day dreaming about our day-to-day

My mom took these pictures a few days before Easter as I was trying to figure out what Elsie was going to wear. The upper left is a dress I wore when I was little. The lower left is a dress Mara wore on Easter when she was little. The lower right is when the fashion show ended.

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My Uncle Mark was here this weekend. He sits on a board for a private school in St. Louis and always brings interesting insights on education and children. When he was here we shared a great conversation about the uses and abuses of technology and he asked pointedly, "do your kids see you read every day? do they see you with a book in your face for extended periods of time?"

And the answer is no. Reading feels like a luxury at this point in my life. Or at least that's what I tell myself, but I know that isn't actually true. If I had a book in front of my face as often as I have my phone to my face, I'd have read through the local library by now. 

It got me thinking. When can I have this built-in reading time during my day? Which led me to think about how tired I've been lately. How I seem to be fighting low energy daily. Which  made me think about my late bedtime and how it's just not sustainable. 

So I spent some time today day-dreaming. Dreaming about my day-to-day. Writing out a little mock schedule with an ideal bedtime, and the things it would take to lead me to get into bed at that time. I wrote out what an ideal morning would look like: up at 7, shower, contacts and coffee by 8. Bible reading during breakfast. Everybody ready for the day by 8:30 or 9. I decided I sleep best after a hot bath. So a hot bath is scheduled each night at 10 sharp. Bedtime at 10:30. 

The schedule feels doable, and feels healthy. I have a list of things I want to fit in to my days, if possible: reading time, time for art, time for blogging, play dates, individual play time, day adventures. I made a list of things that don't fit into my day: facebook and other distractions. I'll save most computer stuff for after the kids are in bed. I took instagram off of my phone.

The schedule will serve as a rough guideline. I know some days I'll pull it off, and other days I won't. But it was so empowering and luxurious to sit down and think carefully about my days and how we spend our time. I even made a list of adjectives describing how I want our days to feel and what I could do to ensure each day feels that way.

It was a great practice and I highly recommend doing it for yourself. But now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go get in the tub. And read a book. It's on the schedule.