Perspective on the new routine

Two days into my "life of leisure", and the mountains of clean laundry piled in our bedroom still has not been put away. (You like my use of the passive voice there?)

I have, however, baked cookies for school lunches; ensured that there is plenty of lunch-type food for the kids to use when they make their own lunches the night before (a task which they seem oddly enthusiastic about); done some reading; had a couple of good workouts; made yummy suppers (using tomatoes as often as possible); spent a few hours each day out on various errands; mopped the kitchen floor, and napped. Oh, and I've been seeing the family off in the morning with kisses and waves.

"Napping" was not on my list, but it definitely should have been. It will be a little easier next week - my natural naptime feels like 4 PM, which is exactly the same time I walk over to pick up the kids from school. I'll have to tweak that...

It is awesome, by the way, to be able to bring the kiddies home nearly two hours earlier than usual. They seem so content to have time to chill out before supper-time. They are calm and relaxed when Dad comes home from work... Instead of all of us arriving home at six or later in a cloud of chaos as we rush to the kitchen to try to whip up a delicious healthy meal while being bombarded by kids vying for the attention they only have two measly hours to suck from us... Now, I chat them up on the way home, and they get out their news. They have time for snacks, settling in, (eventually, homework). And when Dad gets home, supper's almost ready (with just enough left to do that he can "help"), and we can sit down together peacefully.

The past two nights, the kids have industriously attacked the lunch-making task right after dinner, with little or no prompting. They shower and hit the hay without argument. The mornings have been smooth, not rushed at all. It feels a bit miraculous, really. I know it's only been a couple of days, and the routine could fall apart at any time (the time change in a couple months is notorious for killing good habits), but I'm thrilled at the moment. I won't say there aren't things that will take getting used to (fodder for another post), but right now, this domestic easiness, this lack of rush and anxiety that always accompanied a workweek, it feels extremely satisfying. It feels like maybe we've managed to take a tiny step back from the rat race. Which is exactly the point.