Well, we've been doing this daycare thing for a week now, and I'm working toward a productive (and peaceful!) rhythm both for work and home.
What happens with the kids' schedules is largely down to a science. We're out of bed at 7:20 (Tiny Boy and I are generally awake by 6:45, sometimes earlier, but LG's wake up time is as late as 7:20), dressed and downstairs for breakfast by 7:45, out the door at 8:15. Pick-up for Tiny Boy is around 4:30, as LG's bus gets home at 4:15. The days she does aftercare (because I needed to hold a space for her for next semester) I usually get her around 4:15 and then we go across the street to fetch him. Dinner at 5:30. Bed for him between 6:30 and 7:00. Lights out for her at 8:00. I clean a bit or read or blog or watch TV (or some combination) until 9:00. If I'm lucky, I can sneak into bed and fall asleep before Tiny Boy wakes up. More often than not, he wakes, I have to nurse him, and I don't actually get to sleep until 10:00 or 10:30. Rinse and repeat.
*
I should say I started this post yesterday during a writing break and never got back around to it. (I am currently hooked up to the pump, producing more milk than my son actually drinks, which is probably the subject of another post.)
I've been trying to track how much times I spend doing this, that, and the other thing, and what I'm finding is that just the idea of tracking time makes me less likely to do things like read blogs. In practical terms, I'm not sure how much wiggle-room for change my schedule actually has. Yeah, I could cut the 20 minutes I spend watching TV at night, but even then I'm usually doing something else, like folding clothes. I suppose I could stop blogging, but that, too, does not seem to be a major time waster. I seem to be fairly efficient. (At least this week!)
After reading about it at Profgrrrrl's site I've been playing with the Pomodoro technique for writing. Some parts of it strike me as pretty arbitrary and even counterproductive--i.e. Why should I take a break when I'm in a groove just because a timer goes off?--but generally I find it helps with my accountability. I've also noticed I write at a really good clip most days (about 300 words in 30 minutes) and once I've written 1000 words or so I'm done. Need to move on to a different task or, at least, work in a different genre. So mornings I start with the book manuscript and then I either read or write something else or take notes for the next day. I really can't do much more than that, and if I do that much, well, in the ~60 working days (excluding conferences, Thanksgiving, etc) I have left on sabbatical, I should be able to have a working draft of the whole book as well as some nicely polished parts. (Yeah, I know I said that last fall. And then I had OB appointments 2-3 days a week and spent a ton of time hooked up to a fetal monitor and, oh yes, had a Tiny Boy.)
And now, having produced ~6 oz of milk I need to get back to real work. To Be Continued.
*
Having said all that, I have to say that there's a ton of stuff not getting done. My lawn hasn't been mowed in ages; there's a huge list of phone calls that need to be made and errands that need to be run. I can't even really contemplate what life will be like next semester, when I actually have to be on campus three or so days per week and need to grade papers and show up for committee meetings on top of everything else. But you know, this is really what I wanted. And I'm not complaining. Just looking for strategies to make things easier on both myself and my kids.
On Wednesday, Tiny Boy was at daycare from 8:45-3:45 and then I brought him home and nursed him (and nursed him and nursed him) and left again at 4:30 for a campus event. Came home at 7:00 and put him to bed. That was hard. And that I won't be doing again unless it is absolutely necessary. Going out for a reading that starts at bedtime is one thing. Not seeing my kid all day and then all evening is another. And as much as I like having my intellectual life back, my space back, I don't want it to come at Tiny Boy's expense.
*
So today I've gone to yoga and written (haven't quite how to count when I delete as much as I produce). I've got writing group coming over this afternoon so need to make some snacks and tidy up a bit (the baby has discovered Cheerios and they are everywhere). It's a nice, balanced day. So long as I don't see what's not getting done on my to do list.
What happens with the kids' schedules is largely down to a science. We're out of bed at 7:20 (Tiny Boy and I are generally awake by 6:45, sometimes earlier, but LG's wake up time is as late as 7:20), dressed and downstairs for breakfast by 7:45, out the door at 8:15. Pick-up for Tiny Boy is around 4:30, as LG's bus gets home at 4:15. The days she does aftercare (because I needed to hold a space for her for next semester) I usually get her around 4:15 and then we go across the street to fetch him. Dinner at 5:30. Bed for him between 6:30 and 7:00. Lights out for her at 8:00. I clean a bit or read or blog or watch TV (or some combination) until 9:00. If I'm lucky, I can sneak into bed and fall asleep before Tiny Boy wakes up. More often than not, he wakes, I have to nurse him, and I don't actually get to sleep until 10:00 or 10:30. Rinse and repeat.
*
I should say I started this post yesterday during a writing break and never got back around to it. (I am currently hooked up to the pump, producing more milk than my son actually drinks, which is probably the subject of another post.)
I've been trying to track how much times I spend doing this, that, and the other thing, and what I'm finding is that just the idea of tracking time makes me less likely to do things like read blogs. In practical terms, I'm not sure how much wiggle-room for change my schedule actually has. Yeah, I could cut the 20 minutes I spend watching TV at night, but even then I'm usually doing something else, like folding clothes. I suppose I could stop blogging, but that, too, does not seem to be a major time waster. I seem to be fairly efficient. (At least this week!)
After reading about it at Profgrrrrl's site I've been playing with the Pomodoro technique for writing. Some parts of it strike me as pretty arbitrary and even counterproductive--i.e. Why should I take a break when I'm in a groove just because a timer goes off?--but generally I find it helps with my accountability. I've also noticed I write at a really good clip most days (about 300 words in 30 minutes) and once I've written 1000 words or so I'm done. Need to move on to a different task or, at least, work in a different genre. So mornings I start with the book manuscript and then I either read or write something else or take notes for the next day. I really can't do much more than that, and if I do that much, well, in the ~60 working days (excluding conferences, Thanksgiving, etc) I have left on sabbatical, I should be able to have a working draft of the whole book as well as some nicely polished parts. (Yeah, I know I said that last fall. And then I had OB appointments 2-3 days a week and spent a ton of time hooked up to a fetal monitor and, oh yes, had a Tiny Boy.)
And now, having produced ~6 oz of milk I need to get back to real work. To Be Continued.
*
Having said all that, I have to say that there's a ton of stuff not getting done. My lawn hasn't been mowed in ages; there's a huge list of phone calls that need to be made and errands that need to be run. I can't even really contemplate what life will be like next semester, when I actually have to be on campus three or so days per week and need to grade papers and show up for committee meetings on top of everything else. But you know, this is really what I wanted. And I'm not complaining. Just looking for strategies to make things easier on both myself and my kids.
On Wednesday, Tiny Boy was at daycare from 8:45-3:45 and then I brought him home and nursed him (and nursed him and nursed him) and left again at 4:30 for a campus event. Came home at 7:00 and put him to bed. That was hard. And that I won't be doing again unless it is absolutely necessary. Going out for a reading that starts at bedtime is one thing. Not seeing my kid all day and then all evening is another. And as much as I like having my intellectual life back, my space back, I don't want it to come at Tiny Boy's expense.
*
So today I've gone to yoga and written (haven't quite how to count when I delete as much as I produce). I've got writing group coming over this afternoon so need to make some snacks and tidy up a bit (the baby has discovered Cheerios and they are everywhere). It's a nice, balanced day. So long as I don't see what's not getting done on my to do list.
Bears a certain resemblance to my life, minus the scholarly work part. But my favorite bit is where you didn't have time to finish the post in one day.
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