What is our routine?

As I was preparing tonight to go back to work, I started thinking about our "routine." All the parenting books say it's best to find a routine and stick to it. A regular rhythm helps everyone know what to expect -- and from us, to William, to Patrick, to Sarwary and Shabu, there are many people in the house who could benefit. With many parenting advice topics, from bedtime to potty training, one can find someone who says what one wants to hear. But try and look for a proponent of irregular schedules, and you'll be short on luck.

At the moment, though, I can't think of what our routine will possibly be like for the next twelve months. I will be at work part time for two weeks, and then we take a vacation for a week with Beth - and January is done. The first week of Feb, Beth will be here (hooray!), and after that we'll have about six weeks of normalcy - just enough to settle into a routine - before we (hopefully!) jet back to the US for three weeks. Now March is done and April is off to a good start.

But then, from April 10, William's school is out for summer, so the next eight weeks (until June 10), will have a distinct feel with two boys at home all day. It will likely not be until July - half way into 2010 - that we really start to feel comfortable in a routine. At which point we'll be in the last six months of our time here and starting to prepare to move again. All of this ignores, of course, the fact that babies are unpredictable and change immensely the first year of life. Patrick is a wild card :)

Morals of the musings? (1) Ignore the advice, take a deep breath at the end of each day, and think about what needs to happen the next day. (2) If you only have 24 months to live in a place, it truly is important to "live in the moment" and not think too much about what's around the corner. Maybe it's time to listen to my yoga teacher and actually do the pranayama (breathing meditation) every day, even if I can't do the asana (stretches).

Cultural note: most schools in Hyderabad close mid-April to mid-June during the hot season. Air conditioning is not common, and so the schools need the natural cooling that comes with the monsoons before they can reopen.