The Witches and Weekend Morning Routine Dilemmas

Last night we watched The Witches, the 2020 movie remake of Roald Dahl’s classic (and childhood favorite of mine) book. The boys and I have read that book several times over the years, too. I’m actually a big Roald Dahl fan in general and read most of his books as a kid.

The remake is on HBO Max and stars Anne Hathaway and Octavia Spencer (who I LOVE!! She is always fantastic).

At first the boys were a little thrown off- the book is set mostly in Norway. The movie remake is set in 1960’s Alabama. Initially it seemed so different, but I ended up really liking both the setting and the time period!

Besides lots of classic cultural references from that time/place, the beginning part of the movie played a bunch of 60’s era soul hits- music and artists we had just learned more about in Memphis. So that was fun, too. I was like, “Oh!! This is Otis Redding! He recorded at Stax Records in Memphis!!!” Hahaha!

Overall, I really liked the movie!! The beginning seemed a bit “scary” to the kids- there were some really rather creepy scenes while the little boy learns from Grandma about the existence of witches. (Flashbacks of very creepy looking witches preying on children, with thunder and lightning crashing in the background, ominous music, etc.)

Ethan was a little unsure he wanted to proceed and was peeking out from behind a blanket. LOL! But then it settled down and was just very fun! Both Anne Hathaway (plays the Grand High Witch) and Octavia Spencer (who plays the Grandma) were great.

Weekend Routine Dilemmas

I was laying in bed this morning, a little before 7 (didn’t set an alarm). My usual weekend dilemma started running through my head…. How should I spend this first part of the day??

Since I don’t normally get up quite as early on weekends, and I usually need to “get going” on whatever it is we will do that day by ~9/9:30 (nothing today, obviously, but I mean on a normal weekend, that’s usually around when things really start moving for us as a family), I don’t have unlimited “morning time”, of course.

There are so many things I could/ would like to do in the early morning slot, but I can’t do them all! I have this dilemma even sometimes during the week, but most days I stick to a combination of calendar/journal session + a blog post.

Weekend Morning Choices….

• write blog post (duh. This often wins out)
• read! Like, just make tea and sit in the sunroom or on the deck and read for an extended period of time.
• go for an EARLY morning walk. I love to do this, but sometimes other choices win out…(in which case I walk later. But I really love the early morning time slot, too.)
• go in the hot tub in the early morning! Preferably with a book and tea.
• get my workout in early (especially if it’s a day that looks busy and might not happen later)
• catch up on work?? Sometimes this feels like the smartest/ best choice, depending on the week.
• putter around on the internet in a way I don’t have time to during the week. Discover new blogs, read articles, comment on others’ blogs, etc.
• work on some kind of personal project that might not fit in later once we are all doing things together (i.e. my photo project)

I guess that about sums up my favorite early(ish) morning options. Many times I feel it’s a “I want to have my cake and eat it, too” situation. I like to do ALL of these things! Hahahaha! I need like, 5 hours to myself in the mornings. LOL!

I usually do a combo of a couple items, but then some other days I will just scratch everything else and pick one longer option. Maybe as the weather warms up even more I’ll make a point to “schedule” in/reserve some days for early morning walks or outside reading sessions or something- because I really do enjoy those things, seasonally. It’s always a trade-off, though! I like doing them all. 🙂

(Ivan usually sleeps in until around 8:00 on Saturdays, and the boys have standing video game dates with apparently every kid they ever knew on Saturday mornings….ha.)

How do you like to spend your mornings? Weekdays vs weekends?? I am fascinated by others’ morning routines!

Daily Gratitude:

I am grateful for the hand sprayer on my kitchen faucet. Really comes in handy. 🙂