The school holidays are now over which means lots of things get back to “normal”;
- traffic
- the number of “Out of Offices” you receive when you send an email
- the number of children playing in the playgrounds during the day
- parent’s stress levels (or do they?!!)
- the weekly routine
This has been my first school holidays where I have really appreciated the time that our children spend in childcare!!! Training for my first Half IronMan triathlon (1.9km swim/56 mile bike/13.1 mile run) event, the Cotswold Classic 113, during the school holidays had it’s challenges and gave me an enforced taper (time where you are meant to reduce your training volume so you go into the race feeling “fresh” and not tired!). I’m a parent of three children under 4 – when am I ever not going to be tired??!
However – the event went swimmingly well (pardon the pun – but my swim time did exceed my expectations by 2 minutes!) and I completed the event in under 5 hours which was a MASSIVE bonus for me.
But now that the school holidays are over, I can get back to normal…..what does that mean? That means I know who is where each day, what training I can do/when and when my “work time” is. During the school holidays the kids are with me for 12hrs/day – I feel like I’ve done an Ironman by the end of every single day, and then it’s time to tackle either the Inboxes (I help run Bracknell Twins Club too) or do some training, or sometimes I do do both; reply to emails whilst on the Turbo!!!
I like “normal” – all about having a routine in our family…. and the routine started today with all three kiddies having swimming lessons at Bracknell Leisure Centre with thanks to my Mum for helping in the swimming lesson with the twin girls as 1:1 adult:child ratio is required, whilst Max was in the creche and then Mum got the girls changed whilst I helped Max in his swimming lesson! That’s going to be our normal Tuesday morning until Christmas!!
Tomorrow – Max starts a new pre-school and wearing uniform will become normal for him whilst I have a day of “work-time”; planning Reading Rascals sessions, planning our 2018 events calendar and final preparations for the Twyford Charity Family Fun Run.
And what’s my next exercise goal – I’m not sure…. I’ll let you know when I’ve had time to think about it without the kids under my feet 24/7!
Whatever your normal is – enjoy it and make time for yourself…..