Time
Others have written much more intelligently and eloquently on the subject, but I feel the need to do so too, at least a little bit. :)
I have time and yet ... I don't feel like I do. I wake up at 5:45-6 AM. We're out the door by 6:30 at the latest to take Ricky to work. Carlos and I often park in the little strip mall parking lot to wait for a train to go by, then we'll head home to have breakfast and watch "Arthur", "Martha Speaks," "Curious George" and the first of the two 15 minute "Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That" episodes. Then Carlos gets dressed and I take him to daycare. Usually I sneak in a 30 minute nap curing "Curious George." Carlos will come in and check on me (isn't that sweet?) and turn on the music for me, turning it down low like I like it. He will also yell at me when it's time to leave. If life is good, he's there by 9.
Then I either do a few errands or just come home and work on job search, check email, and read LJ and Facebook. By 11 I'm usually getting sleepy again *yawn* so I often take a nap. I have to leave by 2:30 PM to pick up Ricky from work at 3; I try to sneak a quick shower in before I go. Then I take him home, spend a little time with him before going to the grocery and picking up Carlos. Then it's dinner prep, eating, tickling (by request) some kid time, bath time (every other day or so) for Carlos, then trying to get him in sleep mode. I can be back in the living room as early as 9:15 or as late as 10:30. Bedtime is usually midnight for me.
Rinse, repeat.
So, I don't feel like I've got a lot of really good solid time to do something, except sleep, which I need or I'll just do things stupidly. I thought I used to be better at managing home time than this. Maybe I just imagined it. Or maybe ... maybe time just runs differently now. :)
I have time and yet ... I don't feel like I do. I wake up at 5:45-6 AM. We're out the door by 6:30 at the latest to take Ricky to work. Carlos and I often park in the little strip mall parking lot to wait for a train to go by, then we'll head home to have breakfast and watch "Arthur", "Martha Speaks," "Curious George" and the first of the two 15 minute "Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That" episodes. Then Carlos gets dressed and I take him to daycare. Usually I sneak in a 30 minute nap curing "Curious George." Carlos will come in and check on me (isn't that sweet?) and turn on the music for me, turning it down low like I like it. He will also yell at me when it's time to leave. If life is good, he's there by 9.
Then I either do a few errands or just come home and work on job search, check email, and read LJ and Facebook. By 11 I'm usually getting sleepy again *yawn* so I often take a nap. I have to leave by 2:30 PM to pick up Ricky from work at 3; I try to sneak a quick shower in before I go. Then I take him home, spend a little time with him before going to the grocery and picking up Carlos. Then it's dinner prep, eating, tickling (by request) some kid time, bath time (every other day or so) for Carlos, then trying to get him in sleep mode. I can be back in the living room as early as 9:15 or as late as 10:30. Bedtime is usually midnight for me.
Rinse, repeat.
So, I don't feel like I've got a lot of really good solid time to do something, except sleep, which I need or I'll just do things stupidly. I thought I used to be better at managing home time than this. Maybe I just imagined it. Or maybe ... maybe time just runs differently now. :)