Routine, sweet routine

I'm always carefully aware of the fact that my son needs his routine, and will react negatively if it's departed from. But this is one of those weeks that's made me realize I need the dependability of events and schedules just as badly. A succession of deviations from the norm -- as small as an extra project that took up time I usually use for something else, and as major as 20-some grieving relatives descending on our house for a post-wake supper -- have left me frazzled and frantic, to the point that today I was as out of control as my son gets on a bad fire-drill/assembly/Christmas-program-rehearsal messed-up day at school. A lot of what had me so hysterical was the effort to make things more comfortable for him, and maybe that's why he weathered the unpredictable week a lot better than I did. But boy, I sure do need to get back to the same old boring routine. And maybe take a time out.