For my kids, routine is magical. After a week of non-routine, including long weekends, brunches, friends in town, friends over for dinner, play dates, their father finally starting work at the Consulate (YAAAAAAAAS!), and a million other reasons to disrupt their routine, this week, we returned to “normal.”

The kids gotup and went to school. They came home, ate dinner, watched a cartoon, and went to bed (or fell asleep on the couch an hour before bedtime, also perfectly acceptable to me as a parent).

Minimal tantrums. Minimal whining. And minimal hassle.  Ah, routines!  <3 <3 <3