Thursday, February 12, 2015

The New Sunday


Well Hello There!

Fancy seeing you here, and on a Thursday.

Actually I'm very pleased to see you here on a Thursday because, as it turns out Thursday is the new Sunday.  I mean Sunday, pffft.  It's so four days ago.



So the times they are a-changing.  And One Small Life is going to be posting on Thursdays from now on.  What do you think?  Is Thursday a good blog post reading day for you?  Gosh I hope so.

I started posting on a Sunday because I always liked the idea of readers sitting down on a lazy Sunday morning with a lovely cup of tea for a bit of a look see.

But here's the thing.

My little girl is at school now.  School! Goodness she's growing up.  Too fast.  Way too fast.  Somebody slow things down, kay?

Do you have kids in school?  If you do you might now how I feel.  All of a sudden the days are so full.  Mornings are busy, though I pride myself on making them happy times.  They may be rushed, but I do my very best not to be grouchy in the mornings.  Sometimes I even succeed.  I hate to send my little girl off into the big world of school having had a grumpy, stressful time at home.

So.  Busy.

Then afternoons, well they seem to get shorter and shorter.  A bit of homework.  Just readers for now, but that will change.  A little bit of downtime in front of the telly.  Dinner, playtime, bedtime routine, which seems to take forever.

And all of a sudden most of the time I'm spending with my daughter becomes instructional.  Brush your teeth, eat your beans, tie your shoes, time to come in and get ready for bed, have you packed your library books?

Which I think is why I love school holidays so much.  Time to not have to be the bossy, organising Mum.  Time to just hang out and giggle.  Tickles on the bed.  Pirate ships.  Cubbies.  Trips to the park.

Then I realised we have the chance to have these mini holidays every week.  Every weekend there is a chance for this kind of relaxation.  This kind of real down time and family connection.

But the last couple of weekends I have been pretty caught up on my computer.  Sundays especially have become a day that I'm always dipping in and out of the internet because my post is up and I like to  check in, put it out there, do stuff.  It's not like this is stuff I have to do - a burden or a chore.  I enjoy it.  But that doesn't change the fact that it takes me away from my kids.  Even in the tiniest of ways, when I walk away from a game too quickly check my emails or have a sneaky glimpse at instagram.

I've written before about trying to get my computer use under control.  Trying to find the right balance between nurturing this space, connecting with fellow bloggers and like minded peeps, doing the Actual Writing (capital letters required), promoting and all that.

I did set myself the challenge of only using the computer when my kids were out of the house or in bed.  But of late that's gotten tricky.  See my kids have been going to bed a bit later, as part of a strategy for trying to get them to sleep later.  So far it's not working and all it's meant is more tired kiddies with less sleep and more deflated parents with less down time than ever.

I digress.  What's new.

Suffice it to say, there is very little time now during which the kids are in fact out or asleep.  So that plan is not quite, well going to plan.

There are a number of goals I set in place for February at which I am doing quite well.  So I'm not going to beat myself up too much about this one failure, rather I won't call it a failure but a work in progress.

And then recently I read this post about disconnecting by Pia at These Woven Words

So here's the new regime.  I'm going to disconnect completely on the weekends.  I mean completely.  No laptop.  No iPad.  Phone only for phone calls and camera (no instagram - I'm taking it off my phone right now).

I'm excited about this.  A bit daunted maybe, but excited too.

However, part of the reason I've not done this in the past (because, come on, it makes sense, right?) is because I post on Sundays.  I still feel a bit sad about giving up the Sundays.  But here's hoping it is for the greater good.

So Thurdays.  What do you think?  I'm going to consider this a trial run for Thursdays, because it is not actually a kid free day.  I'll still have my son with me.  So who knows.  Mondays might soon become the new Thursdays.  But there you have it.  Thursdays for now.

You never know, one day I might even become one of those bloggers who throws caution to the wind and just posts whenever the fancy strikes.  It's becoming more appealing my the minute!

Okay then.  That's it from me for now.  Happy, happy Thursday.  And please let me know what you think in the comments.  Comments are my favourite! x

When is your preferred blog reading time?

Listen to Nilsson Thursday (Here's Why I didn't Go To Work Today)

4 comments:

  1. Your new Thursday posting sounds like a grand plan Kate - I think most people flitter in and out of social media /internet-ing most days don't they ? The weekend disconnect sounds even better - am sure your family are going to love having you all to themselves x PS glad to hear that your Feb goals are going well - you are on fire !!

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    1. Thanks Ing! Yes, I feel like I'm making good progress and looking forward to getting into even more of a rhythm. Funnily enough that rhythm may in fact include posting more sporadically here - throwing off the shackles of the weekly post. Hmm. Thinking about it, but yes. It's certainly a reflection of how we use social media and the internet more constantly now. I remember a time when I used to sit down once a week and check in with certain things. Now it's just always there. Interesting times. And all the more reason for the weekly mini-break. I'm excited for it! x

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  2. How did your first weekend of switching off go? I bet it was grand. You'll be bloody crocheting next :) I love the idea of it, I really do, I hate how attached to our online lives we all are, I usually get more work done at the weekend because Darren is home and Betsy can pester him instead of me, but that being said I quite like using that time to mull over stuff and potter about the house....I dunno, I'm so scatty these days, I'm off to paint my nails xxx

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    1. It was actually total awesome and you are right - there may well be weekend crocheting in my future. Although I've heard you question the ability to do it while drinking red wine, which may limit the possibilities somewhat. Hope the manicure went well. x

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