A Busy Friday

I knew at the beginning of this week that everything culminates to today. There would be no TANK FRIDAY. Not only do we have Johnnie's kindergarten screening assessment in-person at Mar Vista Elementary which would determine which pod or class he ends up in, I also have the 1 PM FRB meeting officially announcing that we are staying remote through March 2021. By then we would have been out more than a year. Wow. And that meeting centers squarely on IT and HR questions so some of the spotlight is on me. But I'm ready for that one. What I wasn't ready for was that Lisa has to work today and so I get Johnnie on a Friday which is pretty rare. The only thing was that I had to pick him up at 7 AM in the morning. Yes 7 AM in the morning. No binge-watching for me last night. And so my Friday turned into a regular weekday with Johnnie... with breakfast at McDonald's to start the day. And then we hung out until it was time to go to Mar Vista Elementary. I have to say I don't know how I feel about the kids coming back to school but I do know that I want Johnnie hanging out more with his classmates and other kids. A lot more. And so when we came in and the first kid I saw was Leo who Johnnie played with all the time, and then Brooklyn his first ever friend last year I felt a strong sense of relief. I posted a pic of Johnnie and Brooklyn, not unlike the pic I took a year ago when we were doing the TK orientation meetings around this time. It as also nice to see her parents and like last year we got to talk for a while. For her part, Lisa did come and for me it is actually a relief to have her in these kinds of functions because she is more natural at socializing where I tend to be a heck of a lot more distant. Aloof even. But I do try. Anyway this was supposed to be a screening for the kids to see which classes and teachers they end up with for the school year even though it will mostly be online. And wouldn't you know Johnnie would be the first one out, which means he was the first one done. Why am i not surprised? Brooklyn was in the other classroom and she was the first one out of hers too. And so the kids ended up getting some play time in at the playground just like they did a year ago. Anyway it was nice to be back inside the school grounds even though again we won't be actually spending time in it. We were back home by 11:20, with the first of the key events of the day all done. And now I look forward to 3 meetings in a row this afternoon...

First I had to figure out what to do with Johnnie, which in of itself is strange because it isn't something I usually deal with on a Friday. Not to mention the busy-ness is something I don't usually deal with either.  I guess I had to break my own rules and get him to watch his beloved Octonauts right after lunch. Oh why has he stopped taking a nap after lunch? As far as the FRB meeting went, it was actually pretty straightforward and fairly uneventful. And then came the FRB birthday thing right after that. And then the Friday Huddle after THAT. All the while Johnnie actually kept watching videos or drawing and actually just interrupted me one time. That would be the best I could expect and I was glad about that. The second the Huddle meeting ended I checked in on him. Usually that time has become my favorite time during this pandemic. Friday after the meeting means the work day is done, the work week is done and I have the WHOLE weekend to look forward to. No different now actually. Not entirely. Just that today had weekday feel because Lisa was working and I was looking after Johnnie. Felt more like another Thursday. Not that I wouldn't see him on a Friday pre-pandemic. Just that it would usually be because Lisa would be late picking him up from STAR and would have asked me to go get him instead. That happened a few times and we would all end up having Friday night dinner during those times. Today I decided to let him bike to Panda Express to get his dinner. Hey he's able to scooter that far, I was sure he could bike that far. And sure enough he was plenty game. He made it there no problem at all. And then we took his dinner back with us while I made myself some old-school spaghetti bolognese which I hadn't had in a very long time. And so it was that we hung out this Friday night and instead of starting my binge-watching I actually got to spend time with my Little Bug. Lisa stayed at work until really late. As in 8:30 PM late and I actually didn't mind. Heck I'm back at her house tomorrow at 7 AM for the 2nd day in a row anyway since tomorrow is a Saturday work day for her. Why do I even bother to do drop-off? Because I do feel it is important to keep up to the routine regarding where he spends the night. Tonight he is supposed to spend the night with his mom and THAT he will. I'm ok waking up early tomorrow. Again. Hey as I walked back to the apartment after Lisa picked him up, I went back into gratitude space. Look at the pic of he and I on a Friday night waiting for him to get picked up... I will remember that fondly way in the future and I'm grateful I got to have a rare Friday with him. Grateful that I got paid today. And that I now have more than $25,000 in the bank just for disposable cash. I'm grateful the 1 PM meeting went ok and that I get to start the weekend. AND I'm grateful for a nice bike ride in the early evening with my little boy. It may have been a busy Friday, but it turned out to be a very good day.