Rhythm

Life is full of rhythm.

The rhythm of the day...

dawn until dusk,

day to night.

Light to dark.

We have our personal daily rhythms.

We all have them.

Some of us depend on them.

I count myself one.

Each morning I get up before my little one does, preferably by 6am but it is more like 6:30 in these dark wintry days.

Often I get up before my big one does too.

These days always start me in the right direction.

Each morning is the same. Weekday morning that is.

:: go to the bathroom and prepare for the day

:: come downstairs, turn on the computer, start the coffee, get the newspaper

:: check emails, weather forecast, Facebook, blogs.

:: read the paper and drink my coffee.

Every day the same thing.

There is comfort in that for me.

( I found out the hard way this morning when Athena

woke up the same time as I did and talked, talked, talked

through that precious hour I usually have alone.)

Around 7:45 Athena usually comes down. She awakens closer to 7:0 but "plays in bed"  most days.

She, too, has her own rhythm. She is not ready for breakfast for a half hour.

By then Paul has had coffee, read the paper and had breakfast. He heads down to his office at 8am sharp.

I feed Athena breakfast and I eat two pieces of toast with butter. Some days I have yogurt.

I make beds, clean the kitchen and talk with my oldest daughter on the phone for a bit.

Same thing every day.

We start our school day at 9:30. We go until noon. Always math first. It is her favorite.

Today was rounding up and down to the nearest ten or hundred.

We move on to Language Arts. Spelling, grammar, writing.

Exploding Codes, First Language Lessons, Writing With Ease, Spelling Workout.

(more on this later)

We do either Science or History.

Lunch.

(Not a fan of making lunch, nor eating lunch)

After lunch (Daddy sneaks in a nap if he is able) I tend to whatever home keeping is on the go. Check emails and such and then pick up my knitting for a few minutes. She reads aloud to me for a half hour. I read aloud to her for a half hour.

Athena plays modelling clay or magnets or blocks.

2pm is Mommy time. I set Athena up with something that will occupy her for a while. Lately it has been Sparkle Stories. Other times it is Animal Jam on the computer. I get her water filled up and off I go.

My yoga time. 75 minutes each day. My refuelling. My bliss.

Even my yoga has a rhythm. I do the same series of asana on one day and switch it up the next. I come out of that room refreshed, renewed and ready for the rest of the day.

We usually go outside then. She to play and I to feed the birds, sweep up shells. We often walk around the golf course. She plays with one of two children a few times a week at this time. Alex or Erica. Thursday she goes to ballet. I go inside to prep for supper, she stays out and plays.

5pm Paul either comes up from downstairs or back home from his travels. I pour myself a glass of wine. Athena watches Wild Kratts on TV. It is where she learns all of her animal facts and boy does she know animal facts. Paul and I catch up on our days.
6pm we eat dinner.
7:30 Athena is in the bath.
8:00 She is in bed. She will draw or read for a bit and then I have been in the habit of giving her a back massage as she listens to her CD. You Are My Little Bird by Elizabeth Mitchell.
Every night the same. 8:30 lights out.

I come back down to visit with Paul for a while. He grinds the coffee beans and sets up the coffee maker for the next day. Then he goes down to watch TV. American Pickers or Pawn Stars or Antique Roadshow. (lucky me, no sports EVER). I read a book or a magazine or knit. At 9:30 I take my Cal/Mag,  have a shower, put lavender essential oil on my pulse points. At 10pm I am in bed. Some nights sooner.

I go to my room, sit on the edge of my bed and put foot butter on my feet. I lie in reclined cobbler for several minutes and stretch out into Savasana and drift off to sleep.

This is the rhythm of my day. It is nearly always the same. Some would say it is a boring existence and by some standards in may well be. But I keep this rhythm close to me.
It is comfort and assurance and predictable. I am a Cancer girl so you know I like things to stay the same and I don't wander too far from home.