Laziness

Last night I worked at the shelter. My weekly shift. It's getting tougher to go down there. Not because I don't enjoy it - I do. It's just pregnancy. It's my lack of energy. Pregnancy has made me really lazy - and with a lot of things. I just find that on wednesday nights I'd rather be in pj's than visiting my friends at the shelter.

How else am I lazy? Well Any routine I used to have with Stinx crumbled. At first it started with the TV. I was so sick and exhausted in the first trimester that I let Stinx get away with watching too much tv. I definitely feel like he's addicted to it, like crack. He's not one of those kids who watches a little bit and does a craft or play with a toy, no. He's glued to the TV like a zombie. And when I dare turn it off, he throws a fit.

Then there's nap times. They seem to be very difficult these days. We used to have a routine of having lunch then reading books and then nap. Once I got pregnant I basically told him to come nap with me. I'd usually be asleep before him. It worked fine the first few months but now Stinx really fights the nap and I lost the drive to pursue it. So sometimes he just doesn't. Sometimes thats fine, but if he misses it more than 2 days in a row, I've noticed it gets to him.

Bedtime is another one I've gotten too slack with. His bedtime used to be 9pm but now it's all over the map - because of the weird nap habits.

I know all of this isn't a big deal, and I slacked out of survival, but now that I am feeling more energetic, I can see what's happened. The lack of routine is causing me more trouble than good. Things aren't predictable for Stinx the way they used to be. He feels like he can watch tons of tv, doesn't have to eat meals at the table, doesn't have to nap etc. He tantrums more than he was before. And I feel like thats partly because of the lack of predictability. He's also been up more at night.

So I'm changing my ways... well going back to the old ways when we had routine. Here are the new "Rules" I am implementing.

1. No TV until Stinx is dressed and had breakfast
2. Limited Tv time
3. Must eat all meals at the table (snacks can be wherever)
4. A nap every day - after book reading. (I want to start the nap routine by 2pm)
5. Bedtime Bath will be started at 8pm every night regardless of the nap.
6. I also want to have a planned activity every day. Now that I have the energy again I want to be more active - ie. playdates, park, library, swimming, zoo etc.

It helped writing this out. I've been thinking about it a lot this week and seeing what I want to go back to is helpful. I know it's not hard, it's just a matter of consistency, and I think Stinx needs it. I'm tired of fighting with him over trivial things like turning the tv off or eating supper in the kitchen or napping.