It’s finally Friday; the week has come to an end, and if you are lucky you have a couple of days off before the next week begins. It is like The Cure says, “I don’t care if Monday’s blue, Tuesday’s gray and Wednesday too. Thursday I don’t care about you. It’s Friday I’m in love.” Friday’s just feel different than any other day of the week, but the impact of Friday and the freedom it provides you is going to be different depending on what stage of your life you are in.
I remember being twelve or thirteen years old and hearing the final school bell ring on Friday. Everyone would grab their backpack and run out the door. Free at last. I couldn’t wait for my ride to pick me up from the corner so I could go home, have a snack and then retreat to my bedroom where it would be video games and television for the next 48 hours; only coming out to eat or if my parents had chores they needed me to do. Friday’s at that age were for dismissing homework until Sunday night, sleepovers and binge snacking.
Then my twenties rolled around and they were roaring. Now instead of getting out of school at 2:10 in the afternoon, I had to wait to punch out from work at 5:00. Then I would jump in the car and head home, stopping at the taco shop along the way to grab burritos for the roommates. We would eat, change, pre game, and then head to the bar where there would be friends, karaoke and a compounding bar tab lasting into the wee hours of the night. Friday’s in my twenties were for partying with friends and spending that week’s paycheck.
Now I am into my late thirties and Friday’s are a little different. 5:00 rolls around quickly and sometimes I am not done with what needs to be completed at the office so it isn’t quite time to clock out. When I do though, I am headed home to my family. Brooks is waiting to tell me about his day and it’s family dinner at the dining room table before playing with toys in the living room or a walk around the neighborhood. After that it’s bath and bed time for Brooks, reruns of the Office with Jillian and a decent bed time so I can be up early on Saturday morning. Friday’s now are for quality time with the family and decompressing after a long work week.
Do I miss the late night video games and midnight snacks as a teenager? Sometimes. Do I miss the raucousness of the bar scene and the unending stories of debauchery before settling down? Not nearly as much as I thought I would. Turns out that I love the feeling of Friday nights with nothing planned but staying home with the family. I like spending time with Brooks and reading him bedtime stories, I like watching social media reels with Jillian, and I like the quiet. We still have the fun Friday night at out once in a while, but now it’s a fun treat and a memory made where we go out for dinner and an ice cream but are still home before Brooks bedtime.
I still get that same Friday feeling like I did as a teenager hearing the final bell ring, but now I am going home to something different than late nights and video games; something better, something I could have never imagined way back then, and something I never want to change. It’s Friday after all, and I’m in love.
DividuusOne 