There really is no such thing as a typical day, so I just picked a day after seeing the reminder post from Julia. At the end of the day, however, it turned out that this day was incredibly atypical. Trevor was home most of the day (this never, ever happens), Myra had a totally off night at bedtime, and morning ECFE messed with Niko's nap, so he slept most of the time we were at home, late bedtimes. It is what it is, but you all should know Trevor had been essentially gone for a week prior to the day I chose. He was away for a three day drill weekend and had a really busy week with school and was on campus studying before I woke up until 9/10 at night.
I am 28 years old (I recently had to do math to make sure I had my own age right), Trevor is 33. Myra is 2.75 (will be 3 in January) and Niko is 8 months old today. Rowdy is 5.5 years old. Trevor is in his first year of dental school. I am working part time for a transitional housing non-profit organization.
2:30am Niko waking up to nurse, he's pretty quick (10 minutes at most?) then I go to the bathroom. It's the worst crawling back into bed then realizing you should have gone to the bathroom first.
6:55am Niko awake. I realize Trevor is still in bed and panic thinking he overslept. It turns out he doesn't have to be on campus until this afternoon (see? we seriously hardly spoke the last week it was so busy). I'm lazy in bed for 15 minutes looking at emails then get the kids up. They are both usually happy in their cribs and just messing around, singing, doing whatever. Myra is in this stage of wanting to do things herself, and she can do a lot herself, and I try to let her, but it takes so long and sometimes she gets frustrated. How can you get one arm out of your pajama shirt, but not the other?
7:45am Both kids are dressed, Niko has nursed and Myra is eating a muffin (or a cupcake, as she calls it, this recipe with minor substitutions). I sent Trevor this post sometime last week and we briefly discussed it. It's short but I hadn't even finished reading it when I sent it to him. The part about this being the particularly chaotic and exhausting part of our lives stuck out so I just sent the link. I know life will always be exhausting in ways, but with two small kids, one who requires mostly separately cooked meals, dental school, me working part time (even though much of it is from home), plenty of time spent on military duties (both at home and away from home), etc. It's busy. I digress.
8:00am I get in the shower. Trevor is entertaining the kiddos. Check out Niko's jungle gym of laundry (hey, it's clean, folded, and sorted by person!). Myra's "little plate" with her "cupcake."
I'm out of the shower for all of 10 seconds and Myra bursts into the bathroom with this musical toy.
8:30am I get Myra another muffin. She left half of it on her "little plate" on the couch when she came into the bathroom and Rowdy got a hold of it. I start the dishwasher. We have a portable dishwasher so I can't really use the sink while it's running and I can't just let it run at bedtime (I could, but the faucet drips a little so I'd really rather not). I try to time it well, but it usually results in dirty dishes backing up more than I'd like. Better than no dishwasher, I know, don't throw tomatoes at me. I nurse Niko and change his diaper (in hopes that he will be fine in the sibling care room all through Myra's ECFE class).
8:45am I'm ready to go. I had yelled to Myra, who was in the living room with Trevor, that we had to leave for school. I assumed (there's where I went wrong) Trevor would get Myra's shoes on. Don't get me wrong, I love that Trevor got to spend some time with them this morning, but both of our routines were thrown off which can goof us up. So, Myra gets socks on with help, can't find the other shoe, have to take the socks off and wear sandals, she wasn't happy about that. Parents: you know how these things happen. It wasn't a huge deal, but any little thing like that can slow us up. So, I get grouchy and we're all hurrying to get out the door.
9:00am-11:00am is Myra's ECFE class. The set up is different than what I am used to. Myra seems to love her class (which is awesome, but I do still miss our old teachers and I know she does, too). The adult part is more chatty/conversation/social hour style than an actual 'class' setting, which is fine, but different.
Myra has a lot of fun with the other kids, but no photos for them because who knows how their parents would feel about them being in bloggy world. She did painting, dress up, read books, a hand print class project, played with blocks and toy tools...all in the time I was with her. Then we do circle time, bathroom and wash hands, then snack. There are limited options for snack and so far it's been things she can have. Then the parents separate and go to a different room. I had to go change Niko's diaper, who was tired but struggling to fall asleep, before joining them. Our weekly topic was discipline and it was nice to hear what other parents are doing and struggling with. We had two dads and a grandpa this week and that's a nice perspective. Half way through, I got called down because Niko was sad. He was so tired (this class is right during his morning nap time) and just couldn't fall asleep. Usually he's the super happy baby no matter what, or one time he just passed out, but not today. I nursed him and he fell asleep, but he just perked right up so I brought him back to the adult classroom with me. A friend is in our class and she had her baby there, too, so Niko and his baby friend got to stare and swat at each other.
