates - it's Friday!



Special Friday lunchable

“Is it special Friday, yet?” Maddi asks.

All week long, we talk about “Special Friday.” Think half-day preschool instead of all day, pizza for lunch, playdates with BFFs, family dinner and game night. As an added bonus because of all the fun: On Saturdays we sleep in (until gymnastics at 9am).

In a house where both parents work, it’s essential to find “special moments” to look forward to. All week long, we plan for Friday. While we’re getting dressed at 8am for school, rushing to make dinner and do the wash at all other times during our busy week… we talk about the upcoming Friday. What will make Friday special this week. Of course, “special” has evolved over time.

As an infant, dad created Maddi’s first special Fridays. He scheduled himself to go into work late on Fridays and spend the morning with Madeleine. They picked a different breakfast spots, such as the Pancake House or La Provence. Elliott gained tremendous confidence with our tiny infant as he learned to do the diaper bag and much more during those special Fridays. After a few months or more, he needed to spend more time at work.

Special Fridays took on a new form.

Grandma Patti with Maddi

Maddi and her friends meet at Park

In her 2’s, Maddi spent special Fridays all day at grandma Patti’s, tooling around Lake Oswego, walking the neighborhood to complete errands at the post office, the bank and finally a visit to the park where they would often run into friends, Kate and Carter. Each Friday in 2009-10, I would drop Maddi off at grandma’s apartment.

Grandma would get up early and place a teddy bear on her doorstep holding a napkin full of jelly beans (likely the cause of her first cavity that we learned of last week – the fun outweighs the cavity, though). Special Fridays at grandmas also meant a morning to relax, watch cartoons and cuddle with each other. Grandma made special soup and kept Maddi full with tons of fresh berries. They often visited Frog Pond toy store, also within walking distance of grandma’s apartment.

Now Maddi’s a preschooler, and Special Fridays continue with a new twist.

First day of preschool

Elliott started this one, too.

Together we decided to make Fridays only a half-day at preschool. Elliott drops off and I pick up. Since Elliott isn’t much into packing a preschool lunch, he started a new tradition. On Friday mornings before school, they swing by Fred Meyer and Maddi picks out a Lunchable Cheese Pizza. It’s the most unhealthy meal I’ve ever seen, filled with a pizza, a Capri-Sun and Laffy-Taffy. I guess not all lunches must have the balance of fruit, veggies and dairy – as they do Monday through Thursday. Splurging is fun – it makes Fridays special.

I pick up Maddi early from school, at noon. We find something fun to do like a playdate or a park visit or a project when it rains. On some Friday nights, we celebrate Shabbat because she goes to a Jewish school that sends home all the fixins’, including candles, challah and a Kiddush cup.

This week, I did Special Friday. Maddi, Lizzie and I started at Fred Meyer to pick-out pizza, grabbed rainbow of tulips, and of course had to buy one of those silly check-out stand must-haves at kid’s eye-level (this was a miniature Cinderella). We got to school, and we could already hear the Shabbat singing in the ballroom with about 80 toddlers and nearly as many parents. Rather than drop-off Maddi with a kiss and hug so that I could dash off to work, I made time to hear the music.

Lizzie and I took a seat with Maddi and her classmates and sang for about an hour. We sang the prayers and enjoyed a spontaneous moment.

Maddi with classmate, William, celebrating Shabbat last Friday

Work deadlines were looming. Those will always come and go, and I’ll meet most of them. It’s April 1st – my deadlines now are very tight as a CPA. However, Special Fridays will always remind us to slow down, listen to the music, and treat ourselves.