Notes and Nights
This week marks four weeks on night shift--in some ways an easier adjustment than I expected, and in others, much harder. I love being back at work. I'm not sure how long it will take me to learn to love nights.
One of the challenges of this shift has been that it puts Micah and me on opposite schedules. With the kids always under foot in the evenings and so much going on, it's been a challenge to carve out to time talk. So we've picked up an old habit we used to have. Back when we were dating and first married, we had a journal that we swapped back and forth. When I was still in college, we would exchange it on the weekends. After we got married, we would write in it before one of us went on a trip. That particular journal is packed away in a box in Lincoln, so we picked up a new one. It's been fun to write back and forth each night and day, and it makes me feel like we're still connecting even in the midst of this crazy schedule. Plus, it's fun to have the notes all in one place to look back on them.
A long time ago we'd talked about doing something similar for the kids: having a notebook for each of them that they could swap with us. We could write notes back and forth for fun, or it could be a place where they could ask us questions they didn't feel comfortable asking in person, talk about things that had happened at school, etc. There have been a few mornings where I have missed the kids before they've headed out for the day or before I've gone to bed after working. With the school year approaching, I have a feeling that will happen increasingly (and the need to talk things out will likely increase too). So we picked up some little notebooks for them tonight, too. Sometimes I'll tuck them by their cereal bowls to find in the morning (like today), but mostly we'll tuck them under each other's pillows to be found at bedtime (whenever bedtime falls for each of us...). They can write their questions or comments in the book and tuck them under our pillows, and we can respond and hide the books under theirs. It allows them to ask personal questions without siblings even knowing, which I think is especially important. We wanted our kids close in age and in relationship, but it makes it difficult to separate them and give them each space for private talk. I think this will be one tool we'll appreciate.
I feel good about taking steps to make sure the communication lines are open all around in what's become a very different season for us. And I'm so excited about a new little tradition! Needless to say, these little notebooks will be tucked away for years to come as they're filled with life and love page by page.
One of the challenges of this shift has been that it puts Micah and me on opposite schedules. With the kids always under foot in the evenings and so much going on, it's been a challenge to carve out to time talk. So we've picked up an old habit we used to have. Back when we were dating and first married, we had a journal that we swapped back and forth. When I was still in college, we would exchange it on the weekends. After we got married, we would write in it before one of us went on a trip. That particular journal is packed away in a box in Lincoln, so we picked up a new one. It's been fun to write back and forth each night and day, and it makes me feel like we're still connecting even in the midst of this crazy schedule. Plus, it's fun to have the notes all in one place to look back on them.
A long time ago we'd talked about doing something similar for the kids: having a notebook for each of them that they could swap with us. We could write notes back and forth for fun, or it could be a place where they could ask us questions they didn't feel comfortable asking in person, talk about things that had happened at school, etc. There have been a few mornings where I have missed the kids before they've headed out for the day or before I've gone to bed after working. With the school year approaching, I have a feeling that will happen increasingly (and the need to talk things out will likely increase too). So we picked up some little notebooks for them tonight, too. Sometimes I'll tuck them by their cereal bowls to find in the morning (like today), but mostly we'll tuck them under each other's pillows to be found at bedtime (whenever bedtime falls for each of us...). They can write their questions or comments in the book and tuck them under our pillows, and we can respond and hide the books under theirs. It allows them to ask personal questions without siblings even knowing, which I think is especially important. We wanted our kids close in age and in relationship, but it makes it difficult to separate them and give them each space for private talk. I think this will be one tool we'll appreciate.
I feel good about taking steps to make sure the communication lines are open all around in what's become a very different season for us. And I'm so excited about a new little tradition! Needless to say, these little notebooks will be tucked away for years to come as they're filled with life and love page by page.
