Routines

Most people enjoy routines, me included. I don’t eat the same thing every morning or read the paper with my coffee while sitting on my porch while muttering about how the neighborhood just isn’t what it used to be, but I do like some level of consistency each day. I’ve tried to make Taco Bell a part of my daily routine but Lisa wasn’t having it.

Having a child has made routines an even more important part of my life. I can’t speak for most parents but I do know that I try to keep Rory on a consistent schedule every day. Wake up between 7-8, bottle, walk, play, nap around 9:30-10, then another bottle, real food (I’ll get to this struggle later), play, nap around 2-3, bottle, play, real food, bottle, bed between 7-8. I run a tight ship.

But like all good plans, they don’t always work out. Today, the routine was thrown into some level of disarray when Rory started whining and crying 45 minutes before afternoon nap time. I was going to try to stretch him until two but my wife once again reminded me that he isn’t a robot and sometimes we are tired before nap time.

He went down early, woke up early, and now I’m trying to stretch him past his limit for bed time. It’s been…a struggle. He was playing in the front room but fell and hurt himself earlier and screamed in my ear as loud as he’s ever screamed. My wife, who is working downstairs and has to be on the phone for her job, popped her head up to make sure he was OK. I said he was, but my eardrum may have burst. She didn’t seem too interested my pain and quickly went back downstairs when she realized the baby was OK.

I’ve been able to calm him by putting Daniel Tiger on my phone while I continue watching the PGA Championship but I know this won’t last forever. Eventually, these routines will be disrupted more and more often. I probably hold onto his routines too tightly and often get looks from my wife when I tell her he needs to stay up 15 more minutes because nap time starts at 2 p.m., not 1:45. I’m working on it.

But I like a level of predictability with Rory. I get enough surprises from him (“Did you poop again?!”) so when I can control something in his life, I like to do it. I mean, there is only so much Daniel Tiger I can distract him with.