AppleHarvestIn the Jewish religion, Saturdays are the Sabbath.  Saturday is the “7th day”, the day of rest, to relax and spend quality time with family and friends.  Not working or stressing – you can do that the other 6 days of the week.  🙂

I am not very religious, but I do believe that it is important to have quality time together, time to enjoy being together as a family.  I enjoy taking the kids to the children’s services at the synagogue and spending time within the community there.  But on Saturday a few weeks ago I managed to overbook us, and I really wanted to do all of it! 

So here we are, Saturday morning at 8 AM and I look at what we have in store for us for the day:

  • 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM:  Moms In Training starts. (You can read about my first season training and succeeding with the team.)
  • 9:45 AM – 10:45 AM:  My daughter has Shabbat Corner – a fun class at the synagogue for the preschoolers.
  • 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM:  My son has Alef-Bet club – a mini-service at the synagogue for kids in 2nd grade or under.
  • At some point in the AM:  My husband needs to go to my sister’s new home to assemble IKEA furniture, and fix other things around the place for her.  (Did I mention her home is about 45 minutes away from me by car?)
  • In the afternoon:  Go apple-picking with some friends (about an hour and a half drive from my place).
  • In the evening:  Still need to figure out dinner….. hmm, should I defrost something?  Better not – I’ll figure it out when we get home.

To make it even more interesting while at Shabbat Corner, one of my daughter’s classmates asked us if we wanted to join them for a baseball game in the afternoon (which normally I would have jumped on!)…. so much to do, so little time!  How am I going to be able to get to everything, and actually enjoy it?

So, how did it work out?  We actually did it all!

My non-Jewish husband took both kids to the synagogue for Shabbat Corner (for what I hope is the first of many times) so that I could join my fellow Moms In Training.  My son, who normally would not want to be in Shabbat Corner since he is “too old” for the class, reluctantly agreed to sit in with his sister so that mommy could have an hour of time to work out.  Let me tell you what a SHOCK that was!

I got to train for an hour, and then literally ran over to the synagogue (about a half mile away).  I was there for half the class and took over for my husband who hopped onto a train for a 40 minute ride out of the city to my sister’s place, while I managed to enjoy the kids services with both my kids.  The kids and I ran home afterwards and scarfed down some lunch, while I got everything ready for the rest of the day (preparing some snacks and change of clothes).  We were finally done around 2:30 PM and the three of us hopped into the car and headed north the the apple orchard, where we met with our friends, picked way too many apples, jumped on haystacks, and enjoyed apple cider doughnuts (the first time that my kids actually tasted a doughnut)….. but wait – then I realized…what was I going to do about dinner (it was 5:30 PM at this point already)!

One of my friends suggested a great hibachi place by her house, which was on the way back towards the city – we all agreed it was a great idea!  OK – reservation for 12 was made. (Yes, you read that right!!  We were three families at the orchards).  I checked in with my hubby and he was done with his work at my sister’s…. sooooo, I got back on the road.  I left my son with my friends while my daughter and I zoomed off to pick up my husband and bring him to dinner.   We got to the restaurant and ran into another family of four that we knew and now we had a party of 16 for dinner!

We crowded around two hibachi tables, enjoyed good food, drinks (which was definitely needed) and great company.  We then drove an hour to get back home.

I must have driven at least 100 miles, but somehow managed to get everything done, including spending some quality time with friends and family, and some quality “mom” time.  So much for a quiet and relaxing Saturday.  Although it was a perfect Shabbat, if you ask me!   🙂

How do you manage the constant juggle and busy days?  Do you pick and choose what activities to do?  Do you have one day of the week that you try to relax and not run around?

This is an original post to World Moms Blog by Maman Aya.

Photo credit to the author.

Maman Aya (USA)

Maman Aya is a full-time working mother of 2 beautiful children, a son who is 6 and a daughter who is two. She is raising her children in the high-pressure city of New York within a bilingual and multi-religious home. Aya was born in Canada to a French mother who then swiftly whisked her away to NYC, where she grew up and spent most of her life. She was raised following Jewish traditions and married an Irish Catholic American who doesn’t speak any other language (which did not go over too well with her mother), but who is learning French through his children. Aya enjoys her job but feels “mommy guilt” while at work. She is lucky to have the flexibility to work from home on Thursdays and recently decided to change her schedule to have “mommy Fridays”, but still feels torn about her time away from her babies. Maman Aya is not a writer by any stretch of the imagination, but has been drawn in by the mothers who write for World Moms Blog. She looks forward to joining the team and trying her hand at writing!

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