11:00am Class is over, we returned Myra's toy vacuum to the school's toy library and checked out a fine motor lacing toy, a baby toy, and a memory game. Myra usually insists on "climbing up" into the car seat herself, which is actually helpful, but the dawdling......!!!
11:18am I check my phone, respond to a couple texts (awesome family member might be moving closer to us and another friend whose husband is deploying very soon), We leave school and head home. Myra is saying "I would like Fritos chips, pweeeaaaase" on repeat. For a while, everything was "I need ____!!" so we started working on "I would like" and it's adorable and so much easier to hear 100 times a day.
11:25am Home, Myra still would like Fritos chips and she's singing one of the jingles from school "come on over and sit right down..." Child, why must you always take your shoes off int he car?
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| So much paper: handouts, flyers, projects. I take photos of the artwork and do photo books of it all. |
11:30am Get us all inside, get Myra set up with her new lacing (big buttons and string) toy. I check my work emails and quickly reply, put the clean clothes into the appropriate bedrooms (baby steps, people), get lunch ready. Meanwhile, Rowdy is prancing around whining to go outside to chew on grass and twigs, so I put him downstairs to chill out a bit. I make coffee (I drink decaf), Niko is whining and needs a nap since he still hasn't really slept all morning. Myra is trying to share with him (yay) but giving him toys he shouldn't have (boo) while wanting to take his baby toys.
Noon Myra is eating lunch (peanut butter toast with chocolate chips - FPIES soybean oil trial means lots of options!) The chocolate chips and peanut butter are nothing new, but toast is! Niko is really not happy now, definitely needs a nap. Things Myra said during lunch: "Lub dub - is that what Myra's heart says at my clinic? (this hasn't happened for a long time, but she remembers)" - "I got drops in my eye (she had her eyes dilated last week)" - "Daddy, you're in the living room talkin' to me"
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| How to manage food trials for two kids. We don't suspect FPIES for Niko, but we are being cautious until he 'passes' all the major FPIES triggers (rice, oats, dairy, soy). |
12:07pm Niko is changed (he had pooped), fed, and in his crib. He falls asleep right away. I eat lunch with Myra. Trevor came upstairs to eat and explain the class he has this afternoon. It's not a 'normal' class, but a team building/working with other medical professionals workshop type class. After lunch, Myra goes to the bathroom and gets ready for her nap.
12:47pm Myra in bed. I have more work emails, I read them and reply. I make a work call and send a follow up email. I microwave my coffee, Trevor is getting his stuff ready and leaves. I do some apartment searching for work (my job is helping people with housing -- I won't really get any more specific than that due to confidentiality).
1:15-2:15pm I tidy up the living room, start laundry, and sit down with my planner to see what's going on next week and meal plan.
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| Before |
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| After |
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| This will fill quickly, always does. Pink checkered is when I will be watching a friend's baby, "hello" is a play date with another friend and her kids. |
2:15 Meal planning, which involves searching for some new recipes, digging through our recipe box for some favorites, etc. Here's my meal planning for dummies system. We for sure have something new and something we love every week. We often have spaghetti on pasta night, but sometimes lasagna, sometimes a new pasta dish. Pizza is usually frozen pizza, but last night we did homemade. It gives me a starting point so there is far less head scratching involved. I intentionally left the glare on Sunday because it says Mexican and should say Hispanic. The week I printed this our Hispanic dish was Mexican Vegetarian Casserole, so I typed Mexican and I do know the difference.
3:00pm Myra is awake. I get her up, get her a snack, and let her color at the table while I do other random stuff in the kitchen/dining room.
3:30pm Trevor is home (again, totally unusual to have him home this much, I swear). Niko is awake, but playing happily in his crib. Trevor and I blurt out all the things we've been meaning to talk about with each other for the last week. We end up having a conversation about the good old 5 year plan and various avenues he/we could take in terms of the military and education benefit options. We were, of course, talking over Myra the whole time, trying to acknowledge what she wanted to say while helping her learn that sometimes mom and dad need to talk. At some point during this time, I got Niko up and fed him, and Myra switched to playing with her scarves.
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| This is a sunset, she says. |
We wrapped up family conversation time with some Bilibo bongos.
4:30pm Part of this workshop class Trevor had is learning about stressors and how to deal with them. He learned he doesn't spend enough time in nature and suggested we all go for a walk since the weather was so awesome. Speaking of how awesome the weather was, Trevor still bundled up because he is much less of a fan of fall than I.
