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By Cheryl Bac
E-mail Cheryl Bac
About this blog: I'm a wife, stay-at-home mom, home cook, marathon runner, and PhD. I recently moved to the Silicon Valley after completing my PhD in Social Psychology and becoming a mother one month apart. Before that, I ran seven marathons incl...
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About this blog: I'm a wife, stay-at-home mom, home cook, marathon runner, and PhD. I recently moved to the Silicon Valley after completing my PhD in Social Psychology and becoming a mother one month apart. Before that, I ran seven marathons including Chicago and Boston. Exercise is an integral part of my life. I hope to one day go back to long distance running and tackle the New York City Marathon. Right now I run after my one year old son. Although I am a stay-at-home mom, we are rarely "at home." My mom also stayed at home with my brother and me. She warned me that, although rewarding, it can be isolating. So, with her help, I learned the importance of getting out into the community and meeting other mothers. On the rare occasion when I am at home and have a hand or two free, I squeeze in time to scrapbook. As a new mom, many challenges are thrown my way. I hope my opinions, triumphs, and struggles help experienced parents reminisce, new parents cope, and parents-to-be get an honest glimpse of what the first years of motherhood can entail.
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Why My Son Is Unusually Unscheduled
Uploaded: Oct 13, 2013
When I was about 10 years old, I started attending a very structured girls' summer camp. We woke up in the morning at 7am sharp, went onto the cabin's porch for flag raising at 7:05, dressed in our uniforms and cleaned the cabin to prepare for inspection at 7:40 before eating breakfast at 8:00. The day was filled with swimming, canoeing, tennis and other scheduled classes along with meals and rest hours. The day ended with flag lowering at 8:30 and taps at 9:00.
For the most part, I truly enjoyed having a very structured summer. I could learn how to kayak, windsurf, perform a back dive, hit a bullseye, and identify poison ivy all in a single day.
But there were parts of it that I disliked. Such as jumping into the lake when it was cold enough to see my breath because swimming was "on the schedule" (this was in upnorth Wisconsin). I disliked being stuck in arts and crafts on a hot day and tennis on a rainy one. But most of all, I was not a fan of rest hour...when we were suppose to sleep or at least lie down on our beds. I rarely fell asleep. Most of the time I spent rest hour reading signatures on the cabin's walls.
Because of these dislikes, I have an unusually unscheduled toddler. For instance, I give my son lots of flexibility with his naps. It makes no difference to me if he falls asleep at 1 or 3. Or if he sleeps for an hour or two. Furthermore, if I were a toddler, I would want to sleep more on rainy days, play in the water all afternoon during a heatwave, and sleep in after a day spent running around at the zoo. So that's what I let my son do.
I know this is not the normal parenting strategy (especially around here). Almost all of the babies I meet are on a schedule (sometimes a very strict one). I understand that schedules are lifesavers for many new (and experienced) parents, but it's just not for me and my family.
Personally, I think my son's life will become overscheduled from the time he is 5-21+ so why not give him more flexibility now?
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