Do you ever feel like you are so tied to your schedule that any disruption is almost impossible to overcome? I'm a scheduler, a planner. I like my plans. I like my routines. We live by them and sometimes I feel like we don't really live because of them.
I'm trying to be better with this. Since my children were born we have had a nightly routine. Dinner, playtime/homework, bath, books, prayers, bed. That is the routine. We eat at about 5:30, bath at 6:45, three books and prayers at 7:15 and then usually Alec is down for the count by 7:30. Zach reads quietly to himself until 8 or 8:15 and then he's asleep as well. This is our routine and it works for us. It works really well and I love that. But there are moments when I find myself avoiding activities at night because they would disrupt the routine. Yesterday I found myself NEEDING time with Mike. It was Sunday afternoon and we were supposed to spend the evening with friends from church. That was the plan, the routine, the order of the day. But I felt like Mike and I needed something different. I called our friends, Laura and Gene, and asked if we could change the plan. . . at the last minute (gasp, take a breath).
Laura and Gene were gracious and happy to watch our boys and, therefore, Mike and I had a spur of the moment dinner for two at a nice place downtown that had been on our to-do list for about a year or so. It was lovely and the boys had a ball.
Our evening routine was destroyed. We did quick showers instead of bubble baths for the boys and we only read one book instead of three. Alec didn't get to sleep until after 8 and it was closer to 9 for Zach. But you know what? They survived. Alec is a bit cranky today but it's not the end of the world.
I think I need to make a better effort to find time. To live in the moment and not in the routine. It's hard for me, but that makes it even more precious when I actually step away from the clock and look for the moment.
Good F Words: Family
4 comments:
You are speaking to me!! Now that Laura is older, I can easily let the routine go, but I have a harder time doing that with Grant.
Routines are good and necessary (I think) with kids so they know what to expect. When we stay with our routine, Laura and Grant are happier kiddos. BUT, it is also important to be spontaneous and like you said "live in the now"..relax, let it go and allow your kids to know how to function outside of the routine.
Glad you had a date night and let your hair down a bit!!
We are too alike ya know..routines, schedules, predictability!!
Oh Sissy. I have great memories of our roomie schedules. We really liked to take our feel-good tylenols and get into our beds and then read for awhile before lights out! Of course, roomies like Cara and Maria always threw kinks into those best-laid plans! That's why we love them. They added spice to our routines.
I can't believe you bathe your kids every night. I am a scheduler at heart, but not practically, I have an inner struggle. Plus my husband is the opposite of scheduled and organized(at home) so I have learned to let things go.
I know bathing the kids every night is seen as close to obsessive/compulsive behavior! I just have this thing about clean sheets. I don't like to go to bed dirty and I don't want to put my kids in bed dirty. I always take a shower at night before bed and another in the morning. My nighttime shower is for bathing my body and my morning shower is to wash my hair and wake up. Plus Zach's pediatrician told us that bedtime routines were important so we just did the bath as part of the routine every night. Am I the only mom who bathes kids every night?
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