An Olympic-Sized Dilemma

What do you do when your normal routine is interrupted?

Humans are creatures of habit, whether we realize them or not. The things we do naturally, consciously or unconsciously, help us navigate our way through our day.

As a mom of two young girls, I have found that establishing a routine is essential for myself and for them. I’ve had to develop new habits within that routine to keep me sane! From cleaning the house, to exercising, eating meals, and bedtime - routine is a big part of our day.

So when something comes up, like my husband being home on a holiday, or the Olympic Games are on for two weeks, the routines can get derailed.

I found that especially the last couple of weeks during the 2022 Winter Olympics. Being in China, the time difference was half a day ahead. Meaning all the events took place late at night, through the night and early in the morning my time.

I love watching the Olympics, and I love watching it live. There’s just something about the thrill of seeing things unfold in real time. So I stayed up later than normal, got up in the middle of the night when an event that I really liked was on, and had the games on first thing in the morning.

Call me crazy, but I really look forward to them and enjoy watching. But I realized a few important things the past two weeks about myself and routines.

First is that even a slight lack of sleep throws me off. Even though I haven’t had a solid night’s sleep in 4 years, I still maintain a consistent in-bed time (whether I fall asleep right away or not), but with the Olympics I was about 2 hours behind that, and oh boy did it make a difference.

I wasn’t as energetic during the day, I was less motivated to do housework, play with my kids and even cook meals. This resulted in a messier house and more take out.

But the second thing I realized was even more important - It’s okay if things go off the rails sometimes. In fact, it’s inevitable because life is ever-changing and moving. And I wouldn’t have it any other way..

When this happens it’s important not to stuck in an all-or-nothing mentality and show ourselves grace if we’re not as on top of things as usual.

So, for example, instead of doing my workouts first thing in the morning, I did them later in the day with (gasp) my kids around! My focus was still to get 2 workouts in each week, and so I adjusted and got them in when I could.

I also realized I couldn’t “do everything”, so if I only had the energy to either play with my kids or vacuum the floor, well I chose playing with my kids, and made peace with the fact that the cleaning would get done another time.

The last two weeks taught me that routines are essential to the everyday flow and balance of my life. I like a clean house, I enjoy cooking homemade meals and I love being present with my kids, and routines help aid all of those things. But when things come up that thwart that routine, either within our control or not, it’s important to be able to go with the flow and not stop healthy habits all together, but adjust and recognize what we’re going through.

And most important is to practice grace and love for ourselves!

More to come…