Schedules

As an elementary school teacher, my daily schedule was essential to my survival. It was planned to the very last minute because we were always so concerned about fitting everything we needed to teach into the day. Now, as a stay at home mom, I still find myself driven by a schedule, but more so for my own sanity than to make sure we "fit everything in." When I am not scheduled I begin to feel disoriented and unproductive. So, it was a big shock this week to have our schedule completely blown up due to Padyn's illness. (Subsequently, mommy and daddy also got sick, but not as badly as Padyn. We didn't need all the towels.)

Just for fun, I thought I'd compare our normal daily schedule with the one dictated by the stomach flu.

Normal Routine
7:30am Wake-up happy, reading to herself
8am Eat breakfast
9am Get dressed, some PBS, read books
10am Out and about-shopping, mother's group playgroup, library, gymnastics, etc.
12pm Lunch
1pm Nap
3:30pm Snack
4-5:30pm Playing, mommy tutoring, visiting friends, park, etc.
6pm Video while mommy makes dinner
6:30-8pm Dinner, bath, books, bedtime


Flu Routine
7am (or earlier) Wake-up crying/screaming
7:15am Two bites of toast
7:30 Videos
9am Asking for a nap
11am Wake-up crying, demanding food she can't/won't eat
11:30 More videos, intermittent crying
2pm Asking for another nap
4pm Wake-up crying, demanding food she will take one bite of then demand something else
4:30pm More videos, half asleep on mommy
6:30pm Crying, asking to go nigh-nigh


Of course, the flu routine also includes such favorites as waking up screaming in the middle of the night, cleaning up vomit and diarrhea, doing lots of laundry, and a highly unhappy, unreasonable two year old.

There is one bonus to the flu routine that I don't normally get with the normal one-lots and lots of cuddling with my lovable two year old. I just wish it wasn't due to her feeling miserable.


Post Script
I do realize that the "New Baby Routine" will more closely resemble the "Flu Routine" than the "Normal Routine." I just would like a couple more weeks of "Normal Routine" before our world is turned upside down again.