Trying to Find Time For A Schedule....


Holland has been reminding me that she is a BABY and she needs a SCHEDULE! I had been a mom to toddlers/preschoolers for so long that I really got used to mixing up my mornings- staying home and baking, coloring, playing outside, or maybe heading out to the zoo, or the outdoor campus, or to a play-date, or to the grocery store, or to the gym. For the first 6 months of Holland joining the crew, this was still pretty possible. She could sleep in her carrier pretty well, or if she didn't get a good nap in, she could make it up with one of her 2 or 3 other naps during the day. But now, Holland is a "big" baby. She takes two naps a day, and we need to try to work life around those naps. Today, I woke up and decided that I really wanted to go to my favorite 9:15 am class at the gym. Yes, this was during Holland's morning nap time, but I figured she would fall asleep on the way to the gym, and blissfully sleep away while I was working out, and then wake up just as I was coming to pick her up, freshly showered and perky.

It didn't work out that way. She woke up 10 minutes after I went to class and basically cried until they came and got me 40 minutes later. I was completely drenched in sweat and needed a shower, but there was no way I was going to try to leave her in the nursery for another 15 minutes. So I took her with me. I wheeled her into the handicapped shower stall with me, and kept her somewhat happy while I got ready. What finally turned the girl around was letting her chew on my hairbrush- hey whatever works, right?

She was pretty happy while we ran to the grocery store, but then fell asleep by the time we got home with Claire after preschool, and then woke up 10 minutes later because she hadn't eaten since 8:30 am! Sigh. She did get an hour nap in later in the afternoon, but still was off for the whole day.

I have to remember that this is my last baby. The last time to spend mornings at home together, with nothing better to do than take a nap, have a snack and maybe a walk around the block. It doesn't take much to make a baby happy and usually less is more. I need to remember this. This is my chance to slow things down and not feel guilty that I am not being stimulating enough, enriching enough, or creative enough. Home is enough for her. I am enough for her.


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