ahhhh...weekends

this is a sponsored post for nutrish cat food. they are responsible for how handsome my cats are as they are providing samples of their amazing cat food for the kitties to eat. all opinions and stories, good or bad, are mine alone. for more information on nutrish for cats, please click here. 

ahhhh...weekends. time to relax, sit poolside, sip a frothy beverage. time to sleep in, catch up on some novels, enjoy a meal out.  that is what life used to look like. my weekends before children involved my husband and i sleeping in (seriously, until noon some days), walking to a mexican restaurant, ordering breakfast burritos and then walking home to sit in the pool all day while our dogs swam and slept next to us. seriously. every weekend. it was as amazing as it sounds and we had absolutely no idea how wonderful it was.

life with kids is different. without scaring all the non-parents out there, weekends do not look anything like the pre-kid weekends we had before. first of all, there is no sleeping in. ever. there is just early and earlier. i'm waiting for the teenage years when i have to pry my kids out of bed. i've heard rumors that maybe then i'll be able to sleep past 7:00 on a saturday. it remains to be seen. once awake, the weekends don't look that much different than a weekday. school days are replaced with sports days. instead of packing lunches in the mornings, you are making them at noon. breakfast dishes need washed. lunch dishes. dinner dishes. if you choose to avoid laundry, it will just be a bigger pile on monday. lawns need mowing, kids need attention, litter boxes need emptying. motherhood is kind of like that movie "groundhog day." if you haven't seen it, go find it and watch it. it's the story of a man who wakes up each morning to find he is repeating the same day, over and over again. motherhood is kind of like that. each day continues on much like the last. weekends might look a little different than weekdays but it is much the same. parents manage to keep on doing what needs to be done and caring for kids, pets, homes. one groundhog day turns into another and then ten years have passed and you wonder where the time went. that's just how parenthood is.

the thought of relaxing doesn't usually cross my mind most weekends. still, i have little moments of escape throughout my days when i can sneak away and find a brief calm from the storm. believe it or not, my laundry room is my safe haven. let's face it, with five kids, there is an endless supply of laundry. i think i saw the bottom of a laundry bin a few years ago around christmas time and i attributed it to a christmas miracle. i haven't seen the bottom of one since then so there is no other logical explanation. 

the laundry room has become this lovely hiding place for me. the kids don't want to come in for fear they will be asked for fold towels or match socks. the hum of the washer and dryer drown out the noise from the rest of the house. i spend so much time in the room that i brought in a set of old computer speakers that now broadcast whatever show my cell phone is playing. thanks to hulu, netflix and amazon prime, the watching possibilities are endless. i literally spend hours in there, washing, drying, folding, sorting. it is the most peaceful time of my weekend. 

adding to the peace and quite are two of the smartest cats in the world. no matter what time i go into my laundry bliss, the cats come in to find me. they are smart enough to try to avoid the little hands around the house like the plague. nothing good can come from a two year old carrying you. normally, just as the dryer is starting to hum, the two of them will join the party. they'll find a warm spot to sleep and the three of us will pass an afternoon in relative peace. it is a quiet sanctuary for us and for hours on end, we escape the world together. we rescued our cats from an animal shelter a few years ago so the kids could have some pets to love but they have attached themselves to me and have become my littlest buddies and companions...even in the midst of the crazy.

and there is joy in those moments. my weekends may not be what they used to be when i was childless but my perspective has changed and i find joy in the routine. there is joy in the company of two little cats who sneak away to be by my side. there is joy in saturday morning pancakes and soccer games. there is joy in life with five kids and two cats...and i wouldn't trade it for the world.


this post is sponsored by nutrish for cats. we are so honored to partner with rachael ray as she promotes her new cat food line and her initiative to help get sheltered cats find their forever homes. our family's two cats were rescue kitties and there are millions more like them. millions of cats enter shelters every year, where they're often quickly put into cages. they're scared, confused and sometimes even dirty. a photo is snapped and then quickly shared, to be seen by people looking to adopt. unfortunately, these photos don't always capture the full beauty and personality of the cats. that's why rachael ray™ nutrish™ is proud to partner with greatergood.org® and one picture saves a life™. together, they'll travel across the country taking photos worthy of these loving cats who are simply looking for a second chance.

rachael ray™ nutrish™  cat food is made from real meat like chicken or fish as the #1 ingredient in these delicious recipes. there's never any junk like meat poultry by product, artificial preservatives or flavors. plus, rachael's proceeds help animals in need in shelters around the country through "rachael's rescue."

try out nutrish cat food today by clicking through this link for more information and to find a store near you.