I didn’t get to cook dinner for my family tonight. I didn’t last night either and won’t again tomorrow night. One of those is our own fault for going to the zoo and then out to dinner instead of returning home. Our routines have fallen off as business has picked up and life has returned to normal.
Normal for us is never normal. Our business is one that requires a lot of work to be done during the nights and weekends. Being home to cook dinner at 5:00 and have it eaten by 6:30 is a bit of a challenge. It is not impossible but it is a challenge. The funniest part of this job is people remain jealous of me.
If someone saw the looks I got for mentioning that we are going to Kings Dominion on Monday they’d be shocked. People look at me when I say that like I am describing a crime. It is odd because a lot of businesses are closed on Monday, and here I am getting lucky to have a day off at all and using it to take my family somewhere.
I wonder what the reaction would be if I told people I am getting up at 5:00 AM tomorrow morning and won’t be done working until close to 9:00 PM. The same was true today but it is a Friday and not a Saturday. Would my working on a Saturday lesson the death stares I receive when I tell people I am going to Kings Dominion on a Monday.
The only thing I want out of Monday is for my children to have a good time. To have yet another new experience and I hope somewhere in those developing toddler brains that these new experiences matter. I wish I could do even more for them. That might be why I mourn the loss of our routine.
We ordered groceries today and didn’t include one planned meal. We got a family pack of pork chops that will give us four meals but nothing else. We didn’t get to the Shepherd’s Pie or the cashew chicken from last week. So those are our six meals right there, but then tomorrow I won’t be eating at home again and Monday we will either be at or driving home from Kings Dominion.
There is a part of me that hates routines and there is a part of me that loves it. Ultimately my happiness lies in having a chaotic day for 22.5 hours and a sensible hour and a half to make and eat dinner with my family. I need to work that into my schedule and keep it there. I need daily time off between 5:00-6:30. That is dinner time. That is family time.
David Huzzard Writes 