Smiley puts on her best face: A toast to those who put a positive spin on routines

There’s nothing I like better than a daily routine. Now, this doesn’t mean I’m stuck in a rut or one of those sticklers who have a freak out if there’s a variation in their ordered universe. My routine is more of a game plan than something etched in stone.

I’ve known some routine perfectionists in my time and I could never be that person. The worst was a friend who had her kids on such a strict schedule it ruined her marriage.

This woman, come hell or high water, insisted on having her two preschoolers in bed by 6 p.m. (Yeah, 6 p.m.) Her husband didn’t get home from work until 6:30 so in order to see his children he had to get up at 4:30 (or on a good day 5) in the morning when his kids woke up.

Nothing, and I mean nothing, would get this mom to change her kids’ bedtime. Less than two years later, she was divorced and her husband got primary custody due to “maternal control issues.”

Now, there are some people whose routines I stand in awe of, and that also make me feel like I’m a premium slacker. One year on vacation I noticed a family of five who ran together every morning at the crack of dawn.

On a blistering hot afternoon, while I languished in a poolside chaise lounge, the mom of the merry morning jogging family sat next to me. I asked what her secret was to, first, getting her family to run together and, second, to running that early even on vacation. She looked at me with what I thought was disgust mixed with sympathy and said, “They have no choice. It’s what we do every day, no matter what.”

At that moment I felt like a failure as a mother and authoritarian figure because I was certain there was nothing I could do (besides maybe utilizing the services of a crane) to get my children out of bed to run 10 miles before the sun came up. Never mind that I couldn’t think of anything that would make me run 10 miles, mainly because my left knee and my will to live would give out in less than 15 minutes.

There are, however, many joyous things about having a routine. In fact, my morning routine of getting a Diet Coke at the 119th and Roe McDonald’s drive thru is always a feel-good moment.

Luckily for me this routine was pandemic proof and it continued to be a mainstay of my morning. This brought me a lot of solace. All may have not been right with the world, but when I could be greeted by a jubilant woman who lives up to her name of Smiley it gave me vibes that everything was to be OK.

There were some days deep in the depths of COVID that Smiley was the only human outside of my family who I actually saw in person and talked to. Those couple of sentences exchanged during the Diet Coke hand off became important to me.

A year later Smiley is still bringing it. She, unlike my husband and anyone else I’m related to, notices when I get my hair cut or if I’ve got a busy day planned because I’ve actually put on makeup.

So, let’s all take a moment and raise our beverage of choice, and toast the people who make our daily routines something we look forward to.

Reach Sherry Kuehl at snarkyinthesuburbs@gmail.com, on Facebook at Snarky in the Suburbs, on Twitter at @snarkynsuburbs on Instagram @snarky.in.the.suburbs, and snarkyinthesuburbs.com.

This story was originally published June 1, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Smiley puts on her best face: A toast to those who put a positive spin on routines."