Bursting at the Seams

Rituals.

Sometimes I stress about not having my kids more on a schedule. If you were to ask me what time does Hank take naps, I couldn't really tell ya....other than usually sometime in the morning and then cat naps throughout the day. And his morning nap usually depends on when we wake up that day, sometimes 8:00 am, other times 9:00 am, and if I am really lucky, 10:00 am. Yes, we do occasionally sleep in until 10...which usually means I wake up earlier and think, Oh, the kids are still asleep, I should get out of bed and get something done....only to fall asleep a little longer until someone needs me and then my chances of getting something done are slim to none. A sad tale...I know. One day I will change my ways, and be the motivated morning Meg of the past (she mysteriously disappeared once Hugh was in the picture :). 

But, the other day I had an epiphany. We may not be big schedule people, but we do have daily rituals we can count on. Every day I can pretty much predict these things:

1. Ruby waking me up by asking me to A. Come play with her, and when that doesn't get me up B. Lets go get breakfast.

2.When it is time to go somewhere, I can count on Ruby having a fit that the seams of her socks are hurting her. I try to fix the socks and when that doesn't work, I distract her with some fruit snack.

3. Ruby asking me if she can watch a show while she eats breakfast. Her favorites these days: Caillou, Olivia, and Max and Ruby.

4. Telling Ruby to go pick out some clothes for the day, her telling me she wants me to pick them out with her, followed by her hating any of my suggestions. I usually storm out of her room while telling her, This is why I wanted you to pick out your clothes in the first place. 

6. Putting Ruby to bed, and her asking, Where are we going tomorrow, mom? Going to bed must be easier when she knows the plan for the next day. 

5. My very favorite,  giving Ruby her vitamins, and her asking, Do you want to play soccer? Ever since I added vitamin D to Ruby's vita-regime, we play gummy soccer every morning. Her cup or bowl serve as the goal, and then we each take a turn at scoring and the other blocking. To score, your gummy bear has to kick the gummy ball so it hits the cup. Once we've each scored, the game is over. And she eats the vitamins. It all started when she told me the new vitamin looked like a ball.

And she always asks, What color do you want to be?