This week I received a writing prompt from Story Worth, How do you spend your Saturdays? At first, I scoffed. Saturday? At my age, I’m lucky to differentiate the days of the week, but it did cause me to reflect on how my Saturdays had evolved.

As a child, my Saturdays equaled freedom. I went to birthday parties, played with my friends, and was forced to watch Lawrence Welk if we had a babysitter. As a teenager, it was usually date night with my current boyfriend at the movies or hanging out at someone’s house. When I was in college, half of Saturday was spent sleeping, playing bridge, and perhaps writing the paper that was due on Monday. Saturday night was reserved for some kind of foolishness, like fraternity parties or playing drinking games at a college bar. After I graduated from college and had a real job, my Saturdays were spent grading papers, designing lesson plans, and doing graduate school assignments.

When I became a mom, Saturdays changed drastically. I morphed into a party host, driver to the mall, softball coach, dance mom, tennis mom, and cheer mom. It was rare if our home wasn’t a whirlwind of activity. Fortunately, during football season, my then-husband and I managed to go to ASU games, but for the most part, our kids dictated Saturdays.

Now Saturday just blends in with the other six days of the week. My married friends, of course, still go out for dinner, to the movies, to parties, but my Saturday has no significance. COVID has certainly squashed my urge to go mingle among a mass of people.

So to all my young readers, who are in the manic Saturday stage, remember there will come a time when you miss the frenzy of Saturday.