Reading Between the Routines

by Cathy

The other night as I was hurrying my older daughter Bella along with wrapping up homework and cleaning her desk, Ari made a startling 'life observation' that was way beyond her five years.

I said: "Hurry up, Bella. It's time for bed. Don't forget to cap the gluestick."

Ari, who was sitting up in bed, mothering her little stuffed doggie, Marshmallow, and his injured leg wrapped in a sparkly pink headband, blurted out: "Yes. Put the cap on the glue, put your stuff away, put your pajamas on, go to sleep, wake up tomorrow, put on your uniform, go to school, come back home, do homework again..."

Laughing, yet amazed, I said, "Do you know what that's called? All that?"
"No," she smiled back innocently.
"A routine," Bella droned.
"Yes, a routine!" I half-assed pepped up to make it sound appealing. Well, she was learning a new word so it had to have some element of fun!

 I was flabbergasted that at age five, she already understood the concept of a routine.What did I realize at five years old? Then again, we are talking about a five-year old that recognizes neighborhoods well enough to know when we are driving near her grandmother's house, her ballet studio, her school, Target - and she knows when we're not driving down the street we're supposed to be going, based on our destination.

This observation was such an adult observation; is she already bored with her life? Because once you get the concept of a routine - and perhaps your feelings on this change as you get older - it's kind of a sad revelation. I can vouch for this because that same night, after I tucked them both in and sat on Ari's bed so she can fall asleep, my mind drifted to how mundane life can become. How in fact our lives are just a series of routines - I mean, for a five-year old to grasp that concept, made it all the more telling at how blatantly predictable our lives can be. My thoughts were tailspinning me into a sadness as I lay there watching my girls sleep.

And then it hit me.
Where does life fall within all of these routines? Right smack dab in the middle of 'em.

It's what happens between and within our routines that make each day special. For our kids, it could be a funny joke mentioned at breakfast, the 'what happened at school today' stories at pick-up, watching them develop and excel at their after school activities, the goofy song that was made up during bathtime, the loss of a tooth during dinnertime, or the feelings shared in secrecy at bedtime. For us, it could be the promotion at work, the loss of a job, carrying the burden of a friend or family member's problems, meeting up with a friend for drinks, booking that trip, starting that novel or even just signing up to finally take that class.

All of these things, these moments that happen while we are shuffling through school schedules and grinding through work routines  - are what really make up our lives. We just need to learn to find these little diamonds in the coal mine of life, recognize them and appreciate them for what they are worth.