The fun in switching routine

I wake up at 5.15am every day. It is one of the biggest struggles I have. I am not one to oversleep and if I have to wake up early, I will be up.

Besides, the four cocks at home will not let me stay in bed past 5am. They start crowing at 4.15am sharp and continue at intervals.

That does not mean I do not miss my sleep. I do. Terribly. After a good meal, a nice book, or a thrilling movie, sleep is the next thing I love to do. So to have to wake up so early when I could do with an extra hour is not something I enjoy. Which is why last Friday I was excited that I would get to sleep in a little more than usual.
Friday is a light day at work and I could afford to get in later than usual but because our older girl needs to be in class by 7.30am, I still need to be up early.

Last week though, Friday was her class day, a day on which we see how they are doing in school and have chats with their class teacher on progress.

On such days, we are expected to go to school at any time between 7.30am and 4pm, spend whatever time we need with the teachers and then leave with the child.

Because of my not-so-busy Fridays, I usually want to get in early, finish work early and get home before the sun has set. But despite getting to work early, I have only returned home at about 6.30pm, once. Every day, something comes up.

Either someone calls for an impromptu meeting later in the afternoon delaying me or I suddenly get some work to be done before the close of the day.

Other times I have to go for a workshop whose end I cannot determine or it is the best time to meet up with friends.

So last Friday I decided to do it the other way round. I would take my time about getting to work such that even if I left late, I would not feel cheated. That morning we slept in and woke up when we were ready to get up.

We had a late breakfast and along with her younger sister, who we decided not to take to school because of a cough that was disturbing her, had a nice, calm ride to school.

Previously during class day, I have spent about 20 minutes with the teacher before I dash home to drop our daughter and then rush to work. This time I spent almost 40 minutes in the class, asking about every detail, looking at all the work she has done and speaking with other parents I found.

After we were done, I took my time about taking them home, ensured they were settled in, with some bites to eat before leaving.

My next stop was the market. My market boy was surprised to see me at that time of the day as I usually go in the evenings. Done with the shopping, I finally came to work.

I was able to take my time doing several things, knowing that even if I left late, I had spent some quality time with the girls in the morning and had done the main chores for the day. It felt good. So I might be doing a little more switching of my routines in the future.