I have always thrived on having a set schedule and routine. I like to mark things off of lists. I am a planner nerd, not in the planner (probably not going to happen). I feel like this characteristic has served me well; it has helped me be organized and goal-oriented in school and jobs alike.
As I joined the motherhood club, this characteristic was amplified. Very quickly, my firstborn established a pretty predictable routine of feeding, sleeping, and pooping. I loved that he slept for 12 hours every night. I loved that at 1 pm when he started fussing, I automatically knew that he was ready to eat.
Enter baby #2 three years later. The oldest is still on a pretty straight forward daily routine, still sleeping 12 hours a night, still knows what to expect at certain times of the day. This isn’t to say that he NEVER stayed up past our normal 7 pm bedtime, but it was rare. His normal, nightly bedtime was 7 pm on.the.dot. The new baby adjusted quickly and before I knew it, we had two routine-driven tiny humans. Again, this isn’t to say that we NEVER broke the routine. We did. But the normal routine was always returned to quickly, and we didn’t make it the habit of being out of the routine.
Five years into the mom journey, we welcomed baby #3. Even she fell into the routine rather quickly. We perfected it throughout the entire time we were quarantined since she was born in February 2020. We had A LOT of time to dedicate to this new routine of juggling all of the tiny human needs and balancing out our own parental needs.
Then we started T-Ball with the oldest. T-Ball is what it took to completely dismantle five years of being in a comfortable routine.
We had practice twice weekly, sometimes 6-7 pm, sometimes 7-8 pm. Both of these times really messed with our 7 pm bedtime, but those 7-8 pm practices were BRUTALLL with the other 2. They were desperate to be put in their bed by 7:15!
Now we’re in the actual game season. Just like practice, some games are 6-7 pm, some games are 7-8 pm. Both times means all three tiny humans are up past “our normal” bedtime.
Are there afternoons that we save some homework (yep, kindergarteners get homework!) for the next morning? Yep. Are there nights that we get home and save kid bath time for the next morning? Yep. As much as it really grates my nerves to get in my bed before I get a bath to wash off the entire day, honestly, I think they sleep better in their layer of dirt (is that a #boything?) Are there nights that we eat dinner at the ballpark instead of at our dining room table? Yep. (I secretly don’t mind because we come home to a clean kitchen. #praise)
Is it all worth it? Absolutely. Over and over again.
After the middle baby turns 3 in January, we will have two tiny humans playing ball (because he’s desperate to be on that ball field with the big guys!) Our big kid is learning so many important life lessons and having a blast while doing it.
While I may have to have 37 internal pep talks the entire time the whole routine is being knocked out of whack, this is our new routine. We will sacrifice our 7 on the dot bedtime for as long as my guys want to participate and are having fun doing it!
