Kids are like candy

As has become the norm as of late, I get up in the morning, turn on the computer, and look in the bottom right hand corner only to be shocked. Crap, it is Friday already.

Where did the week go?

Normal people would be thinking - "Oh boy, the weekend, time to relax."

Not so for me. You see the 16 hour weekdays that make up the work week are my time to relax. It is the calm period of predictability before I enter the chaos of the weekends where the kiddos seem to rule.

Don't get me wrong. I adore my kiddos. But, did you know that my blood pressure averages about 10 points higher on the weekends.

Really.

Isn't that weird? Here, I work a solid, nose to the grindstone, 40 hour week of consulting with an additional 20 to 40 hours of nonprofit work during my work week. Yet, it is my health that seems to get squeamish during the weekends.

What does that say about the chaos I live in? Jeez, what does that say about my parenting skills?

Ever since I started noticing fluctuations in my blood pressure I started wondering what the cause was? Then, I started paying closer attention to what was going on. Don't tell anyone, but I feel far more pressure at home. At work, I am on my game. I exude confidence. I have absolutely no doubt in my ability to identify a business problem, architect a technology solution, build it, and put it into production. No matter how much money is on the line, I don't even break a sweat. I know I can deliver and I know I can surpass expectations.

No pressure there.

At home though... Wow! Things seem to come so much faster. Wife has a list of things that need fixing. Graham "needs" me to play Wii with him. Ainsley "needs" new batteries in the nuclear candy bomb she is building (speaking of which I will probably need to find out where she is hiding the candy wrappers this week). Sydney wants a hug and help with a homework project. Oh, and I have to get the laundry started and breakfast on the table. After all it is the weekend and we must have eggs, bacon, sausage, english muffins and grapefruit on the table.

That was just the first 2 minutes of the weekend.

Now we have Tae Kwon Do, grocery shopping and 2 birthday parties all before 1 PM. Oops, I just realized we need to get gifts for the birthday parties. Now we need to fit in a trip to Walmart somewhere in there too.

I just don't know how to get it all in. How do you keep them all happy? How do you divide yourself into fifths?

That is the pressure that effects my blood pressure.

I have come to believe kids are like candy. They are really yummy but not very good for your health.

Yet I also know that it is my purpose that puts the pressure on and I wouldn't do anything to change it.