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| Sorry I snapped a photo of you making the weirdest face ever. |
Rowdy pooped on our walk. He's only pooped on a walk one, possibly two times ever. He really prefers to poop at home. Trevor scooped it up with the instruction manual for Niko's Burley insert thing then hopped through some tall grass to find a garbage can at a park. Note to self: put plastic bags in Burley.
5:25pm We are home, Trevor got an Army call as we were unloading kids. Myra wanted to run around the front yard and play with sticks and wood chips. Once inside, I got right to work on supper. Friday is brinner day and this week I was going to make a mash up of hash browns, eggs, and sausage. I had the eggs on the counter and Myra reached up for them, forgetting that not all eggs are hard boiled.
I cleaned up the eggs, but let her wipe up the Lysol as more of a symbolic/on principle measure. So, we had sausage patties, hash browns, and toast for Myra/English muffins for Trevor and me. Niko had squash and applesauce. Supper clean up is my least favorite. I want to get the kids to bed on time and not super rushed in the process, but I don't want to be stuck cleaning up after supper after they're in bed either. Myra's room is connected to the kitchen and the door is just a pocket door, so I try not to be too noisy while she is falling asleep. It doesn't seem to wake her once she's sleeping though. I know lots of parents consciously choose not to do house work after bedtime, and I wish I could say the same, but with much of it falling on me while Trevor is in school, there just aren't enough hours in the day. I am by no means a neat freak, but eventually our laundry needs to get done and dishes need to be washed.
6:55pm I do Niko's bedtime and Trevor is reading and playing with Myra. Bedtimes are pretty simple here. Niko gets a diaper change, pajamas and sleep sack, nursed, I read him one story (Goodnight, I Love You), and sing him the ABCs. I put him in the crib and turn on his sound machine and he goes to sleep.
7:09pm Niko is in bed and Trevor is helping Myra get ready for bed.
Myra's routine is pee, diaper ("only for sleeping, because I'm still learning"), pajamas, brush (and sometimes floss) teeth, read two books of her choosing, sing Twinkle Twinkle and the ABCs. Then she turns on her sound machine and we "jump her in" to her crib which means we count to three, she jumps, and we lift her in.
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| Trevor loves a good selfie. |
7:30pm Myra is in bed, Trevor and I are watching a Bad Lip Reading video of one of the Republican debates. Usually this part of the evening is quiet, I can get some stuff done (clean, work stuff) and also relax (read, watch a movie even though I'm terrible at doing that, waste time on the internet), but as you're about to see, this was not the case. Surprise! Welcome to parenthood.
From about 8:15-9:00pm, Myra whined/cried out to the extent that we went into her room five times. First for water (she got a tiny bit from one of the medicine cups like a shot glass), then because she pooped, then because she wanted her Daniel Tiger book in her bed, then because she wanted her Daniel Tiger book out of her bed (SO THROW IT OUT...), then because she wanted us to do her saline spray/Nose Frida. These nights make me so nervous during food trials, especially since we are dabbling into the world of soy with soybean oil, but there was no mention of anything hurting which is good. [In hindsight, she has a cold and the whiny factor is worse for a Myra-cold than it is for a man-cold; I don't say that lightly]
9:15pm She is still whining about her boogers and asking for "Mommy tuck you in again." When she does this, which really is not often at all anymore, I just can't relax and do other stuff until she quiets down. It's stressful to hear and I also worry she will wake Niko up. So, I waste hours deciding if I'm helping or hurting the situation by going in to her. But there is really, truthfully nothing I can do to help. She just feels crappy and we've done all we can, she needs to get some sleep. I promise, if there were something I could do to help her and make it stop, I totally would. I think after 5 or 6 times we explained to her that we were all done and it was time to sleep, blah blah blah.
9:50pm Myra has been quiet for a little bit now. I'm hanging up the diapers I washed this afternoon. I line dry darn near everything here. We have two drying racks and a full 5-line clothesline in the basement, plus a dehumidifier. AWESOME.
10:11pm I'm sitting on the couch...brain fried. Must go brush teeth.
10:20pm Myra whining again.
10:28pm Niko making some noise. It's a miracle he's slept through all this, despite each kid having their own sound machine. I go brush my teeth to kill time while waiting to see if he's actually waking up. Trevor is in with Myra. I go feed Niko after brushing my teeth.
10:45pm In bed, doing a YouTube loving kindness meditation track a friend recommended. Fingers crossed tonight ends better than it started...
