It is truly amazing to watch the routines we develop, out of complete habit.
Our morning routine:
-Wake up when C wakes up, roll around in bed wishing he would sleep for another hour, finally cave in and go to see if we have a potty mess to clean up.
- Walk down the stairs to the couch, turn on the television to cartoons, get breakfast going, pack lunch.
- Sit down for breakfast, fight with C to eat the new meal or just settle for oatmeal/cereal/waffles to avoid conflict.
- Watch K rush around to take out the dog and be out the door while C has a full on meltdown because daddy didn't kiss him (or mommy) one more time like he wanted.
- 7am turn on PBS
Sounds like a lot of fun huh? I dread mornings. I am a sleep until I wake up, feeling rested kind of lady. But with kids I have become the "wishful thinker", the "just 5 more minutes", the "PLEASE GO BACK TO BED"! I was grumpy and when I am grumpy starting the day off, the day is just doomed.
After a couple days of just being in the wrong place mentally I decided to take charge and create a better routine. One where I don't despise waking up in the mornings because I am so tired I can't notice on the little miracles that were happening right before me.
My new routine:
- Set my alarm for 5am. Early, yes. But I cannot tell you when my child will wake up. It could be 515 or 630. The problem was that I was letting HIM wake ME up and it should really be the other way around. So I start my day off earlier.
- Check to make sure C is still asleep and not quietly playing or pottying in his room.
- Go downstairs and get lunches packed and breakfast ready without a toddler demanding chicken nuggets and a popsicle at 6am.
- Sit down for breakfast with my guys, eating things that we all like and won't fight over but are HEALTHY.
- Turn on cartoons for a little while I clean up and get my morning checklist done.
- Get ready for the day and do our schedule (make it monday, take a trip tuesday ect.)
I have found that I am more relaxed and ready for the day to get going. Who knows how E will be, what she will sleep like and when she will wake up. But I needed this routine change. If for no one else, for ME.
I also have plans to start limiting the time I am on social media. This doesn't do anything for my mental wellbeing. Rather, it has negative consequences because I found myself often jealous of the ability of others to find friends so quickly and establish meaningful relationships. I realized that part of me is hesitant to do this. With moving away from my friends I found that it was up to me to be assertive and make friends. In Florida I didn't do this. I went to work, came home to the pets and isolated myself. Here, I am trying to be more social mostly because I feel that C needs to have friends and not be isolated. His personality and characteristics, though defined, are also developing at an astronomical rate and instead of hindering that, I really want to help him explore. So we make a weekly trip to a kids gym where he learns to not hit other kids his age along with being more aware of his body movements and how to balance and share. We also have memberships to the zoo and aquarium. Places we take him that he enjoys. Not so much interaction with other kids but getting out and understanding nature and animals.
This has been a rambling session. More for me than for anyone else. But sometimes we all need a wake up call and to re-evaluate our routines. Are they helping us or hindering us from being the person we want to be?
Our morning routine:
-Wake up when C wakes up, roll around in bed wishing he would sleep for another hour, finally cave in and go to see if we have a potty mess to clean up.
- Walk down the stairs to the couch, turn on the television to cartoons, get breakfast going, pack lunch.
- Sit down for breakfast, fight with C to eat the new meal or just settle for oatmeal/cereal/waffles to avoid conflict.
- Watch K rush around to take out the dog and be out the door while C has a full on meltdown because daddy didn't kiss him (or mommy) one more time like he wanted.
- 7am turn on PBS
Sounds like a lot of fun huh? I dread mornings. I am a sleep until I wake up, feeling rested kind of lady. But with kids I have become the "wishful thinker", the "just 5 more minutes", the "PLEASE GO BACK TO BED"! I was grumpy and when I am grumpy starting the day off, the day is just doomed.
After a couple days of just being in the wrong place mentally I decided to take charge and create a better routine. One where I don't despise waking up in the mornings because I am so tired I can't notice on the little miracles that were happening right before me.
My new routine:
- Set my alarm for 5am. Early, yes. But I cannot tell you when my child will wake up. It could be 515 or 630. The problem was that I was letting HIM wake ME up and it should really be the other way around. So I start my day off earlier.
- Check to make sure C is still asleep and not quietly playing or pottying in his room.
- Go downstairs and get lunches packed and breakfast ready without a toddler demanding chicken nuggets and a popsicle at 6am.
- Sit down for breakfast with my guys, eating things that we all like and won't fight over but are HEALTHY.
- Turn on cartoons for a little while I clean up and get my morning checklist done.
- Get ready for the day and do our schedule (make it monday, take a trip tuesday ect.)
I have found that I am more relaxed and ready for the day to get going. Who knows how E will be, what she will sleep like and when she will wake up. But I needed this routine change. If for no one else, for ME.
I also have plans to start limiting the time I am on social media. This doesn't do anything for my mental wellbeing. Rather, it has negative consequences because I found myself often jealous of the ability of others to find friends so quickly and establish meaningful relationships. I realized that part of me is hesitant to do this. With moving away from my friends I found that it was up to me to be assertive and make friends. In Florida I didn't do this. I went to work, came home to the pets and isolated myself. Here, I am trying to be more social mostly because I feel that C needs to have friends and not be isolated. His personality and characteristics, though defined, are also developing at an astronomical rate and instead of hindering that, I really want to help him explore. So we make a weekly trip to a kids gym where he learns to not hit other kids his age along with being more aware of his body movements and how to balance and share. We also have memberships to the zoo and aquarium. Places we take him that he enjoys. Not so much interaction with other kids but getting out and understanding nature and animals.
This has been a rambling session. More for me than for anyone else. But sometimes we all need a wake up call and to re-evaluate our routines. Are they helping us or hindering us from being the person we want to be?
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| Sometimes we must abandon our routines and create new ones. |
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