Vacation Hangover

Routines are a wonderful thing. Getting out of the routine can be wonderful too. Weekends are different than week days. They're a nice break, and that's a routine in itself. Vacations are wonderful too, of course. But it can be very hard to get back into the routine when they're over.

Hence, a rather difficult week so far in our little world.

As previously discussed, I did quite well regarding our eating habits on vacation. But allow me to confess: I did not do so well in other areas. On vacation, it was just simpler (& cozier) to co-sleep with my toddler. If you're 18-months old and wake up in a strange place, in a strange pack'n'play, can mommy expect you to go back to it? Well, this mommy didn't.

This mommy also did not expect the behavior to go back to normal immediately. In fact, I expected at least a week of gradual recovery. We're mid-way through week 1. Calling the recovery "gradual" seems a bit generous.

Sunday night, she slept in her own bed for an hour & a half. Then I shared an upright futon with her all night.

Monday, I asked my husband to fold out the futon! She was home with my parents that day. That night, she extended her solo-sleep to 3 hours, then we got a few hours of sleep together on that blissfully flat futon.

Tuesday, she returned to school. It was her first time back in 12 days. And what a day! Two incident reports - one as the agressor, one the recipient. She actually slept again by herself that night for a few hours, but then woke up & was hysterical for about 2 hours. Poor thing. We finally got a little sleep together.

No real surprise to get another incident report yesterday. Last night though, she actually slept quite well. One brief wake up after an hour down, then just a pat & back to sleep. She then slept till 3 am. I went in & promptly fell asleep holding her in the chair. I woke up at 4:30, laid her down, went back to bed, got all comfy, then (clickity clickity click, harumph) the dog woke her up. Yep.

Well, upon rereading, this does look like gradual improvement. Even if it doesn't feel like it in real time. Maybe by next week we'll be back to normal! Is it even worth it to go on vacation?

Okay - yeah, it probably is. :)
What are your strategies for getting back to a routine after vacation?