Little Things: Our Days

School has been in session for a month and a half, swim lessons for a few weeks. We are finding a rhythm to our days. The schedule adjustment, at first a thing requiring constant thought, is now becoming more easy and normal. I still, of course, feel like I often don't have enough hours in the day, but that was the case last year too. As it is, my girl is enjoying some new found independence this year. After homework, after a quick video to chill, before dinner, Gwen often finds her way outside to scooter with friends in the area behind our buildings. She has a few "neighborhood" friends that are regularly outside during this time and they meet up to run off some energy, and even more important, to get a taste of the independence that so many of us grew up with.

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Our schedule, for my own future interest and for those who are curious about how others structure things looks generally like this:

Trav wakes with Daisy, sometime around 6am, when he takes her out and feeds her. Often he gets right up, in the shower, and ready for work at this point; though sometimes he climbs back in bed for another half hour or so. I wake at 7am, either to the alarm I had to start setting on my phone (wah!) or to Gwen yelling out, "Moooommmmm," as she wakes for the day. If she's up at 7, then she gets dressed, heads into the bathroom to take care of teeth etc, then sits down for a quick cartoon - we give her breakfast to eat while she watches. If its been a tiring few days, I might have to wake her closer to 7:20, then she just gets ready and eats. We are so lucky she is pretty quick in the morning! Trav leaves sometime after we wake, and Gwen and I leave to walk her to school at 7:40. I walk home after that, and what I do depends on the day.

Most mornings I take the time to make my green tea latte, and something for breakfast. Then I take all that on to the balcony. I relax and breath, preparing myself for the day. This is a huge bit of self-care time and I know I'm so spoiled to have it, but I don't feel badly about it at all! Its so important for my mental health. While I eat, I look at my calendar and see what is coming up that day and the days ahead. I check emails and reply to urgent ones. On certain days, I purposely read and peruse things that will give me inspiration for writing.

After that: Mondays I teach yoga in the mornings, Wednesdays I take yoga class in the morning, Fridays I take yoga class mid-day. Thursdays I switch things around, heading to the gym on my way home, then taking my time on the balcony. During the rest of my day, I run errands, do chores, write classes, have meetings, and occasionally meet friends for coffee or lunch.

I leave the house between 2:30-2:35 to pick up Gwen. We walk to the mail center to check our mailbox, and say hi to our friends at the office, then head home talking about her day. Once home she finishes anything left in her lunchbox as a snack, while working on a bit of homework and reading. Its not normally more then 15-20 minutes of homework and 10-20 minutes of reading. Then she gets to relax and watch a video for a little. After that is when she might run outside to play with her friends, staying where I can yell for her when dinner is ready. If its raining or otherwise not so great out, she might play Legos or Superheros instead.

While she's playing I finish anything I was working on during the day, and start to prep dinner. We eat around 5:45-6pm when Trav gets home. Tuesday nights I teach, so Trav takes care of dinner; some nights he works events, so then Gwen and I are on our own. After dinner, we relax for a bit before Gwen heads in to get herself ready for bed at 7:30pm. After she says goodnight to Trav and Daisy, we read in her bed until 8:15, when I say goodnight and turn off the lights. While I'm reading, Trav takes Daisy for a walk. After Gwen's asleep, we relax and watch some TV. Trav normally heads to bed around 10:30, and at that point I try to put my phone away, turn off all electronics, and read for a bit to prepare myself for sleep. I'm trying to be better about getting into bed by 11-11:30pm, but sometimes its a bit later.

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And that is the state of things now. As we prepare to enter into my favorite month of the year, I'm feeling good about our schedule and our routine. Much will change in the months ahead, of course, as the days shorten and cool; but we have found a good place.