Baby Banana Enters Preschool

HA - psyche! But in response to Fraulein N's comment on my last update, I wanted to remind y'all: no kids for me, thank you very much! Not now, not 5 years from now, not ever. (And please don't say, "Oh, you'll change your mind" or I'll scream! I'm nearly 30 years old - I think I know what I want at this point!) Mr. Banana and I get to babysit for our friends' kids occasionally and that's quite enough hands-on time with little ones. We get to have our fun and then take a nap, too!

MetroDad recently wrote a post about how it's hard for parents to carve out any alone time for themselves, and I feel for you guys, I really do. Not to rub it in your faces but not being a parent, I've got nothing BUT free time to fill in any way I please. (Minus those pesky 8-1/2 hours I'm at work every day.) And that's become an interesting subject for me and Mr. Banana lately. How should we spend our free time?

We, like most other people, end up getting sucked into the daily routine of working, walking the dogs, cleaning up around the house, making dinner, and then collapsing onto the couch in exhaustion. (Seriously, how do people with kids do all that PLUS take care of the kids? Oh my god, I'm overwhelmed just thinking about it!)

Many nights, I would automatically flip on The Daily Show at 8 pm and then end up watching tv for two hours before bed because I felt like I deserved that break. But the truth is that 95% of the stuff on TV these days is total crap, and I was wasting precious free time staring mindlessly into the boob tube. I knew there were other things I could be doing with my time, but turning on the TV was just so easy.

Now, thanks to the excellent book I'm reading for my book club (Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen), I've snapped myself out of that mind-numbing cycle. Now instead of grabbing for the remote control, I reach for my book, turn on Slacker radio, and put my feet up on the couch while that evil TV stays hidden in its armoire. When it's time to go to bed I feel satisfied and am always reluctant to put my book down (really, is there anything better than a fabulous book?), instead of still feeling drained and frustrated that yet another day has come and gone without me doing something I actually find enjoyable - and that tomorrow will no doubt be an exact repeat of the day before. No more!

Other, more worthwhile weeknight activities I'm pursuing are:

• Painting the birdhouse I received from my Oma and Opa for the wedding (even if you say "No Gifts!" many people still insist...)
• Using the German language software that my father got me for Christmas two years ago
• Looking through my binder of recipes from Real Simple and planning delicious, healthy meals for the week ahead
• And now I can write in my blog again, too!

Thinking past weekday evenings, Mr. Banana and I have also had a wonderful, fun idea on how to spend some of our weekends! But I'll save that for another post soon...

So how do you spend your free time during the busy work week? Or are you a parent of young kids who doesn't get a moment of rest until your head hits the pillow?