Time with Dad (or Mom!)

So glad to hear that some medical kids survive!!! My husband and I are also doctor's kids--he turned out ok too, although he's not terribly close to his Dad. My parents' marriage crashed and burned after 22 years-my Mom left because she couldn't take the "medical wife" stuff anymore. My brother has a horrible relationship with Dad, because he was never around. Of course Mom wasn't either, so that couldn't have helped. I guess my history should be explanation enough for why I'm paranoid about the kids getting enough Dad time!! And Iit also explains why I've chosen to be a stay at home Mom during these years. No need for Dr. Freud here!

Honestly--mostly my kids seem happy, just after a week of no Dad, they start getting sad. I do too. Who wouldn't? I thank everyone for all the ideas. I'm already trying them out and my husband is taking the kids in for informal rounds on Sunday evening.. I'll let you know how it goes....

Jennifer-
No ideas at all about cheap dates--except for free drug dinners. (We have gotten 3 of those in the last year and 2 mos.) We are lucky to have a huge supply of babysitters and neighborhood kids, but so far we've only used them for going out to dinner around Brookline! I like Dedham--we go out there to shop often and my daughter did a Mommy and me thing at Charles River gym when we first got here. You have to let me know if there are any hidden cool things for kids out there--my summer Camp Mommy program is getting a little monotonous....

Angie

Well, so far we've picked our own blueberries out in Sharon (they also have pick your own peaches and raspberries right now and in the fall it's pick your own apples and pumpkins) on a berry farm. We've also gone to Sharon to have ice cream that you can eat while watching the dairy cows that produced the milk for the ice cream chew their cuds in the field (my kids had their pic taken for the Neponset News while we were doing this - I think it came out either on the seventh or the ninth with their pic in it eating ice cream - still have to get a copy). We've been to the Wrentham outlets. By far the funnest thing has been to go up to Cape Ann. We really like Wingearsheek (sp?) Beach a LOT. We also took a day and drove all over Gloucester - it was soooo cool (there's this sea wall you can walk out on that juts straight into the ocean about two hundred feet!!). I took the kids to the public gardens one day - fun! In the city of Dedham there really isn't much to do except go to the miniature golf course. Otherwise there's Cosco (which all children seem to find exciting although it's just a shopping trip for the mommies). There's nowhere to swim around here - so we go up to Cape Ann or over to a friend's pool in Sudbury. I have yet to explore Cape Cod, though - I'm going to do that next summer I think. Anyway, we've been here for about six weeks now and it is SO neat! I don't care for the actual city of Boston but I looooove New England!

Jennifer

[Meenah]

Jennifer,
It sounds like you have done some really neat things. I'm glad you are getting settled.
Luanne