Easter break

Baby has been away on Easter break for a week already- his school has longer school days during term time which means that the Christmas and Easter breaks are a bit longer than at other schools, to balance the teaching hours. He is currently staying with my parents to get some quality time with them and to give us a break. He has been away for a week and it has been weird adjusting to life where not everything is geared towards making things work for him. Gone temporarily is the early morning routine to get his lunch, and then him, ready for school. Gone also is the evening routine of homework, dinner, shower and bedtime. It is much less critical to have everything run like clockwork during the day. Tiring as that was, I must have gotten used to the structure of the day and actually feel a bit disconcerted by the current loss of structure. I guess we humans do love routines as they can be restful in their own ways. Having to determine what to do next all the time as there is no set structure can be stressful.

I have heard that empty nest syndrome can hit some women very hard. I have often thought that this must happen only to stay-at-home mums as their focus tend to be mainly on the children. However, I can now imagine this occurring with mums who work too as they would still experience a loss of routine, a hollowing out of their day. It may be less severe if it is possible to fill the void (e.g. with work), and working mums have arguably less of a void, in terms of time, to fill. However, there is an intensity, an adrenaline rush, associated with the pressure to get all things done on time, which may be hard to replace. Even people who do not enjoy that intensity would require some time to adjust, to unwind.

Of course I mostly miss Baby's presence- the chatter, the laughter, and the cuddles- his company, in short. Possibly even the whinging, but maybe a little less.

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