On the days I close my book and turn off the light at 11, I get enough sleep.
On the days I get enough sleep, I wake up before my daughter calls.
On the days I wake up before my daughter calls, I feel less rushed.
On the days I feel less rushed, I take the time to eat a healthy breakfast (instead of, say, two chocolate chip cookies and a Coke Zero).
On the days I take the time to eat a healthy breakfast (instead of, say, leftover pizza and a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup), I have the energy to head out for a run.
On the days I have the energy to head out for a run, I clear my head of the cotton wool.
On the days I clear my head of the cotton wool, I am better able to write.
On the days I am better able to write, I feel calmer and more patient.
On the days I feel calmer and more patient, I am less grouchy with my kids.
On the days I am less grouchy with my kids, I enjoy playing “Lost at Sea Adventure” on five couch cushions, two quilts, and one Penguin Pillow Pet.
On the days I enjoy playing “Lost at Sea Adventure” on five couch cushions, two quilts, and one Penguin Pillow Pet, I drink less soda in the afternoons.
On the days I drink less soda in the afternoons, I don’t have a caffeine crash at 4 p.m.
On the days I don’t have a caffeine crash at 4 p.m., I greet my husband with a “How was your day?” (instead of, say, a “You said you were going to be home at 5:30″).
On the days I greet my husband with a “How was your day?” (instead of, say, “I’m calling to order pizza”), we have more patience with each other and the kids.
On the days we have more patience with each other and the kids, we laugh together after they’re asleep.
On the days we laugh together after they’re asleep, we turn in early instead of burying our heads in our respective laptops.
On the days we turn in early instead of burying our heads in our respective laptops, I close my book and turn off the light at 11.
Funny how things work.
What part of your routine seems to make everything else fall into place?
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Breaking my digital hiatus to check in over here, and I LOVE this. Boy do I relate to EVERY SINGLE WORD of this post! It is critical that I have at least 30 minutes in the morning, all by myself, before the rest of the household stirs. The day never gets back on track otherwise.
My husband is such an early riser that I’m almost never awake before he is, but waking up before the kids do is definitely one of those things that sets a day up to run more smoothly.
Hi! I’m new here and I loved this! Brought me back to the days of reading If You Give A Mouse A Cookie, except with a new title – If You Give Mommy a Good Night’s Rest. The most critical components of my routine are my morning coffee and my walk with the dog.
Hi Shannon and welcome to Motherese! Thanks so much for visiting and for taking the time to leave a comment.
I love your book title idea; I bet we could market that! ;)
I am with Shannon. I was totally in If You Give A Pig A Pancake mode as I read your post. Our lives are so interconnected and our choices impact much more than we realize at the moment. Thanks for sharing a glimpse into one of your day’s journeys.
I still feel all wopperjawed, off kilter. I’m sure it has nothing whatsoever to do with my sleep deprivation. Nothing.
Sleep along with generous calm and simple kindness. That’s what I need. But I have to start with it… Hmmm.
I’m not sure that I’ve ever heard the word “wopperjawed” before, but I’m adding it into the rotation forthwith.
At least your sleep deprivation hasn’t deprived you of terrific diction! :)
It’s funny how things can be so clear, so obvious, and we still manage to escape them, shooting ourselves in the foot and making life more difficult, more confusing, more rushed. In my case, I need to avoid social media after the children go to bed and turn off the lights at a reasonable hour. I also need to wake up early enough to get myself together for work (shower, dress, fix my face, pack my lunch) before I have to focus on the kids. Having to get two ready for school is a whole new world!
One of the big challenges that comes with raising kids – and I know you can relate to this more than most – is that their needs can so often disrupt the routines that we know we need for our own sanity. Last night, for instance, my eldest was up in the night with what turned out to be an ear infection. So even though I know sleep is one of my must-haves, his need for comfort and care took precedence.
The challenge I have is recovering. Once one thing goes off kilter, I tend to let the rest of the day get away from me. I’m not sure if the solution is to lower my expectations or to keep myself highly caffeinated until the kids leave for college! ;)
This little momma says go for the caffeine and lower expectations!
Hi Kristen! Love this! Everything with the world is right with me when I get a good night’s sleep. I suffer from insomnia in a big way so I truly appreciate those nights when I fall asleep quickly and stay asleep all night. And yes, all that trickle down stuff applies.
Welcome back, Kristen! This is brilliant – I think maybe you were right inside my head this very morning – the first one I woke feeling rested in weeks! XO
So true. If I put myself to bed on time it would be do different!
The other day I woke up an hour before my kids and it was fantastic. The problem is I woke up at 5:15 a.m. to do it.
Sleep deprivation is the worst for me. If I don’t sleep enough (as in, I don’t go to bed early enough), I’m off my game the whole day and even the little things can bug me. Add tired cranky kids on top and it’s a deadly combination! If I sleep enough, I can handle anything. Well, almost anything. So, do I sleep enough? Nope, and yet, I know the consequences. Bad habits are hard to break!
Asleep by eleven is really heaven. You should tell BLW.
I need less sleep than most people and am a natural night owl. However I also have a lousy sense of time, especially when I am writing. There have been more than a few nights where I turned off the computer and was surprised to see it was 4 am and not 12:30.
So I have made an extra effort to get to bed earlier those extra minutes make a significant difference in whether coffee keeps me going or is just a simple pleasure.
If only getting a good night’s sleep could result in all that good (or better) eating for me…
For me, marathon cleaning and several loads of laundry in one day mean my next day is so much better and less stressful. Three day weekends help!
This is an absolutely delicious (and sigh worthy) contemporary poem… All too famiiar to all too many.
Routine?
It is the stuff of glue for many of us, and one element goes askew and the whole structure goes tumbling down. For myself, my once-semi-manageable-semi-routine has been totally disrupted these past two months. I have yet to regain any sort of rhythm, and consequently, each day feels like a crapshoot.
Oh my gosh!! this is totally my universe right now. I’ve instituted (nay, forced myself is more like it) to get straight to my morning routine after the kids leave in the morning: dressed, kitchen/bedrooms tidied, quick bathroom wipe down, and load of laundry goes on. This is instead of wasting time surfing the net under the guise of “checking the news” (yeah, like blogs count as “hard news” ;-)) I thought this would take all my day, but instead I feel like I have 3 extra hours everyday. And even though it’s totally retro, everyone is so much happier without me running around being all stressed. I love the way you expressed it. It is totally trickle down happiness!!!
What a delight to locate the magic bullet!
Mine is what I eat for breakfast and if I get exercise before 4pm.
My days are so much better if I get my morning run in. Followed quickly by a warm and yummy cup of coffee. Of course, if my litle guy sleeps until 6am, then that makes for a great day, too!
I. Love. This.
That’s all. So wise and also witty and simple and true and did I say wise? Great post.
I didn’t realize you had started writing again. YAY!
This is exactly how things are for me. If I don’t get a workout in in the morning, I am stressed/down the rest of the day. Trickle down economics indeed.
I love this. It reminded me of “when you give a mouse a cookie”…but for Moms. Love this.
I’m willing to take your beautiful and reasonable word for it. I have gotten one full night of sleep in six and a half years. My kids wake often. I hoard evening time for projects and reading and whatnot. They get nothing but cranky and worn-thin mama.
Maybe if I gave up the reading, writing, cleaning, and nonsense, and got to bed every night we’d have great days.
Maybe I’ll try tonight!
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