 | Diary Navigation:
|
October 18, 2003
October 18, 2004
I feel like I’ve died and gone to heaven. Fall is here in all its glory and I am one seriously happy woman. The crisp air, the LEAVES … (insert biiiig sigh of contentment here). I think I’ll expand on this next time, so I’ll leave it at that for now.
Our new schedule …
I have NEVER in my life been one to go to sleep early, and our family has never had a “normal” schedule, at least not since Aidan was born. You know how most old people eat dinner at 4 and are asleep by 8? Not in my family, or at least not on my Dad’s side. My grandmother used to stay up past 11 pm., and sleep in LATE. My Dad gets up early and works long hours, but I definitely get my “night owl” genes from him. If I’m asleep by 11, that’s EARLY for me, and I usually don’t fall asleep before midnight. When Aidan was a baby, Toby and I would get into bed after his 11 pm feeding and Aidan and I usually didn’t wake up before 8 am.
So, this past summer was a complete waste of time in the K. household. Don’t get me wrong, the house got cleaned, the dishes were washed, errands were run. But it was, I don’t know, OUT OF ORDER. I found myself scrambling to do all of these things at the last minute and on my way out the door (or right before company arrived). I know this is normal for most of us, and certainly unavoidable on many occasions. So why did it bother me so much? Because almost always, the disorder in my home was a direct result of the terrible, horrible schedule we were keeping throughout the day.
This may sound morbid, but I’m not going to live forever, and I knew I wasn’t using my time wisely. Spending my day (and therefore my son’s day) in front of the T.V. and on the computer wasn’t the way I felt like God wanted me to spend my time, and I was keenly aware of the fact that precious time was slipping through my fingers. Having a messy home and always feeling like you’re on step behind is one thing. Looking back on these years and believing you’ve squandered your time, and therefore your life, is quite another.
I’m ashamed to share the specifics of our schedule, as it really is BAD, but to show the improvements I’m trying to make now, I guess it’s necessary. Like I said, I often fall asleep around midnight. This summer, midnight somehow became 1 am, which somehow became 2 am and eventually even got pushed back to 3 am on occasion. Our whole schedule got rotated around by as much as 3 hours. There was no way any of us could wake up at a decent hour after going to sleep at 2 or 3 in the morning, so we were sleeping in really, really late too. We were having breakfast at lunchtime, lunchtime when we should have had our afternoon snack and so on and so forth.
Is it any wonder I woke up feeling sick to my stomach most days, and felt tired and sluggish throughout the day? I described our schedule as disgusting because that’s how I felt for much of the summer … disgusting! When we went to California in September, we didn’t have to change our sleeping schedule one bit. In fact, we joked that we had been living on California time here in New York. I guess it’s funny, but it’s also a little embarrassing.
I guess it’s pretty obvious by now that I’ve never been big on keeping a schedule, for myself or for Aidan. I never tried to put him on a sleeping or eating schedule when he was younger, but fed him “on demand” and let him set his own nap schedule (which I would then more or less hold him to as much as possible, but didn’t set FOR him, if that makes any sense). However, as Aidan has gotten older, it has become clear that too much flexibility in his schedule is a recipe for disaster. Translation: continual meltdowns throughout the day and a VERY stressed out Mommy.
So, after a summer of feeling like I was wasting day after precious day, I decided when we returned from Spain to try and get back to “normal”. No more staying up ‘til the wee hours of the morning and waking up at ungodly hours. Little by little, I tried to adjust our clocks back. Interestingly enough, going to Spain and having a big time change seemed to really help me when we returned, in terms of falling asleep at a normal hour, etc.
The clincher for this whole “getting on a schedule” thing has come in the past few weeks, when it has become clear that Aidan NEEDS to get out of the house at some point in the morning. I don’t know why, but his activity level has really, REALLY spiked, and he starts to go a little stir-crazy if he doesn’t get outside and run off some steam before lunchtime. I should add that I ALSO start to go bonkers if he doesn’t get out. I’m telling you, this kid has driven me to the brink of insanity on a number of different occasions recently, so I’m only too happy to get out the door for a few hours. Having a new kitten in the home doesn't help matters, as he just adds to the chaos with all the jumping on the counters and getting into mischief throughout the day.
Our new schedule goes something like this … I try to be up at least a half hour before Aidan wakes up to read my Bible and check and respond to any new e-mails or blog entries from the night before. Depending on what time he fell asleep the night before, I wake Aidan up around the time Sesame Street comes on, make he and I breakfast and while he learns his ABC’s and 123’s, I hop in the shower and try to be finished getting ready as close to the time S.S. is over. This way, all I have to do is get Aidan dressed and we can head out the door.
We run errands, go grocery shopping, take the choo-choo subby (subway) into Manhattan and spend time with my SIL and niece … whatever we feel like. In the coming weeks, I plan to get together with the other ladies from church for play dates or to have lunch or coffee and get to know some of them better. If we don’t have lunch while we’re out, I feed Aidan lunch when we get home and a little while later, put him down for his nap. I’m pretty flexible about what time all of this happens, but he usually goes down before Dr. Phil comes on and if he’s still awake when Oprah starts, then there are two unhappy campers in our home, for sure.
I used to try to get my cleaning done in the morning, but I’ve decided to put most of it off until Aidan goes down for a nap. Sometimes it’s unavoidable, like when the trash is overflowing, but we don’t have a dishwasher and I used to spend the whole dang morning trying to get all the dishes done and then half the day would be gone and Aidan and I would still be in our PJ’s and nowhere NEAR ready to do anything outside. So, the dishes are washed, bathrooms are cleaned and anything else that can be done without waking Aidan up is done in the afternoon now, and I have to say that this has worked really well for me.
I feel like I’m coming off like an incredible hard-ass about all of this. I hope it doesn’t sound like I’m preaching a “every child should be on a schedule” sermon. The truth is, our days are still REALLY flexible. We definitely stay up and sleep in later than most families, and as long as Aidan and I get up at reasonable hour and are out the door before lunch, I am happy. We are both getting more fresh air and exercise during the day, and I can’t tell you how great that makes me feel. I don’t feel like I’m wasting my life anymore, and while I’m certainly not doing anything very important during the day by the world’s standards, the fact that I’m out and about spending time with my son makes me feel pretty darn FANTASTIC. After all, when all’s said and done, isn’t that what matters most?
Until next time,
Rebekah and Aidan
 |  |
|
want to keep a diary on iParenting?
Authoring a diary on the iParenting network allows you to chronicle your family's story, preserving it for years to come. It's also a great way to get the most out of the iParenting community. Click here to start...
|
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families. 
