I am not doing well with the early sun. I popped up at 5 a.m. this morning as the sky was brightening and I could not get back to sleep. In theory blackout shades might help, but my 6-year-old has such things, and he was up at 5:45 a.m. too.
The good news of a long morning, though, is I got a lot done. I got out of bed at 5:45, and then worked for the next hour and change. Among other things, I wrote a 1000-word essay for Vanderhacks. I do write fast! (A skill that may not be useful in the AI era.) I got the 11-year-old up for his last day of school, then I ran on the treadmill for 30 minutes. I got breakfast, and showered, and then played with the 6-year-old in the playroom for 30 minutes, all before it was time to drive him to his last day of kindergarten.
I have been pondering time estimation and reasonable to-do lists this week, partly because each work day has been shorter than “usual” for various reasons (though there are no typical weeks). On Monday we had 8th grade graduation plus I took her out to lunch and drove her and a friend to a party. On Tuesday I took the 16-year-old to school in the middle of the day, then wound up spending 45 minutes hunting for lobster tails since he requested that for a special last-day-of-school dinner. Our local grocery store had a lobster tail, singular, but that wasn’t really going to work. I wound up at Wild Fork, which is kind of a crazy store. My daughter came with me and we spotted kangaroo meat. I kid you not.
Anyway, I got to 5:45 p.m. and had not done 2 reasonably sized things on my to-do list. I really like to end the day with everything crossed off. My goal is to make reasonable lists that can be done, even when stuff comes up. So I was feeling like I had made an estimation mistake. But after eating our special dinner, and taking the kids in the pool, I read a story to the 6-year-old, then came down stairs while my husband was with him and knocked out those two to-dos from 9:10-10:00 p.m. I don’t work a split shift that often anymore, but in general I prefer to keep my to-do list promises to myself if I can. (Again, that’s why the list is generally short — I don’t want to be unreasonable here! ) So all that’s on Wednesday’s list is what is supposed to be there.
We are having a conversation about what the summer screen time and bed time policy is going to be. I think I want to keep the 6-year-old on his schedule. The 11-year-old is a tougher case. Most camps start at least an hour after middle school starts (9 a.m. vs 8 a.m.). I am not policing the 16-year-old or 14-year-old all that much, and he is not going to be happy about strict rules. On the other hand, he would be on his phone all night if it were an option. I’m thinking maybe 30-60 minutes later of a screen curfew. Curious what other people are doing.
It stuck me as I was reading the end of this article that I remember when the podcast intro described you as ‘mom of 3, soon to be 4’ – and now your 4th is 11, and wants to scroll his phone all night?
I follow a lot of writers and also youtubers who I realise now I have “known” for more than a decade, some more than 15 years! How different all our lives look than they did when I first “met” them.
Which of course makes me think of your saying that the time will pass however we choose to spend it!
@Katie – they do grew up! He’s the one I feel like I lose track of time the most, because he was my “baby” for so long – but he is definitely not a baby at all right now.
I just read your Substack newsletter about leaving comments on blogs (I think it was from last week – I’m a bit behind) so I’m taking your advice! I read your blog usually several times a week, and really enjoy the snippets of life you share. I find that to be the most interesting type of blog to read for me, so I also love to read SHU’s blog and enjoy the para-social relationship I have with both of you 🙂 I have a slightly different take on the solstice… it is my favorite day of the year! I love the long days and the sunshine, and I find that at this time of year (and really throughout most of the summer) I don’t need nearly as much sleep. In the winter when there isn’t much light, I sleep a lot more. I try to take advantage of this time of year to be more productive and tackle more things I’d like to do since I just seem to have more energy. These next two weeks are my favorite of the year, and I’m really trying to remind myself to enjoy the long days, early sunrises and late sunsets. I would love to live in a place that has summer all year long, but since I know winter will come eventually, I try to savor the light while we have it!