I picked my two boys up from school, we popped to a shop then drove a different route home.
“Pub?”
I didn’t really expect a reaction from them but my youngest son Harry immediately said “Yes please!” so I drove straight into the pub car park.
It was a lovely summers day (which don’t seem to happen often at the moment) We got our drinks and sat outside at a picnic table and enjoyed each others company.
We all loved it and decided that we would make it “our thing” on a Friday night when we are together (they live with me one week, with their dad the next).
It’s something we have stuck to. When free, my boyfriend and his 2 boys also join us and we all really enjoy it.
It’s a nice time for us to all reconnect, and discuss our weeks without the distraction of work, cats, housework and chores. We generally have a no phone rule unless we are making plans for the weekend or for following weekends.
We now refer to these as “Pub Fridays”. I made the mistake of calling it “Pub Friyay” one day and my children were disappointed in me and told me to “get out”. (Almost feels like a mum success if you’re told you’ve done something cringe).
It’s so nice to do this with the children and not just with my boyfriend on the week when we don’t have our boys. To be able to give them our full attention, for them to also hear adult conversations and to be able to hear us talk about our feelings, for us to give them a chance to talk about school, anything they enjoyed or found hard that week and to discuss how the next week could be better. And to give us something to look forward to after a long working/school week.
It also give me me that incentive at the end of the week to “down tools” and switch off for the weekend.
My only mission now is for “Pub Friyay” to be signed off as appropriate which I feel is going to be tough!
