Comments on: Weekday evening vibes (and an apology note about time tracking emails) https://lauravanderkam.com/2023/10/weekday-evening-vibes-and-an-apology-note-about-time-tracking-emails/ Writer, Author, Speaker Wed, 11 Oct 2023 14:47:04 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2 By: Laura Vanderkam https://lauravanderkam.com/2023/10/weekday-evening-vibes-and-an-apology-note-about-time-tracking-emails/#comment-482522 Wed, 11 Oct 2023 14:47:04 +0000 https://lauravanderkam.com/?p=19305#comment-482522 In reply to Laura C.

@Laura C – they are a sponsor! And yep, that can be a fun way to spend the evening – or a rainy Saturday for sure.

]]> By: Laura C https://lauravanderkam.com/2023/10/weekday-evening-vibes-and-an-apology-note-about-time-tracking-emails/#comment-482517 Wed, 11 Oct 2023 14:19:41 +0000 https://lauravanderkam.com/?p=19305#comment-482517 Another thing we do with week night hours – which might be a good sponsor for Best of Both Worlds! – is Kiwi Co boxes. My sister bought my 7 year old a subscription a few years ago. They come to your house, and there’s little science things you can build inside, and little booklets with stories and more science info. They help time feel richer because they are always different.

]]> By: LK https://lauravanderkam.com/2023/10/weekday-evening-vibes-and-an-apology-note-about-time-tracking-emails/#comment-482482 Wed, 11 Oct 2023 01:30:34 +0000 https://lauravanderkam.com/?p=19305#comment-482482 One thing that has helped a lot is keeping really good longish kids books on hand. My son’s homework includes 15 minutes of reading, and it makes it way more fun to have something I want to read, and also for bedtime we read these books. Graphic novels mostly, but also some novels and funny picture books. So far Amulet was good (well, the art is good), and Harry Potter, and Loki: A Bad God’s Guide to Being Good, and Blue, Barry, & Pancakes, Max Meow, Dogman, and Hilo. I can think of others if anyone else is interested. It’s a really bright point in my day, listening to him giggle. But this takes time to research them and request them from the library; it doesn’t just happen, so I have to make time to do it. Even if you don’t have the mental energy to get yourself to read, somehow it can be easier getting yourself to read to your kid, or to read over their shoulder to help with big words.

This is a bigger effort, but I’ve also started trying to create the things that I want to do in my town. For example, the price of coding classes went up and the quality went down, and I really felt like we should have a free kid’s coding club at the library, so with the help of a former student and the children’s librarian, I started it, and now we get to code with other kids in the evening and make video games. I’m really lucky to be in a town where other people do things like that, too: see something that they think should exist, and then they make it, and people show up for them. You can be the fun you want to see in the world. And it doesn’t have to be perfect to be fun. One mom’s club member hosted a Hocus Pocus movie night for Mom’s Night Out. She pushed the kids toys over to the side of the play room after bedtimes and opened a bottle of wine and invited strangers over, and it was awesome.

]]> By: Saturday Seven 306: Lifestyle & More for Quilters - A Quilting Life https://lauravanderkam.com/2023/10/weekday-evening-vibes-and-an-apology-note-about-time-tracking-emails/#comment-482123 Sat, 07 Oct 2023 10:00:43 +0000 https://lauravanderkam.com/?p=19305#comment-482123 […] in this article: “Balancing Act: Carving Out Time for Fun in Your Hectic Schedule.” And this post has lots of good ideas for productively using your early evening hours (this is often a good time for me to quilt, […]

]]> By: Laura Vanderkam https://lauravanderkam.com/2023/10/weekday-evening-vibes-and-an-apology-note-about-time-tracking-emails/#comment-482010 Fri, 06 Oct 2023 14:59:44 +0000 https://lauravanderkam.com/?p=19305#comment-482010 In reply to Courtney.

@Courtney – I love this! Yep, it doesn’t have to be an ordeal, and that hour needs to be filled somehow…

]]> By: Courtney https://lauravanderkam.com/2023/10/weekday-evening-vibes-and-an-apology-note-about-time-tracking-emails/#comment-482007 Fri, 06 Oct 2023 14:53:48 +0000 https://lauravanderkam.com/?p=19305#comment-482007 I have a 3YO and 1YO and live in Massachusetts where after dinner is getting chilly and dark… but we’ve still been managing a “camp fire” around our fire pit once a week or so on a weekday when the kids are otherwise just exhausted and weepy and need to kill time until we can pour them into bed. Even my super active toddler is pretty content to sit on a lap in an adirondack chair and just get cuddles and watch the fire for half an hour, and then a great time is had by the preschooler when someone gets to (safely help an adult) aim the hose at it before we go inside. I had previously thought of “nights around the fire as something that took hours and planning, but it turns out its a perfectly great way to enjoy the challenging 5:30-6:30 slot!

]]> By: Laura Vanderkam https://lauravanderkam.com/2023/10/weekday-evening-vibes-and-an-apology-note-about-time-tracking-emails/#comment-482002 Fri, 06 Oct 2023 14:31:40 +0000 https://lauravanderkam.com/?p=19305#comment-482002 In reply to Maggie.

@Maggie – sounds like a fun night! I love libraries.

]]> By: Maggie https://lauravanderkam.com/2023/10/weekday-evening-vibes-and-an-apology-note-about-time-tracking-emails/#comment-481992 Fri, 06 Oct 2023 13:13:49 +0000 https://lauravanderkam.com/?p=19305#comment-481992 I really like this post’s topic. I took my toddler to a new library and grocery shopping one week night. It was very memorable for us because everything was new (while being very accessible).

]]> By: Laura Vanderkam https://lauravanderkam.com/2023/10/weekday-evening-vibes-and-an-apology-note-about-time-tracking-emails/#comment-481984 Fri, 06 Oct 2023 12:15:39 +0000 https://lauravanderkam.com/?p=19305#comment-481984 In reply to Karen.

@Karen – ok, you convinced me. On the list. When is fall peak there, usually?

]]> By: Laura Vanderkam https://lauravanderkam.com/2023/10/weekday-evening-vibes-and-an-apology-note-about-time-tracking-emails/#comment-481983 Fri, 06 Oct 2023 12:15:21 +0000 https://lauravanderkam.com/?p=19305#comment-481983 In reply to Katherine B.

@Katherine – so fun to have a team everyone in the family roots for. It becomes more of an event and even if someone isn’t so into sports they can get into the shared experience. My husband’s family are all big Texas A&M football fans, so they’re always texting each other about the games, and they go to see one each year together.

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