Plans Change

At this moment, I am supposed to be sitting in a cabin about ninety minutes south of the city, attending an annual, twenty-four hour planning and team-building session with my fellow mediators (about eight of us in total).  But almost three hours ago, I cancelled.  Matthew was up for a few or more hours during the night, starting just past 1:00 this morning, with a combination of bad dreams, mild fever, and an ear ache...I think the result of the cold he's been fighting for the past while.  I find that I simply can't bring myself to leave him with someone/anyone else when he's sick...so I cancelled my participation in the retreat and we're spending the day at home.  Normally an early riser, he just got up about half an hour ago, at about 10:30 - he must have been exhausted.  His first comment when he came downstairs was "Mom, I'm not feeling well, but I feel well enough to watch a nature show?  Could I?"  Monkey - he knows that when he's sick, he gets to watch more tv than otherwise.  But he does look rather cosy, bundled up in a blanket on the couch.

Though unexpected, it's a nice prospect for me to spend a quiet day with Matthew, with no plans (though I've completely run out of fruit and am thinking that we may need to hit the grocery store yet today).  I love spending time with him.  Given that I work so little outside the home, it's not at all unusual that we spend our days together - but there's something lovely about the unplanned part of days like today that feel nice sometimes.

Next week, things will change a bit - Matthew's schedule will get a bit busier.  He's continuing on with Kindermusik classes (as he has since he was six months old), playgroup, and with skating lessons, but we're adding a few other things to his roster as well, based on what he expressed interest in doing:

• Sunday - church and Kindermusik
• Monday - Little Chefs afternoon program.  Matthew did this program last year, too, and loved it - it gives kids hands-on experience cooking and baking, and teaches them bits about nutrition and kitchen hygiene
• Tuesday - Little Artists program
• Wednesday - Community playgroup in the morning; Gym for homeschoolers in the afternoon
• Friday - Intro conversational French for 4-6 year olds
• Saturday - skating lessons

I know it seems like a lot.  It is a lot.  And, despite appearances, I'm not one who believes in over-structuring a child's schedule.  Someone I was talking with yesterday thought that I was doing just that - overfilling his life.  But here's the thing (prepare for the justification).  Matthew is homeschooled, so we have more time to take on activities that he'd like to do.  I'm privately thrilled that he wants to be engaged in these ways, because I think it's good for him (as an only child, thus far) to have lots of social interaction with other kids.  I also think, to be honest, that he occasionally benefits from having someone other than a parent teach him things as well - especially things like skating, which Geoff attempted to do with him...for about five whole minutes, until Matthew fell apart and refused to take Geoff's instructions!

At any rate, I'm so excited about this new year - not only for Matthew, but for our whole family. I think this year holds great things in store!!