Routine.

I married a man that isn't a huge fan of routines. People that are really stuck in their ways and set in their routines kind of drive him wild.  Don't get me wrong, he loves those people but he hates their routines. I think it's because he wins the award for being the most flexible and adaptable person I know, and he never wanted to be a parent whose schedule was centered on a baby's sleep schedule. But that was before we were parents, and now I can honestly say we get it.  We completely get why a child's bed time is important to honor because if the child doesn't sleep good neither does the parent. Unfortunately, there isn't a mute button when your child wakes up five times in the night (a bit of an exaggeration but you get the point).

There are so many books out there with so many different philosophies on schedules and routines, and Peter and I just weren't interested in being bound to the babies schedule but we also didn’t want to be the ones that dictated it either, think they call that a parent led schedule.  I truly feel like the last few months we have just studied our child, his cries, his naps, his bed time, etc., and we started to see a pattern so we simply nurtured and encouraged that pattern.

I must say having a routine is amazing simply because it helps us to problem solve during the day…oh he must be tired because he normally naps around this time, oh he must be hungry, it’s been so many hours since he last ate, etc.  Right now, he generally eats every 4 hours during the day, with rice cereal in the late morning, rice cereal in the evening, and maybe a banana treat in the afternoon if he’s up for it!  And he naps 2 times a day – 2-2.5 hours after waking up he naps for an hour and then in the afternoon, a few hours after his second feed, he naps for 1.5-2 hours.  When he’s going to bed around the same time and waking up around the same time in the morning, it’s easier to predict his naps during the day.  It has truly been one of the best things for us, allowing some predictability within this realm of unpredictability, allowing for some sanity amidst the insanity.

And not only do we have a routine for Jack, but we also have a routine for ourselves. I have a coworker, who rotates dinner meals with her husband – she cooks one night, he cooks the other, etc, and I suggested this to Peter.  I don’t mind cooking and I don’t even mind doing the grocery shopping, but I do hate being the one to come up with all the dinner ideas.  So one afternoon, I threw the dinner rotation suggestion out there, and Peter was a little reluctant and said he would think about it.  The man loves to cook, and he doesn’t mind it at all, but once again, it’s a routine, and like I said, he’s not a huge fan of routines.  So when I received an email from him at work stating that he was in, I was slightly shocked.

And so our routine began, with a few exceptions of course, which Peter clearly stated in his initial email to me.

The email word for word -

Ok so I am on board with this dinner malarky, but I have a few rules/suggestions…
1)You cant just say you're making oatmeal
2)We make most of them paleo, or close to it
3)You can only veto one of my meals
4)not sure what else.

I was thinking of making chicken salad (nuts, avocado, tomato, spinach, chicken, carrot, apple, cucumber and pepper) do we have the last two things?

And so it began...salad for dinner and our dinner routines.  It has been so fun to see Peter get all creative with his dinners, and the man is even looking up recipes!!  I love him. 

Here are a few of our creations - and I have even been making my own salad dressings!

I should start posting some of our favorite recipes on the blog.  Right now we are loving eating things from our garden (squash, green beans, blueberries, snap peas, eggs, etc) and chocolate banana Popsicles, definitely not from the garden.

Do any of you have any routine suggestions? or things that you and your family do to keep sane amidst the craziness that can become your life?  I would love to hear!