“Hey, What’s Going On?”

It was never my intention to write a new post every day; nevertheless, I have rarely missed a day since launching the blog almost two years ago. I have the impression that some of my readers have come to expect this. Thus, I worked my way into a self-imposed deadline of 9:00 each morning to post something new. Over the past week or so, I have missed at least two days. On other days I didn’t add a post until late (after 9:00 a.m.) in the day. I started this post at 3:00 p.m. yesterday and didn’t get very far.

So what’s going on? The answer is a lot, and I won’t be able to capture all of it. For the most part, nothing new has happened except that she has required more attention. My best writing time is in the morning, and she has gotten up early several times. Each time she has gone back to bed and rested a little longer. In those cases, she has gotten up for good earlier than I would normally wake her. We’ve made it to Panera two times since Saturday.

Part of the problem relates to the increasing difficulty she is having with her jigsaw puzzles. As a result, she spends less time with her iPad. That has a direct effect on how long we stay at Panera. It is similar at home. She starts to work on her puzzles. She needs my help. That demands my attention. It isn’t long before she wants to quit. Then she doesn’t have anything to do.

Her photo books have come to play an even bigger role in occupying her time. That also means occupying my time. I could, of course, let her look at her books by herself; however, I know that she can’t remember the people or the events surrounding each photo. In addition, she can’t read. I need to read for her and do it in a way that sounds like I am talking to her and not just reading the text. I enjoy doing this. I think of it as quality time together.

Another result of her not using her iPad as much is that she has been going to bed earlier. She gets frustrated with it and doesn’t want to do anything else. Going to bed is easy. She still doesn’t go to sleep right away. It can be well over an hour, but I believe that change has meant she wakes up earlier in the morning. On the whole, I have found her behavior and our daily routine to be more unpredictable. These changes effect the time to write about what is happening or to take notes for later. So that is why I my blogging has been less predictable than usual.

It also makes me wonder about the future. I am doubtful that Kate will become more predictable. Until she is much less active than she is now, I could have my hands full.