Monday is usually a busy day around our house.  I love a schedule and I love getting everything accomplished that I plan on accomplishing.  But I'm the only one in the family who has this personality.  The guys are more spontaneous and fun loving. They hate a schedule and sometimes they feel like I'm a slave driver - especially on Mondays.

I had a thought that I would try to take some of the stress out of our week by not pushing so hard on Mondays.  I decided that we would begin our week with "Slow Paced Monday."  The idea was to sleep in a little later, stay in our PJ's as long as we wanted, to do as much work as we could do but not worry as much about sticking to our schedule or if we were falling behind.

I didn't think about one thing though - John Charles doesn't know how to be slow paced!  He's going to automatically wake at the same time each morning and once he's awake he's going strong.

It's not easy being an introverted mother with an extroverted child.  On the Mother Styles blog I read that:

It is draining for an Introverted mother to interact constantly with a very Extraverted child. Many Introverted mothers say their Extraverted child is draining the life out of them.

Extraverted types turn outward to the world around them for energy. Introverts turn inward to recharge. In the early years, for the most part, you are your child’s world. So he is constantly engaging you for stimulation. However, with each interaction, you lose energy. It’s easy to understand your frustration and see how it might even turn into resentment unless you find a solution.

However, please keep in mind your child has no idea he is pushing you beyond your limits. Only you know that. Therefore you must take action to keep your relationship loving. The most important thing is to find ways to meet your young child’s need for external stimulation that don’t involve you and to make sure you have 30-60 minutes of uninterrupted solitude to yourself each day.

The author goes on to offer 7 ideas for finding this time for solitude, but I don't see any that would work with my son or my circumstances.  I do need to find a solution though because it's only noon and I do feel drained.  So much for our Slow Paced Monday!