Same Old, Same Old?

Some of our daily routines are very mundane in nature and are the least favourite of ours to do, maybe even to the point of putting them off whenever possible.  Whereas, other routines are welcome ones–ones that we look forward to doing.

For me, I much prefer my morning routine, as opposed to my bedtime one; especially as of late since I am not working and things are more lax in self-isolation.  Now, if I were talking as my younger self, I would hardly believe what I am saying.  I was SO not a morning person right up until probably my 40’s.  I have no idea what changed, but how I am now is a very far cry from how I used to be.  Back in the day, sleeping in was a must and as a kid through my early twenties even, I often slept until noon.  “I don’t understand it.  You’ve slept half the day away,” my dad would say.  Sure, I thought, easy for you to say when you are used to being up with the birds, which I never understood until now.  Will I ever admit that he was right?  Maybe someday.  After all, I am still his kid, grown or not, and you know what it’s like to have to tell your parent that he/she was right.  As it turns out, my parents were right about a lot of things.  Sigh.

Perhaps part of my change in attitude about morningtime comes from the fact that I simply cannot stay in bed for that long anymore, otherwise things start to hurt, i.e. my back, my shoulder, my hips–well, you get the drift.  How I made it until noon when I was younger, I will never know?!  Not only did I manage to stay comfortable until then, I was also somehow able to stay put the whole time; as in NO bathroom trips whatsoever!  Are you kidding me?  I must have had the bladder of an elephant.  By the time I get up these days, usually between 6:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. at the latest, I’ve made anywhere from two to four bathroom trips.  By that point, I give up, get dressed and get going with my physiotherapy routine.  The sooner my physio is done, the sooner I can go outside walking, pet the cat, do some yoga, get my breakfast and then hop on here to see what’s new and/or begin writing.  All things considered, my mornings are a pretty sweet deal!  Very peaceful, very leisurely, unlike the never-ending list of things to do before bed.

How our evening routine has become so entailed is beyond me?  I mean, we don’t even have children to tuck in or worry about. It’s just the two of us and yet, it seems to take anywhere from a half-hour to forty-five minutes from the time we feel sleepy until the time we can actually lay our weary bodies down on our Tempurpedic mattress. What happened to the days when putting on one’s P. J.’s, brushing one’s teeth and hopping into bed were the three mainstays?  Instead, it’s everything in between and more, including making sure that our nighttime implements are either on or at the ready–a mouth splint for me, a sleep machine for my husband, eye masks, lotions and potions, medications, an A/C machine to keep it cool, a fan for noise and, and, and… Honestly!  By the time we are done everything and crawl into bed, it’s a wonder that we aren’t wide awake.  Once again, however, I think our age holds true as we each drift off to sleep shortly thereafter.  Thank goodness for that, I guess.  Whether or not we stay asleep and/or get back to some zzzz’s after our many bathroom trips is another story.  Ah well, things could be worse, couldn’t they?

Is there a routine that you look forward to or dread doing?  Have you noticed a difference from when you were younger in how you feel toward a particular time of day?  

 

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