This morning didn’t go very well. It was one of those mornings poets write about. I woke up too early (4:15am) – fell back asleep but then slept through my alarm and didn’t get up until after 7:30am. For our normal routine – that’s about 35 minutes too late.
Then today, my seven-year old is going on an all day field trip and he has the rest of the week off from school. Talk about excited. Talk about not being able to focus.
All morning was a battle, me telling him over and over to get dressed, get ready, make his bed, unload the dishwasher, make his bed, brush his teeth, make his bed, where are his shoes, yes you need to wear a jacket it is 45 degrees outside, did you make you bed…..
Stressful – frantic – – UGH! I lost my cool; I admit – yelled a few times – then yelled again.
Then it was time to say go-bye and my angst was still risen and as I gave him a kiss and told him to have fun – – THE GUILT hit me. And it’s been with me all day. I hate having such a rough morning and then one of us leaving before we’ve both cooled off and have to live with it for the day. I am reassured with the fact that he probably didn’t dwell on it all day – nor is he writing a blog about it – – and he had the field trip to distract him.
But what I’ve also been thinking is – – we’ve fallen out of our routine. This is how I know he is defiantly my child (aside from the stretch marks I still have). He needs a routine just like I do. And I have one set up for him – but haven’t enforced it this week. So we’ve in a sense – fallen off the wagon.
Our routine works like this – – he has a chart of daily things he needs to do – click here – TJ’s Jobs – he highlights the ones he has completed. It is very much like a To Do list I create for myself all the time. Seeing what needs to be done – makes it easier to do said things.
I am reminded by my feelings of guilt that I’ve been experiencing all day – that I need to be the one to keep us on task and on our routine. I need to be the one to put the weekly chart up on the refrigerator and remind him that a new week is starting and to check the chart.
I also remind myself that we are not robots and things happen – like under-sleeping and then over-sleeping and some times things happen in the same morning. Like under-sleeping leading to over-sleeping mixed with an exciting field trip day. And some times – it doesn’t matter if the bed gets made or the dishes are clean – as long as teeth are brushed and everyone agrees on which outer layer to wear – the other stuff will just have to slip by for the time being.
I’m counting the minutes until he gets home….about an hour to go.
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