Live by the microwave, play by the microwave

Like Pavlov's dog this morning I found myself responding to the beep of the microwave. My head perked up like a puppy and my mind scrambled to determine what activity I was supposed to transition into. While I will readily admit that I use the microwave to cook daily (my breakfast specialty is Scrambled Eggs with Cheese a la McWave thanks to Sherry's mom Nancy), more often I use the microwave to time our activities. A tool to keep me from abandoning what little sense of time I have, as I lose myself in Lea's play world.

We time bath for 15 - 20 minutes and when the beeper beeps, it is time to wash hair. We time playdoh time and when the beeper beeps it is time to make breakfast and get dressed for work. We use the beeper for time outs when things go terribly wrong. We use it to track playtime, computer time, bath time and even to tell us how much time until we have to leave for church or other time sensitive objective. There are even days I use it as incentive for getting ready. As in "Lea if you can get yourself dressed before the beeper beeps we will have time to go to the playground before our final destination. I am pitting my daughter against the microwave timer in a race to the finish!

I did not realize how readily I rely on the timer until this morning when I heard the beep that signified the eggs were done. I didn't think "breakfast is done," I thought "ooh time to move on, which way do I go?" I don't know if its sad and unfortunate that I live my life in 20 minute increments denoted by the beep of the Magic Chef, but I do know I make it to work each day (in an acceptable time frame, if not on time). Perhaps I am even addicted to these 20 minute increments. Over the weekend I will try letting myself play without the timed knowledge of the beeper beeping.