Ruth's blog: 15 Fridays

I have got 15 Fridays left with my son before he starts school in September.  That doesn’t feel very many.  It doesn’t feel enough.

Since returning to work when he was around a year old, Fridays have been my non-working day.  At that point I spent Fridays with our older daughter too, finding activities that suited one or the other, or ideally both.  Then came the lockdown era(s): Fridays spent at home, or out in the park – wishing for something to be open or activities to be running.  This overlapped with our daughter starting school….then it was just my son and I on Fridays.  I wished so hard for them all to be fun!  Adventures!  Play dates!  And soft play and going to the swings with friends!  Some were and some were locked down…..then came the summer holidays – back to two children on Fridays.  And then eventually came the time when it was just us two again and we could do all of those things but I realised that my Fridays with my August-born son were limited.  There were only 52 Fridays left….

I made a mental list of every London museum, activity, view, walk and park.  I found the opening hours for various soft plays and toddler cinemas and researched all the library story and singing times.  I felt he had missed out on so much during the lockdowns and I wanted to make the most of my time with just my little one.

As the year has gone on and he has grown and changed so much more than I realised, we have found our Friday rhythm.  Firstly he gets to stay in pajamas until it is time to leave the house.  This seems a fair deal to me.  He helps me tidy the house (got to make the most of this!).  Then we go out – sometimes on a train or bus, sometimes to a museum but mostly we stay local – we are both tired and happy to chill.  We potter around local shops and cafes, meet friends at a park, soft play or at one of our houses.  We bake.  We chat.  We read.  We play.  It is wonderful.  It is all I could wish for.

But now there are only 15 Fridays left in this era and for 6 of them our daughter will be around too – so that makes it just 9?  He seems too young to be looking at black school shoes and ties on elastic; he will be 4 years and 3 weeks old when he starts Reception.  Another milestone approaches: no pre-school children anymore.

He will be fine.  He is excited for the change.  Nursery has prepared him well and we have encouraged friendships with children also starting with him.  He is starting on a massive adventure.

And as for me - what happens to my Fridays in September?  What will my Friday adventure be?  Will I take the spare time to do some things for myself or give those hours to house work or (paid) work?  Hmmm… I’ve got 15 weeks to decide ….I’d better start thinking about it.

Ruth works 4 days per week in a central London accounting & tax firm.  She lives in South West London with her husband, two children aged 6 and 3 and a tank of tropical fish.

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• Families