Sink or Swim

I haven't established any kind of routine for the morning yet, which is ridiculous, given that it's been a year that we've had basically the same amount of time to do the same amount of things -- the same things, in fact. Wally has been sleeping so gloriously late (often waking on at 7 when he hears Alex leave and jumps up to tell him not to work) and I just got really lazy and I usually sleep until he wakes up. But then I selfishly still want time to myself to write, because I can get into the best writing flow first thing after I wake up and nothing throughout the rest of the day ever equals that state. So the reasonable thing to do would be to get up before Wally, and have that time all to myself. And you'd think with the boot camp training he gave us of getting up between 4:30 and 5 (for the day! not waking up at 4:30 and going back to sleep, which people sometimes thought I meant when I'd say that and even then they'd say, "Oh that sucks"... no, no no, up then for good) for such a long stretch of his life that I could easily say make it up by 6 or so, right? I mean that should be a walk in the park. But no, it's like projects expanding to fill the time you have to work on them or stuff expanding to fill the space you have available in your house, so too with the demand for sleep. What I could scrape by with before I simply can't dream of surviving on today, because I don't have to.

Maybe this will change, soon. Maybe I'll sufficiently embarrass myself by admitting I often let him watch Oswald or Jake and the Neverland Pirates or some other show with singing animals just so I can write. And even then he's still just on top of me...coming into the kitchen every 3 minutes or so and I think that show can't possibly be over yet, isn't it at least 24 minutes or something? But there he is, saying, "I want to be with you" and giving me a hug making it just impossible to feel anything but be happy he's there.

We have just under 2 hours, basically, to get dressed, take shower, eat breakfast, get his lunch packed, check his notebook. More than enough time, and I need to start using it more efficiently, because those few things end up taking almost all that time. Plus there always seems to be a lot of cleaning to do in the morning, how, I don't. Straightening up, dishes, other things I don't want to deal with on "my" time that I cram in then. 

Today I set Wally up with a simple sink or float game. Then I told him to draw a chart showing his results. It took a good five minutes or so, and he could be there with me in the kitchen while I'm stirring oatmeal or whatever else I'm trying to do (not very time-consuming stuff here, to go to Eli's comment on the last post -- not like I'm hand-squeezing oranges. I even find it an irritant to remove that extra safety/no spill camp inside the cap on a regular carton). 



The orange, lemon, apple and pomegranate all floated nicely. (Well apples would have to, I suppose. How else could you go bobbing for them?) The grape and nectarine both sank. The zucchini didn't fit in the bowl and remains untested.

We got out the door on time and I got back to my work on time too. The house was not too much of a mess. Another morning we both stayed afloat. 

Comments

  1. This is kind of off topic but when you mentioned oatmeal...it's really good if you take 1/2 c oats, 1 c water, chop an apple (skins on), 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg.

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  2. It's so funny that you write that -- I love chopping up apple into it while it's cooking - will add the spices on your rec. It's funny b/c when I sat down to write yesterday I was going to include a quick recipe for quinoa and veggies that I'd made the night before, feeling inspired both from both your blog and Heartburn (Nora Ephron), which I just read. I forgot to do it, but then it was so funny this morning to see your oatmeal recipe. Thanks!

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  3. You're welcome :) Loved heartburn btw.

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  4. I really liked it too. Never read any of her books before.

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  5. So funny that Bearette suggested a recipe to add to the "to do" list! Although it does sound really good. I think the irritation that arises from not getting everything I want to get done is just as bad (worse?) - although it does amaze me the mental hurdles that come about when tryign to push one more thing in and then when you do it, you realize it is not all that bad.

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  6. Eli - the oatmeal is so good that way. Try it! You're right that very often that thing you feel anxious about, once you start doing it, it's not that big deal. It's all the anxiety you put into not doing it that's so exhausting.

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