Monday, December 1, 2014

Work Plans for the Week of December 1, 2014: The Nutcracker and the Advent

We are going to get through this week, my friends. We are just going to put one foot in front of the other, take one event at a time, one day at a time, and we are going to get through this week.

The main focus of the week is on supporting Syd as she spends hours upon hours this week rehearsing, and then performing, for our local university's production of The Nutcracker. It's a stellar show, because the university has stellar college and pre-college ballet programs. But, of course, a stellar show requires rigorous rehearsals, and a lot of parental commitment (children whose parents can't supply the commitment simply don't get to participate, I fear). I'm in charge of hair, uniform, and transportation that occurs during the workday. I'm a little stressed about the exacting requirements of the "flat performance bun," but I suppose that's why there are three dress rehearsals prior to the show! If my kid shows up with her hair a mess tonight, I'll probably get a note sent home, and then I'll do better tomorrow.

Matt's in charge of all evening transportation, including picking up Syd and taking her to dinner between afternoon stage rehearsals and evening dress rehearsals. When I've got a conflicting appointment with Will, he's also going to have Syd at work with him, so that he can leave work, drop her off at the proper time, then go back to work.

School, therefore, is highly abridged this week. Syd's Nutcracker experience is exactly the kind of experiential education that I want for my kids, and Will can just have the extra downtime to read and play. We'll be doing Math Mammoth daily through Thursday (even though this means that I have to find time today to buy a fucking protractor, sigh. Why do we not already own a protractor?!?), and I've also given the children the task of completing all Girl Scout badges that they've already begun, also by Thursday. Will just finished up her Digital Photographer badge this morning--yay! Syd's still playing with toys under the Christmas tree, her math worksheets lying forgotten on the floor beside her.

We've also got our regular weekly commitments, still, including our volunteer gig, horseback riding and ice skating classes, and Robotics Club. Will's got aerial silks a couple of times this week, and she can make LEGO Club, even though Syd can't. And then there's a party with our homeschool group and two events with our Girl Scouts Co-op, all of which I've said that we'll attend if Syd seems to be getting enough sleep and isn't run-down or fussed by all the running around. We can't have a puking or weepy Snow Angel, so I've got my eye on that, and super bugs or not, I'm not afraid to use hand sanitizer.

Oh, and, AND, did you know that it's already DECEMBER?!? I've been telling myself that although I dread prepping for the Advent calendar activities, I'm always very happy to have done them. Memory and tradition and all, you know? This year the kids have Advent calendars with little numbered drawers, given to them by their grandmother. Last night I made the list and then Matt cut everything apart and put it all into the drawers:

I like having all the activities planned out ahead of time, so that I know when to buy supplies, and when to resign myself to another showing of freaking Frosty (I'd rather watch all the Doctor Who Christmas specials for our movie time), but I have the master list on my computer, so if I need to, I can switch the activities around. All the stuff this week is easy, most of the stuff next week is prep work that we need to do anyway, and the stuff for the final week is more of the elaborate, fun, *really* Christmassy stuff. It's bugging me that we're not doing any extra charity work for any of our activities, but I'll just have to be on the lookout for additional opportunities, because I was overthinking it way too much last night, trying to figure it out.

So that's our week! We'll have relatives in town through next Tuesday, so in next week's work plans, look for Watch Movies All Day and Don't Bother Momma, Who's Staying in Bed Wednesday!

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