5:30am – The baby needs to be fed. I drowsily catch up on the news of the day while he eats. He conks out and goes back to his crib.
6:30am – Dave grumbles and gets up; I start checking FB, email and blogs I missed the day before. Start writing a couple of posts (all on my handy dandy phone, whom I both love and hate).
7:20am – Holy crap, Batman! Dave’s heading downstairs and out the door already (why am I such a horrible wife that I didn’t get up to make his breakfast? Right, he told me not to. But still…) I stop beating myself up and head down to chat with him about the neighbors’ dog pooping in our yard, kiss him goodbye and hop in the shower while the baby snoozes.
8:00am – Call my mom to check in. The baby wakes up during the call so I change his dipe, wash him up, throw on his outfit and feed him (Earth’s Best Multi-Grain Cereal, applesauce and a touch of cinnamon) while discussing Paula Deen and our upcoming camping trip.
8:30am – Cut up a banana to share with the monkey while throwing a couple of waffles in the toaster for me (indulgence!). Beardslee guards diligently. Heat up tea in the microwave…again. Run downstairs to turn the unreliable dryer on for a run and rinse some dipes in the washer.
9am – Get the munchkin set up with a pillow and fluffy blankie for “Super Why” (not a fan, but he likes it- we keep his tv intake to a minimum, so he only watches a few minutes at a time), eat a puff off the floor (no shame) and settle down for some waffles. Do dishes (we don’t have a dishwasher and are pretty happy with life that way) and kitty litter…we need 7 super letters today! Gasp.
9:30am – Nurse the monkey and decide to take a walk – it might be hot but we’ve had days of on and off storms and were expecting more in the afternoon. It’s 9:50 by the time were rollin’. Literally.
10:30am – We’re nearly home and the baby’s asleep, so I roll him into the shade and start attacking (literally) some outdoor projects. Wishing I had the paint and stamina to work on the porch or garage, but they’ll have to wait. I check on the little seedlings in the garden; so cute!
Before
After (from inside); that thing was a monster, stealing all the sun!
11am rolls around and the monkey’s awake. Time to head inside to hydrate! A yogurt snack for us both. I work on a craft for Hadman’s b-day while I watch him play.
11:30am – Diaper change and more playtime. I put on Rachael Ray to re-enter the land of the grown ups; not a huge fan but it does the trick and makes me ponder dinner. Same effect from YHL…which I also read while Hadman does his head-shake dance to random commercials. Lunch for Hadley.
1:30ish – Afternoon naptime! Catch up on emails, grab a sammy, and finalize a menu for Had’s birthday.
(Pickles and cheese to go with Had’s lunch; like mama, like son)
3:40pm – I have been working on emails, a blog post or two, first birthday plans and laundry…and laughing at Jasper for chasing his tail like a crazy fiend; better get the monkey up. He has been awake, laying there using his feet to play with the rails of the crib. Better than screaming bloody murder! Dipe and playtime. (Spot a trend?)
5:45pm – Dinner time for Hadley, and since Dave is meeting with a writing partner after work, I might as well throw something together for myself (and for Dave to eat later). I land on pasta – using some leftover linguine, precooked carrots and a bit of sauce for the baby. He’ll be a mess but he gets some solid hand-food time, at least.
6:30pm – Bath time! Earlier than usual but pasta sauce is demanding it be done.
7:30pm – Daddy gets home and gets changed and settled in for dinner while I occupy the baby.
8:15pm – We head upstairs to read a bedtime story, nurse, and cuddle before putting the baby goes down. We’re both hard at work on our respective computers (me downstairs with my laptop, him upstairs with his desktop- one reason I’ve gotta hoe out the office mess). I’m looking up and creating a game and menu for the first birthday, Dave’s working on marketing his comic book and the 1st birthday video (far harder than anything I’m doing!).
10:45pm – I head upstairs only to remember I forgot to edit and schedule the next day’s blog post, and since we’ll be out of town, I’d rather at least have it up for folks. Back to turn on the ol’ craptop.
11:21pm – Finished and got distracted by a friends FB post of a trailer for the new Streep movie (looks so good!!). Dave still working in the office. It’s time to head to bed, maybe read a magazine and get two pages in before conking out.
In some ways I think, “Wow, I got a lot done.” At the same time, not so much. And, in other ways, I’m thinking, “You have got to get your priorities straight, woman!” While this is a typical day, there are some things that change — like, I usually spend lots more time with Dave when he gets home from work (after he does have additional posting to the web for work, etc), and we chat while we eat dinner and occasionally listen to an old timey radio show (I know, we’re 80) or watch Jeopardy (still 80) or what have you. Having blog posts started in advance helps me get them ready, and I usually just have to do a few minutes’ worth of tweaking before they’re ready to be “scheduled” to go up the next day.
I also often play WITH the munchkin (just didn’t mention it here; hard to keep track when you’re dealing with a baby’s attention span), especially the “I’m gonna get you!” game where I chase him around from the kitchen to the dining room to the living room. We both laugh until we can’t breathe and I count that as my (pretty intense) workout for the day. (Gym? Ain’t nobody got time for that. At least, I don’t want to have time for it. ;-))
Does this look anything like your day? I’m wicked lucky to have time in the summer to spend with my little guy, and we only wish that the cashola could work out for me to stay home with him full-time (or to work from home, what a concept!). But, we’re happy for whatever time we all get. As it should be, nothing’s better than family!
