A family affair
I seem to have fallen into a rut. Over the past several weeks I have become more and more aware of the failings of this rut-like behavior. It seeps in at the edges of my interaction with my kiddo, and our day to day routines. I find myself short of patience because I can’t seem to follow through on any sort of routine, and yet I’m annoyed when things don’t get done the way I would like them to be done.
I think it became very clear to me after this entry that things were a bit amiss. Basically, our daily routine during the week runs something like this:
5:00am - alarm rings. I hit snooze.
5:07 - 5:35 - repeat the above.
5:42 - 6:30 - launch out of bed, shower, dress, grab breakfast shake, verify kiddo’s teeth have been brushed and he’s had something to eat. Rush rush rush to get out the door as soon as possible.
6:35 - 6:40 - drop off kiddo and daycare.
6:45 - 7:30 - commute to work.
7:30 - 4:30pm - work. That’s all I can tell you about it. Other than the fact that most days I don’t even leave my desk to take a lunch. 9 straight hours in that chair, in front of the computer.
4:30 - 5:30 - commute home.
5:35pm - pick up kiddo, head home and briefly think about what to make for dinner.
6:00pm - Open the refrigerator for the 5th time since we got home, stare balefully at the selection and wait for inspiration to strike.
6:01pm - ask kiddo if he’s even hungry yet (in what? the hopes he’ll just shrug and say dinner is over-rated, let’s skip it? Well, honestly - yes.) Hopes dashed as he responds that he’s “starving to death.”
6:02pm - Try the staring thing with the freezer, and then the pantry.
6:05pm - Offer to make kiddo a sandwich for dinner, selling it with the idea that it’s quick! He could be eating in a mere 5 minutes! As opposed to waiting 30 for dinner to be prepared. Feel relief mixed with guilt that I took the easy way out for dinner. Again. Vow not to make it a habit. For the third night in a row. Make him his sandwich and poke around for something for me to eat. Settle on stick of cheese.
6:15pm - 7:30ish - retreat to my room and check email, blogs, etc. IM with friends. Talk on the phone. Periodically check on kiddo who is either playing video games, watching tv, or playing on the internet. Encourage him to play outside, play in his room, read a book, or perhaps do a couple chores. Surprisingly he barely registers that I’ve spoken to him, which initially annoys me but soon after I am distracted by housecleaning that I very well could be doing. Wander back to the computer. Eventually herd kiddo into the shower and pajamas, shove guilty thoughts such as “what quality family time we spend together!” to the back of my mind, with the rest of them.
8:30pm - put kiddo to bed. Watch tv, talk on the phone, go online or do any combination of these, including all simultaneously.
11:30pm - Start nagging myself to go to bed so I don’t have to press snooze five thousand times in the morning.
Eventually go to bed, somewhere around midnight. Sometimes later.
The only thing that changes now that he’s back in school is that he is doing homework while I’m having a staring contest with the food in the fridge.
The thing is… I want to spend quality time with him. Ideally I’d like to get home and throw together a quick dinner that we would both sit down and eat together. Afterwards he helps me clear the dishes and we each do a daily chore. Then, we’d go outside for a walk. Once we got home there would be time for a bit of down-time (this is where a reasonable amount of video games for him or blogging for me come in) and then it’s off to the shower for him and on with the rest of his bedtime routine.
It seems so EASY to type. It’s on the following through that I am seriously slacking.
Who WOULDN’T want to get it together for this:
See what I mean?
