Charlotte Marsch at the Herald Free Press has written an article “Making Weekends Count” (registration required) in which she laments the poor amount of time she and her husband can spend with her daughter during the week, how the babysitter seems to get the ‘happy Rachel’, and how weekends need to be maximised.

The problem is we don’t end up with much time to spend with Rachel during the week – only about an hour in the morning and 21â?„2 hours in the evening. Much of the evening time is spent with me cooking, then the adults eating and then Rachel eating. By this time, she is rubbing her eyes, a surefire signal that if we don’t put her to bed soon, she will start crying to let us know that she is tired.

She goes on to talk about a weekend where they stayed with Rachel’s grandparents at a cabin an hour’s drive from home, without interruptions from TV, Internet, or chores.

She concludes that weekends are never long enough, but that they are learning to make the best of them.

I think this is sound advice for all couples and families with hectic schedules. Weekends can be a time of refreshment and of doing things together that there isn’t time for at during the week.

Read the full article: Making weekends count