Janurary 15th

Today's picture is not just a picture, but a movie too! Here is Fraser at his gymnastics class working on his front flip. I think this is pretty impressive for someone who couldn't do a forward roll on the mat when he started gymnastics this fall. I have been so impressed with how hard he has worked to improve every class.  He is often such a perfectionist that I worry if he isn't immediately good at something he won't want to pursue it and will instead move on and look for something else that he is a "natural" at. This fall he completely proved me wrong, and I couldn't be more proud.

The second photo for the day, however, represents the problem I find myself struggling with more and more often as the years go by. While Fraser is doing gymnastics on Tuesday nights I have no choice but to take Hammie and Eleanor with me (Andy isn't home early enough to watch them). Sometimes we do bring books to read, but since I want to be able to watch Fraser in his class so I can talk to him about it afterward, more often than not Hammie and Eleanor end up playing video games on the floor. If you add up all the time Eleanor spends (a) in the car on the way to the boys activities and (b) watching the boys activities (or playing video games/watching Disney Jr. on my phone) she spends about 3 hours a week just doing that. I know that doesn't sound like a ton, but that doesn't even include the 4 extra hours she spends in the car picking up Fraser from school each week, and we haven't even started t-ball and coach pitch for the boys, which will start in the spring. And yes, Hammie does watch Eleanor's swim class, and Fraser had to watch Hammie and Eleanor's gymnastics, but somehow I still think Eleanor gets the short end of the stick. It's hard to balance wanting to allow your children to try all the activities they are interested in while they are still so excited to try new things, with how much time your other children have to spend waiting around....