Here we go!

As a first time parent of a 22-month old, I have toyed off and on with the idea of blogging. I read mommy blogs, I subscribe to mommy listservs and I have benefited from them. I just wasn't sure the world needed another first-time mom blog. I also wasn't sure I wanted my son's childhood public for the world to see. Mostly, I wasn't sure what I would say.

I have been really fortunate to have been able to spend a lot of time with Sonny in the first 2 years of his life. I was home with him full-time for the first 4 months. One of the most valuable lessons I learned during that time was that there are no hard and fast rules to parenting. You do what works for you and for your family. I loved staying home. But I also missed working and that made me sad. However, I wasn't willing to give up being at home either. Somehow, by some stroke of luck, I was offered a job that allowed me to work 3 days/week, which allowed me to be home with Sonny 2 days a week. I fell in love with the balance that provided. We had this schedule until he turned 15 months and I began a graduate program. With two years of coursework looming, my schedule became less flexible. I soon realized though that the school offered very few classes on Fridays. Partly because of financial reasons (one less day of daycare to pay for) and partly because I missed having time alone with Sonny, I decided I wouldn't take any classes, attend any meetings, or otherwise do any schoolwork (okay, maybe a little during naptime) on Fridays. And so, while I of course am still a mom the other days of the week, Fridays have become in my house, "Mama day."

Living in a new city, faced with the prospect of wide open Fridays and a really active toddler, I spend a lot of time figuring out fun things for us to do on Fridays. This blog is my attempt to chronicle and catalog those things - both for myself (you can only come up with so many ideas!) and for anyone else looking for fun things to do in the Boston area on Fridays. (BTW, we are car-free and I have a transportation-obsessed toddler, so much of our adventuring focuses on trains and buses). Some of the activities are indoors (the winter is looong here) and many are outdoors. They include more obvious (museums, etc.) and the less obvious (commuter rail trips). I'm hoping some rainy Friday, when I have very little energy to be creative, I'll be able to scan the blog and say, "Oh, that was a fun day, let's do that again!" And maybe you will too!