2nd September - A Little Window (Normal Life)

     To some normalcy might be boring, to others it is just what the doctor orders each day. One thing I've said to many people and we've said to ourselves was that we'll be finding a new normal, but we don't know what that will be. For those of you that really like lists, order and procedures then I predict you'll totally enjoy this entry. For those of you who are more abstract thinking, random and couldn't care less about the details of daily life than I'm afraid you might be bored, but I'll leave that up to you.
     Yesterday marked the fortnight anniversary of the girls being with us since the handover. In some respects it feels like time has flown by, but then we look and see it's only been 14 days. Family goes on, being a family is not just a getaway which ends or even a school year which seems long but is over by July. This is life, it's not a segue or a long-term babysitting job for a friend, this is life. This is our family, each day up and at 'em by around 6:30ish (hopefully not earlier than that:) and then hanging out a bit with either a short video, books, numerous stuffed toys then onto eating breakfast, getting dressed, maybe going out, certainly playing some more and then before you know it it's lunch time. Hard to believe that 6:30-12:00 can go so quickly, but the clock doesn't lie.

   Nap time, it's a win-win for all parties involved. The girls need it, we need it, not that I always take a nap but from time-to-time I do snooze at that point. It gives us a chance to take care of some phone calls, put out washing, tidy up the kitchen, eat our own lunch and most importantly recharge. That might be in the form of surfing the net, playing a game together, and simply hanging out. It does seem as though the clock lies during this time though, it does seem to fly by and before we know the girls have emerged from their afternoon slumber. Usually full of gusto, not always but often ready to tackle the world. This is the best time for our youngest to work on walking around the house and to work on wearing her glasses, as you can imagine being 17 months she is not a big fan of having something placed on her little face that she is not supposed to touch.

     We've settled into quite a consistent routine, I assume this is because we both understand the value of routine and having ways of doing things. I'm not convinced we'll be able to keep to these as stringent as we presently are but during this special time of bonding it is fabulous to have these procedures built into our lives. So after waking up there is often a snack, generally a trip to a local park, feed the ducks, drop into the shops, play some more whether that be indoors or outdoors. Somewhere in there Auntie Lizzie gets home from work and joins in the fun of whatever is going on at the time. Once 5:00 rolls around everyone starts getting antsy for dinner, requests for snacks, juice etc... heighten and table/food preparation kicks into full gear so that by 5:30 we're all seated at the table for a family meal together. This is an important aspect of our daily lives and even in the hustle and bustle of life we hope to keep this paramount in our house.

     Once dinner is over it's our family time watching a video on the big screen, for a couple of weeks it's been Paw Patrol, I'm sure that will change soon to some other hotshot cartoon but for now we enjoy an episode together. From there it's clean-up time, that might be the living room, front room or bedroom or all of the above. It depends on where, when and how many toys/books were dragged out from their respective box, basket or shelf. This time flies by and after getting upstairs the bubbly bath is already drawn and ready to jumped into. It must be a real treasure to relax in the bath right before each night, talk about winding down. After getting on night clothes on it's time for a story or two followed by a Bible story and praying together. From there goodnight kisses are given and both girls are safely tucked into their nest. What follows is a couple hours of adult time and solitude until 6:30 am the next morning rolls around.

     Our lives are not like they have been for the last umpteen years but as I told a friend this week I wouldn't trade it for anything. I'm sure by the time some of you read this post our routines and timings will have changed but that's OK, people change, little ones grow up, they grow out of shoes and clothes and even start eating green stuff eventually. We're up for it all and look forward to many days together in the future, but we're definitely making memories and
savouring the moments of today.