Friday.

Friday, oh Friday. This day has taken on different meanings over the last few years. Before we had children, Fridays were a day of celebration. The weekend had arrived and it was time to rest and have fun. As soon as Toby was born, weekends dissolved into the rest of the continuous, monotonous, sleep deprived, bleary eyed week. Weekends were no different to the rest of the week, and lie-ins were certainly a thing of the past. When the boys were slightly older and had started school, I used to dread the weekends and long for Monday mornings when the house would be peaceful and fight-free again.

More recently, weekends have become easier for us and although we are not quite at the lie-ins stage yet, the mornings are certainly more chilled than they used to be. When they are not telling tales, throwing balls in each other's faces, weeing in the garden (yes, really) or stealthily lifting the fence panels so they can retrieve their footballs from the neighbour's garden, the boys actually play fairly nicely together and even help us get on with jobs that we need to do. Weekends are no longer dreaded. So, Fridays can be celebrated again and 'end of half term' Fridays can be even more of an event.

Today was one such Friday. Throwing their bags, coats, shoes, PE kits and other paraphernalia on the floor by the front door, my boys headed straight outside to the back garden. Apart from the fact that they keep leaving the back door open and letting all the freezing cold air into the house, I love watching them shedding their layers of school expectations. They can just be themselves again. They stayed outside until teatime (apart from Toby who came in to cook the tea - another blog altogether, but a very interesting one). They ate their tea with their usual relish and gusto (we even managed a burp and fart-free dinner time tonight), cleared the table and went straight back outside again only coming in when it was too dark to see each other.

I love watching them relaxing in the way they know best. I love knowing that we have days of this to come. I love the fact that it is Friday and tomorrow we don't have to nag, cajole and bribe them to be out of the house early in the morning. I even dare to hope that one day we might have our lie-ins restored. On that day, Fridays will be even more exciting.