tick or tock? September 25, 2007
Posted by spacemom in : Parenting 101 , trackbackDo you hear the clock ticking during the day?
Do you wonder when you will get it all done?
I often do. Even more so now that Soleil and Luna are in two different places during the day. Soleil is back in our town, 11 miles from work (as the crow flies). Luna is in the next town from our work, 3 miles (as the crow flies). We struggle with the bus drop off, jump in car, get to daycare routine. We struggle with the return routine.
Today, I took my car into the Honda dealer to get serviced. The cute little wrench light came on to alert me it wanted to be serviced. Fortunately, they take service without appointments. Unfortunately, I forgot that Jay has a doctor’s appointment today and needs the car by 12:40. I waited about 2 minutes for the "Courtesy Shuttle" to take me to work. Then I said "Screw it" and walked. It’s only 15 minutes from the dealer to work. I figured it would take 5 minutes of waiting, 5 minutes of driving (assuming the traffic lights stopped us) and I would save 5 minutes and have a larger butt. So I walked. And it was nice. But it made me think about time.
How do you get everything done in the time you have? How do you impress upon your children that time is both important and not?
I don’t want our children to be slaves to the clock. Jay has a distinct memory of kids rushing to choir practice and getting into a car accident because the choir director would lock the door at 5:00pm and if you weren’t there, tough. I don’t want them to do that! But I also want them to respect time and work within it.
I am not sure how to do these things when I struggle myself.
I can’t find ME time. I can’t find time to correctly plan the target object for my code. I can’t find time to exercise. I can’t find time to meditate. I try to find time to play with the girls and I have a rule that I hug them every day. I try to say I love you to the three most important people in my life everyday.
But somehow, I often get stuck with the tick and tocks of life.
Comments»
If feel the exact same way. The mornings are rushed, the evenings are rushed….I’m just rushed rushed rushed. It saddens me actually that I am like that….that I get worried about being late for a job that I hate and rush the girls around in the morning. I wish life, for me and you, was simplier.
yes, and yes…
and I find myself getting so annoyed w/myself when I am rushing them because really, does it matter if their bath is now or in 5 minutes? On the other hand, I have things that need to get done.
I babysat for a girl whose parents were incredibly rigid. Her entire day was scheduled in 15 minute increments, and printed in multiple places around the house. Her mother had written in one 15 minute “dawdle” period each day, which broke my heart….at 8 years old, this girl was truly a slave to the ticks and tocks, and nearly had a breakdown when I tried to slack on the time-table!
I suppose this was a major factor in our decision to homeschool. I’m not a morning person, and I don’t handle the stress of getting two little kids out the door on time very well. Our mornings are almost always slow and relaxed, which suits us all just fine. I believe we all have the ability to make choices that can buy us more time, as you have with your alternating work schedule for example. Sometimes that even means “thinking outside the box” and doing things differently than how everybody else does it, or simply doing without some of the things we think we “need”.
But despite the fact that we don’t have the morning/afterschool/evening rushes in our household, I still struggle with time management. Because let’s face it, with two little ones underfoot one may have the time but not often the opportunity! It’s a universal struggle, I’m sure of it.
I hate the evening rush even more than the morning rush. From the minute we walk in the door at 6 p.m., every word that comes out of my mouth is designed to prod G through the dinner-homework-shower-reading routine, and even with that, I rarely get her into bed and off to sleep before 9:30. I can’t change my schedule because the time I get to work (and therefore leave) is determined by her school start time. It just sucks all the way around, and I wish I had some good advice for you.
I so understand what you ae saying. I am constantly trying to find “balance” in my life. How to make time for work, school., preschool,excercise, and sleep! If you figure it ou, let me know!!