All In The Timing

Those of you who tend to read immediately after I've posted may have noticed somewhat of a delay in your reading material these past few days. Truth is, sometimes your best laid schedule plans just don't work out, particularly when you are away from home and are doing things that are, well, unscheduled.

It's not that my life, or my family's, is strictly ordered. I was the new mother who never put my babies on a nap or feeding schedule. I just fed them when they were hungry and let them sleep when and where they wanted. We eat dinner at six on some nights, nine on others. We're a roll with the punches group.

This blog, however, has become part of what is as close to a nightly routine as we get--whether written on a train or in a free moment somewhere during the day, or written once I've settled in for the evening, it is reviewed and posted along with my setting of an alarm and starting the dishwasher and choosing tomorrow's clothes (okay, the "tomorrow's clothes" part is a ridiculous exaggeration--that never happens). In any case, posting is part of a routine of sorts--the closest to routine I seem to come. And I used to beat myself up if something got in the way. I remember frantically looking for Wifi in an airport once so that I could make sure to post by midnight.

But sometimes, much as you try, the timing you are planning just doesn't work out. Sometimes routines are broken by out of town guests or new opportunities or interesting conversations or just an undeniable need to sleep. And in these circumstances, we can give up the new or different things or rail against how they have upset our routine. Or we can embrace them for the great things they are, and let the routine slide just a little. So, just as I always figured the baby would get enough food and sleep even if we didn't stop and drop everything to accommodate that, I figure a blog post will still be worth reading, even if it is posted a little later because a little life-living got in the way.

And if you're reading later because you too have some life-living to do, yay for you. A routine might be great for the day to day, but open eyes and an open-minded schedule will let you see a whole lot more.