Things that are nice
Mar. 15th, 2010 09:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
theatokosIn the spirit of gratitude.
*Spring. It is here. There is red growth on the tree branches, the faintest of buds on some. The snow drops have been bloomed for weeks. The daffodils have had their green out but yesterday I saw the yellow bits all enclosed waiting to bloom. I saw some purple crocuses over the weekend too. Birds are building nests and chirping like mad. The sun is warm. Today I hung my laundry out on the line for the first time since November! Ah, sun, miracle elixir, you take away the stains of the world.
*My homemade chicken noodle soup. Lately, I've been nailing the broth. Bennett drinks it down.
*Mutliculturalism. Adam, B and I went to a birthday party yesterday. It was one of the the most diverse parties I've ever been to. It was the first birthday of a little boy that goes to one of B's playgroups. The little boy was asleep through most of it. He is Nigerian. His father is a student here. Aunts and uncles from London came. There was a Polish couple. Locals, though mainly of English extraction. Two Muslim families from Libya were there too - the hosts are also Muslim. And one little boy who is half Bengali. Languages heard: English, Spanish (thanks to Adam), Polish, Yoruba, Arabic. Amazing.
*Friends. We have friends here! Not really close friends, yet, but friends nonetheless. It's wonderful. It's like we live here.
*Best of all, Bennett goes to sleep at 8pm.
A month or more ago I decided I'd had enough with the wishy-washy bedtime nonsense. I started a bed time readiness and wind-down routine. That was helpful. The most helpful suggestion, by far, was gradually dimming the lights while doing it. It made a huge difference on his energy levels and mood. But still. I tried to put B to bed at 8pm and there was weeping and gnashing of teeth. It was awful night after night. I hated it. It was worse than before, and I was sick of fighting.
And sick I got. So I started going to bed with B, which helped. Some. I was so tired. But then he didn't nap for some unknown reason about 8 or 9 days ago. That night he sacked out at 7, woke up at 7 the next morning, fell asleep for a nap at 11 and ...... it's been BRILLIANT all week long! I've been reluctant to post about it in case it was a fake out. But no. At 7 we start the slow wind down (some play or a little tv, jammies, night time dipe, tooth brushing, face and hand washing [if there wasn't a pre-jammie bath], 3 stories, goodnights to all living creatures) and by 8 he's in bed. There we nurse, I sing him 2 songs, and he usually passes out before I'm done.
Night number two Adam and I looked at each other in astonishment and realized that this COULD CHANGE OUR LIVES. It's not so much the extra time to myself at night. It's more that night times are no longer a fight and the schedule, even during the day works so much better. He wakes up earlier, which means so do I, but that's ok. I've adjusted this week. I now wake up earlier, study earlier, come home earlier and relieve Adam, so he can work earlier and that way we have more time together as a family in the evening.
WIN. Like, throw a parade win.
ETA: How could I forget?! Adam got a great gig today. So we will have money for bills one month in advance. This is a great step toward getting back on our feet!
*Spring. It is here. There is red growth on the tree branches, the faintest of buds on some. The snow drops have been bloomed for weeks. The daffodils have had their green out but yesterday I saw the yellow bits all enclosed waiting to bloom. I saw some purple crocuses over the weekend too. Birds are building nests and chirping like mad. The sun is warm. Today I hung my laundry out on the line for the first time since November! Ah, sun, miracle elixir, you take away the stains of the world.
*My homemade chicken noodle soup. Lately, I've been nailing the broth. Bennett drinks it down.
*Mutliculturalism. Adam, B and I went to a birthday party yesterday. It was one of the the most diverse parties I've ever been to. It was the first birthday of a little boy that goes to one of B's playgroups. The little boy was asleep through most of it. He is Nigerian. His father is a student here. Aunts and uncles from London came. There was a Polish couple. Locals, though mainly of English extraction. Two Muslim families from Libya were there too - the hosts are also Muslim. And one little boy who is half Bengali. Languages heard: English, Spanish (thanks to Adam), Polish, Yoruba, Arabic. Amazing.
*Friends. We have friends here! Not really close friends, yet, but friends nonetheless. It's wonderful. It's like we live here.
*Best of all, Bennett goes to sleep at 8pm.
A month or more ago I decided I'd had enough with the wishy-washy bedtime nonsense. I started a bed time readiness and wind-down routine. That was helpful. The most helpful suggestion, by far, was gradually dimming the lights while doing it. It made a huge difference on his energy levels and mood. But still. I tried to put B to bed at 8pm and there was weeping and gnashing of teeth. It was awful night after night. I hated it. It was worse than before, and I was sick of fighting.
And sick I got. So I started going to bed with B, which helped. Some. I was so tired. But then he didn't nap for some unknown reason about 8 or 9 days ago. That night he sacked out at 7, woke up at 7 the next morning, fell asleep for a nap at 11 and ...... it's been BRILLIANT all week long! I've been reluctant to post about it in case it was a fake out. But no. At 7 we start the slow wind down (some play or a little tv, jammies, night time dipe, tooth brushing, face and hand washing [if there wasn't a pre-jammie bath], 3 stories, goodnights to all living creatures) and by 8 he's in bed. There we nurse, I sing him 2 songs, and he usually passes out before I'm done.
Night number two Adam and I looked at each other in astonishment and realized that this COULD CHANGE OUR LIVES. It's not so much the extra time to myself at night. It's more that night times are no longer a fight and the schedule, even during the day works so much better. He wakes up earlier, which means so do I, but that's ok. I've adjusted this week. I now wake up earlier, study earlier, come home earlier and relieve Adam, so he can work earlier and that way we have more time together as a family in the evening.
WIN. Like, throw a parade win.
ETA: How could I forget?! Adam got a great gig today. So we will have money for bills one month in advance. This is a great step toward getting back on our feet!
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this post is made of happy.
Date: 2010-03-15 10:03 pm (UTC)Re: this post is made of happy.
Date: 2010-03-15 10:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-15 11:53 pm (UTC)I'm feeling good about the sun coming out too. It's actually making it hard for me to sleep well, like I've had too much caffeine. But I'd rather have that than gloomy and tired.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-16 02:36 am (UTC)Blessings!
no subject
Date: 2010-03-16 12:39 pm (UTC)Happy Happy.
And yes, it really will change your life. When Henry started sleeping through & going to bed early, it was like the clouds parted after months of rain, and Chris and I were looking up, blinking into the warm sunshine...
no subject
Date: 2010-03-16 02:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-16 04:11 pm (UTC)