Some people are naturally creatures of habit. They have a routine that they follow every day, Monday to Sunday and January to December. While I admire that, I am unfortunately a ‘spur of the moment’ kind of creature. While spontaneity may be great, it doesn’t help much when it comes to planning. Luckily for me though, I have Kwezi; and together, we have an opportunity of working on shaping the future together, working on things that will perhaps help her live a much better life than I am today.

I have previously told you that Kwezi started sleeping in her room before she turned one. Most people close to me were at the time horrified by the whole idea but I also told you that mother always knows best. That transition from mummy’s bed to crib then to own bedroom was the beginning of what I wanted to be a routine that can hopefully be stuck to. Today, Kwezi prefers to sleep in her bed and I am glad.  

Next, we began working on sleeping hours. I have always wondered why as children we used to wake up very early, brimming with energy. She does too. Besides not having to pay rent, the ability to sleep and wake up full of energy and ready to take on the world is something I miss about being a child. Like many of you, I don’t think that there is a day when I don’t reset the alarm and add an extra 30 minutes to my time in bed and still, it’s never enough. There is something that you are definitely going to learn when raising a toddler and I have come to realise that children don’t wake up early because of any other reason but because they actually do go to bed early. 10 hours of uninterrupted sleep would do all of us a lot of good. Remember early to bed, early to rise?

It changes as she grows. There are times when she wants to play a little bit more or when she went to a birthday party and there is a sugar high that makes sleep uninteresting. I have also noticed that there is stubbornness to do things the right way when I am at home because she hopes that I am in her corner but the trick is to insist and say no. While rules can be flexible once in a while, they cannot be broken. She now gets it. Even if she has no sleep (very rarely), she doesn’t mind laying in her bed and relaxing.

Kwezi mostly wakes up between 6am and 7am and is ready for her nap at 11am.  At 7.30pm, it’s time for dinner and by 8pm, Kwezi is ready to sleep or she will start being fussy. Routine is great because when we are carried away by a great movie or a nice conversation, she has learnt how to remind us; "Mummy bed” and for that, I am grateful.