Day 62
by Jennifer Francis
Day 62: 8am: as I lie in bed still groggy, most importantly my Husband still snoozes next to me; the boys are already at their desks beginning school work for the day. In all honesty, for the past 2 months, we have thoroughly enjoyed our new schedules and this newfound morning ease!
For the many previous years of elementary/middle schooling and work, our family has always needed to wake up at 6am and rush! Rush! Hurry! Hurry!! Make coffee, make breakfast, make lunches, make sure they hurry and get dressed, hurry and eat breakfast (no easy task for Son #2 who takes 30-40 minutes to eat)… hurry! Hurry, brush your teeth! Hurry!
They needed to be out the door 1 hr 15 minutes after they woke so early, 7:15am on the dot, not a minute later out the door, hurry! Otherwise, the Hwy 1 traffic backs up and the masses of commuters “short cutting” though our section of rural side roads is not only insanely frustrating, but dangerous. Best to beat the madness, hurry! Then “hurry” in the 1 hr of bumper to bumper traffic, just to get to what would normally take 15 minutes. Hurry! Stress, “are we late?” Hurry!
So, now we do not need to rush out the door and wake at the butt crack of dawn.. It’s been wonderful! I now have been able to relax on the bedtime curfews, although I still keep it consistent for the boys…9-9:45 sometimes 10pm, wow! Its late from their normal. This is not to say my bedtime has been proper… 1am(ish) as I finish another Netflix episode. The boys get up on their own and get to work.
So, as I hear the boys in the other room, the little dings of Duolingo and squeaks of their chairs at their desks, they are beginning their day of online learning on their own. We’ve got our routine down now, it took a few weeks and the boys are doing really well with it, if not better in many ways, especially Son#2.
Son#2 will be in his robe until 11ish, looking like a Jedi for zoom classes, Son#1 is already dressed, he’s been up since about 7 and most likely already watched too many YouTube videos. I roll over and take my time. Maybe drift off to sleep again? Sure! But I’m more groggy than tired which is a nice change. The Boys eat when I feel like getting up, they can turn the video off while they shove their faces full of egg sandwiches or they can make cereal… no rush!
This part has been much appreciated!
I don’t feel guilty for staying up late, sleeping in, or rolling back over at 7:45…. eating breakfast at 9:30 and getting dressed at noonish. Our commute is only a click away these days… It’s been wonderful not to force my kids and ourselves to rush, rush, rush, and stress so much., I won’t feel guilty… Our stresses in these days take a much different form and have a much bigger, deeper and more important concern for our current world.
