Routine

There was life before we joined the Foreign Service and had a Baby, and there is life after.  Both events were huge life changes that took place very close to one another, so it is often difficult for me to distinguish if life looks the way it does now because of the Foreign Service part or the Baby part (most likely some combination of the two).  I know one big change that I did not see coming and that is my new found liking of a routine.  The "old me" abhorred a routine (yes, that's a strong word but that's how I felt about it).  I was always mixing things up, i.e. attending networking events, meeting new people for drinks after work, volunteering for various community service projects, traveling to different places with M, etc.  Because it was just the two of us, every evening and every weekend had the possibility of being very different from the previous one.  I was easily bored if things settled into too much of a routine and felt the need to change it up with a quick weekend trip to see a girlfriend, or something more elaborate.  I don't think it's just me... I think that's how life looks, or can look, when you're single or 'plus one'. 

Fast forward to now... We had a couple of crazy weeks recently due to unforeseen events and both M and I kept saying and hoping, "let's get back to our routine!"  That's when it hit me that I really enjoy the routine that we have set up for our little family.  It's not set in stone, and for sure S has a tendency to change things on us as is normal for a growing baby, but we really do have a pattern of how our weekdays look and we relish it.  It's enough that weekends are less structured, and the routine gets changed with visitors, added work responsibilities or trips, etc.  Perhaps there is enough change with a small child around (as other parents can attest, I'm sure), and life in the Foreign Service is certainly not boring with moving every 2-3 years, adjusting to new places, and new job duties (and therefore, new colleagues and supervisors).  The rest of the time, I am finding comfort in our routine, whatever that may be at the moment!