Never follow the crowd.
I've never lived my life by the clock. Nor have I followed protocol. I guess I marched to the beat of my own drum. That lifestyle has flowed over to meals as well.
Of course, I had to be at work at a certain time. Of course, if I made an appointment with a doctor or for a haircut, etc. I was on time. However, I've known many people who have strict schedules (live by the clock) is how I refer to it. I am not one of them and never will be.
I fed my babies on demand. Nap time was not scheduled. They slept when they were tired. If we were out and about, they napped in their carriages. I never left anywhere to go home to put my kids to bed. Hell no. They slept in their carriages or on a couch until I was ready to go home. I'd pick them up and they'd stay asleep until I got them home and into their own beds.
Some said I was crazy. I say they were too rigid. When things go wrong - loss of electricity, a delay on the road, a train breaks down, a flight is delayed, etc.- my kids were resilient and so was I and we all still are. I've seen kids lose their minds, unable to handle mishaps and unable to defer from their strict schedule. I've seen adults flip out if the computers crashed at work. It was messing up their timetable.
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I loved my summers free. In the summer the kids stopped all activities. and of course, school was out. We made very little appointments. The only thing I had to worry about was my going to work. I didn't take college classes over summer either. I wanted freedom. Every summer we took at least one big vacation - cruise, Disney, etc. - and many weekend getaways - camping, dude ranch, Hershey Park, Great Adventure,
I was home by 4:45 p.m. during summer and we would frolic in the pool all night, stay for dinner at my mom's and hang out with the family and friends usually until 9 or 10 p.m. Sometimes the kids would stay at my mom's house or sister's house as they didn't want to get up early for me to go to work.
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Dinner, especially in summer, was never a set time. We could eat at 4:30 or 9:00 p.m. It all depended on the night and the mood and activity. There were no rules for food either. Once in a while we'd grab fast food, sometimes we'd have an elaborate home cooked meal and other times it was leftovers or barbecues.
Years ago, after I left my ex, my kids and I lived with my parents for two years. One Saturday, we were home alone as my mom, dad and sister were working. My maternal grandmother lived in the apartment I'm now living in attached to my parents' house.
My grandmother was horrified when she came into our side of the house and saw that I was feeding my kids leftover pizza for breakfast. Hey, they wanted it and it's not like I never ate it myself. So, the three of us sat down to pizza for breakfast.
I thought she would faint when she came back in that night and saw us eating scrambled eggs for dinner. Oh the horror! Everyone worked on Saturdays so it was just me and the kids and sometimes they liked breakfast for dinner. So, why not.
I'm still a fly by night. I hate schedules. I hate being tied to a clock. Even now, some days, if I'm hungry early, dinner will be at 4 p.m. Then I'll grab a snack at night if I get hungry. Other days, dinner will be at 8 p.m.
There are simply no rules.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS! MARCH TO THE BEAT OF YOUR OWN DRUM!