Sunday was that rarity in the universe: the 25-hour day. The clocks fell back as daylight savings time ended, and so the day was a little slower than usual. I was more mindful than usual of the morning, knowing that I had the extra hour. All in all, it went pretty well.
I stayed up until midnight, but it was really more like 11 p.m. The sun came up an hour earlier than usual. The kids all wound up in bed with my husband and me by 7 a.m., but after 8 hours of sleep, I was drifting awake already. All three were snuggly and reasonably well-behaved. Kid #4 seemed to pick up on the fact that all his siblings were there because he started kicking merrily too, and the kids wanted to hug my belly and pat him. I’m not a terribly sentimental person, but I love to see how he has already been welcomed into this tribe.
I got up around 7:20 and went downstairs to make the kids chocolate chip pancakes. I use a mix, so it’s fast! And they eat fast. I got into my running clothes and was out the door at 7:40. It wasn’t the best run ever. My legs were stiff, probably due to the ridiculous cold front that came through, with the wind blowing freezing gusts in my face. I managed to do about 3 miles before deciding that was enough.
The rest of my family (with my husband and mother-in-law) took off for the Franklin Institute, but I went to 10 a.m. church instead. The choir was performing Rutter’s Requiem for All Saints Sunday, and I wanted to hear it. The requiem was lovely as it always is, and it’s a great day when I can hear a free choral concert before noon.
No one was home when I got back around 11:20, so I did some more work on my #NaNoWriMo project. I’m cranking out a novel with a working title of Juliet’s School for the Domestic Arts. I am figuring out the plot and the characters as I write. What is showing up on the page right now is total crap, but the act of writing allows me to experiment with things. I’m finding this playful aspect of my work pretty fun. I’ve also realized that when the inner critic is completely silenced, I write fast. I’m probably cranking out my 1700 words in less than an hour most days. I’ll write more about this later this week, but so far this is pretty doable.
So by about 12:30 when everyone else got home, I’d been snuggling with the kids and making them breakfast, going for a 3-mile run, listening to a choral concert, and writing for close to an hour. I’d like more of these 25-hour days! Though to be honest, there’s probably nothing in there I couldn’t have done in a 24-hour day too if I’d been good about planning. The afternoon was less awesome: those cold blustery winds meant having two younger siblings on the sidelines for an older sibling’s soccer game was pretty miserable. There was a lot of whining and crying and trips back to the car. I’m also not particularly patient when I’m driving three kids around to various things and I’m not 100 percent sure where I’m going. But at least it was a good morning.
Photo: Coffee is an important part of any morning.
I’m a long-time reader of your blog (and books!) and I can’t believe my first comment will be about a mug. But well…I love Sandra Boynton! 🙂
@Suzanne – welcome! I think it’s a good topic for a first comment. We are big fans of “What’s Wrong Little Pookie?” around here, as well as “Hippos Go Beserk.”
My Sun also felt wonderfully long, due to a combo of the toddler sleeping 11.5-12 hrs (a rare thing) two nights in a row and getting an early start to the day. it felt like I had more than one extra hour…
@gwinne – when the kids sleep long it does feel like the possibilities open up…
I’m entering into the spirit of NaNoWriMo by writing with my 4 year old. I make a booklet out of printer paper, she draws pictures and then dictates the accompanying story. The stories she comes up with (entirely unprompted) are pretty involved. My favourite so far is about a monster that eats my little ponies by the seaside.
That sounds awesome!!! I’d buy that book 🙂
I need to do more of that with my 5yo. We’ve been asked by her teacher to get her more writing practice without it seeming like practice (ie no workbooks or letter copying exercises) so this would be a great way to do it 🙂
Ha – one of the benefits of writing the book is getting her to practice writing Her name. She has zero interest in writing otherwise. She is pretty keen to sign off as an author though!
Great idea! We’ll be trying that, too.
@Zenmoo – that is an excellent idea for a story. I should probably encourage my kids to do it one of these years.
Mine felt extra long because I got to bed early on Saturday. So – early start with lots of energy.
@June – funny how getting to bed on time can make the day seem longer!
I didn’t make plans for that hour and that was probably the downfall of making it really productive. It turned out to be the extra hour that helped us get to bed before midnight after a long travel day. We really needed it to make up for running late the night before and then having a packed Sunday which was further delayed by the thoughtlessness of others who don’t tell you not to wait on them because they have other plans. *glare*
Still, it worked out well enough and I think it helped me survive an otherwise rough weekend. If only we didn’t have to pay back that hour later in the spring. 🙂
Noticed the Boynton mug too. Do you have The Birthday Monsters?
Every time we come across 608 in any form, someone can be counted upon to break out into: “Oh look!” they shout, “It’s 6:08! Your present-opening can’t wait!”
I really like some of Rutter’s choral music. We had his arrangement of The Lord is My Shepherd played at our wedding (my dad played the oboe part with his soprano sax). And I sang his Te Deum when I was in high school.
Love Birthday Monsters! It’s also my fall back gift for toddler birthdays.