Daily Rituals

I mentioned last time how happy we all are to be back in our routine, and you probably thought in terms of a schedule -- getting up, eating, going to bed at set times every day.  While we try to do things at the same hour each day, our routine is actually made up of daily many rituals that Sarah counts on and insists on observing.  Some are quite elaborate.

Sarah now goes to sleep on her own at naptime.  Well, that's not entirely accurate.  She counts on Don to perform a series of actions in the same order before her head hits the pillow, then she takes it from there.  Don is going fishing up north again this coming week, so this morning, he wrote down the naptime ritual:

• In living room:
• Kiss Mom "goodnight"
• Drink milk in Dad's lap
• Wipe mouth with diaper
• Go to Sarah's room:
• Arrange bedding
• Close south shade
• Turn on sound machine (Dad does)
• Turn on music (Sarah does)
• Visit and touch panda mobile
• Close west shade
• Turn on fan (Sarah does)
• Move diaper pail from in front of door
• Return to hallway:
• Look at map of Maine
• Go to thermostat -- open, push two right buttons, close (Sarah does)
• Open bathroom door, close, pat (Sarah and Dad)
• Look in the master bedroom for cat on the bed
• Look at Williams needlepoint in hallway and point out "LMS," "85," and sun
• Back to room:
• Hug, kiss, and lay in bed

I'm not joking (how could I make this up?).  A couple of days ago, he tripped over the foot stool in Sarah's room during the process, and she now has to talk about and reenact the incident every time.  Any new action can become part of the ritual, so it pays to be prudent. 

Although not as detailed, there are rituals for getting up in the morning, getting up after nap, and going to bed (and I'm sure I'm forgetting others).  The scary part is that, if for some reason the ritual is interrupted or a step is skipped, it might be necessary to start over or at least backtrack to avoid a tirade.  Sarah takes "high-maintenance" to new heights.

Don just informed me that he left out a step in the naptime ritual.  No big deal...I'm sure Sarah will keep me on the straight and narrow.