Monday Morning

What does a normal day look like?

I wake up, usually when Malcolm climbs into bed. I slowly pull my brain into consciousness with his soft breathing on my neck. The alarm goes off and I get up and turn it off. If he is still asleep, I get up. If he wakes up, or isn't in bed, I crawl back into my bed to check the weather, and any messages I might have gotten in the night. Then the morning starts.

The goal is to pack Thomas's lunch, put on water for coffee, set out breakfast, make coffee all before Thomas comes down. Sometimes that happens, but not usually. I'm still working in habit mode, being interrupted by the boys waking, playing, and fighting because they want to be left alone but play together at the same time. When Thomas comes down, we finish getting everything ready for breakfast, then eat, then he leaves.

Then I finish my coffee. I tell the boys I can't do anything with them until I finish my coffee. This isn't accurate in the sense of my ability; it is a bid for just a few minutes to gather my thoughts and figure out a rough sketch of the day - what needs to get done, what I want to get done, things to do with the boys, etc.

Then we get ready for the day, "morning routines" consist of getting dressed and brushing teeth these days. I have to work on putting making the bed back into the routine, but the bunk bed is harder for them to make. After that they play and I get to work on whatever chores I have planned for the day.

Usually around 10:30 things fall apart. Often I stop and we read a story. Sometimes I just send them separate ways. Sometimes we do a "school book" or sticker book or something educational. Then they play until lunch.

We try to eat around 12:00. Their lunch is usually Nutella and peanut butter sandwich, fruit, and chips of some sort. Sometimes we have a cookie or candy. Sometimes we add carrots. Around 12:30, I read to them a "chapter book." Recently we have been reading "Homer Price." They love it. So do I. They like it so much we went back to the beginning to read an earlier chapter just for the fun of it last night. Then around 1:00 we start a quiet time. The plan is always that they are quiet for an hour and I let them up by 2. However, they are never quiet. Around 1:30, Malcolm falls asleep. During this time, Eamon flips and flops in his bed, groans, talks, sings, does whatever he can to keep himself awake. I remind him that if he can lay still for 15 minutes, without making noise, I will let him up. He rarely lasts long enough for me to count to 10 in my head. After Malcolm falls asleep, I work with Eamon to calm himself down, control his body, and be still. This usually takes until 2. If I'm lucky, he falls asleep. If I'm not, then from 2-3 he has to "occupy himself" while I do the dishes or clean vigorously to release the stress built up from trying to help him rest. This usually means I am interrupted every 5 minutes with a complaint, a request for technology, or him whining about something. Whatever has happened earlier, I wake everyone up around 3.

After naps is snack and they play some more. Around 4:30, everything falls apart again. Usually because Eamon didn't take a nap is being bossy and everything has to be his way and can't cope with anything. Thomas calls around 5:00 while he drives him so we get to talk before he gets home because once he does get home, we usually don't get to say much to each other beyond, "Hi" without being interrupted until after dinner. I try to have dinner ready by 6, but sometimes it isn't until later.

If they are going to take a bath, we try to start around 7. If not, then we play or read until 7:30. Bedtime routines are pi's, teeth, reading, prayers, songs in bed, if I can manage. Then I sit with them for a few minutes, and then go do something brainless for a little while.

In the evenings, I either read or try to do something creative to refresh my brain for the next day. I tend to work on creative projects in spurts until I get stuck, then I switch projects. So yesterday I worked on a sewing project, but I got stuck, so it will probably sit around until I can figure out where to go next with it. In the meantime, I might color or write. And when I am feeling like I can't stand anything anymore, I clean or go through stuff and organize.

I'm writing this down now because I have been realizing that this routine is coming to an end. We are about to start a new phase of life - school - with a new routine, new priorities, new experiences. Moving will also give us changes in routine. But this is a special time of life, with its challenges and routines, and I want to remember it later.