Date: Thursday, August 7, 2014
Cast of Characters: Brian (34)
Laura (35)
Jonathan (2 years, 2 months)
Teddy (7 years, 11 months)
Honey (7 years 6 months)
Daniel Tiger (a timeless character)
One of the many reasons I procrastinated this for so long was that I couldn't choose a "typical" day to document. What's typical? No such thing. But I finally had to just choose a day and go with it. Today was a work-from-home day. No play dates, no surprise visits or extra things scheduled. Pretty chill, just the lil ole fam at home. So I suppose it turned out to be a 'typical' day after all.
6:45 Jonathan is crying for "Daddy Daddy Daddy!!!" Brian goes to get him. Changes diaper. Just as I'm drifting back into blissful snooze sleep, I hear pitter patter stomp stomp down the hall and then "Mama! Wook!" He brings a doggie toy to the bedside and plays with it. I ooo and ahhh with my eyes closed. Brian shuffles him into the loft and starts Daniel Tiger.
7:00 I climb out of bed. Join Brian and JDub in the loft to say good morning. Head downstairs for coffee and a bottle.
7:15 Everyone is downstairs. JDub and I potty the dogs, which he absolutely adores lately. Brian fixes himself some oatmeal. JDub plays with his trucks and torments Teddy, which is perfectly fine with me. I sit down on the couch and read through some DITL posts. I read one from a mom of three, who seems to function as a single parent (husband leaves before kids are awake, returns home after they are in bed for the night). I simultaneously feel exhausted and inspired. I then read one from a single woman who is working as a scientist doing some type of experiments with sheep out in the country. I reminisce about my college days in Wisconsin and remember good ole Ag Hall. During all this, JDub has gotten ahold of my recipe box and has pulled out all the recipe cards. I decide to choose my battles and let him go crazy with this since I want to continue reading blogs, and I only use recipes from Food Network anyway.
8:00 Brian is finished showering and getting ready for the day. He sits by me on the couch and shows me a document prepared by his opposing counsel, which is pathetic. We laugh and mock. It's not the nice thing to do, but seriously, this thing should have been written in crayon. It's ridiculous. I then fix myself some cereal (Cheerios mixed with coconut granola, topped with blueberries). I share several bites with JDub, which would have made me gag before having a child. Now, I think nothing of it, which makes me chuckle.
8:20 I head upstairs to get dressed, and on my way up, I make a final decision about this DITL thing. It's official. I'm going to do it today. I've already missed documenting the first couple hours of the day, but I can't continue to procrastinate this thing any longer. Today is the day. I get upstairs, fix my contacts, get shoes and clothes, make the bed, and fix the windows. I decide to throw in a load of laundry too, so I bring the basket downstairs.
8:30 Start the laundry, and then JDub and I head into the front yard to water the new plants. I'm so happy they're still alive (1 week in the ground), and I'm determined to keep them going. J digs in the dirt and plays with the faucet while I water.
8:40 J demands that I let the dogs out into the front yard. Goes into full-blown melt-down when I explain that's not a good thing to do. He starts a new lip-quivvering move with this fit that I haven't noticed before. It's so freaking cute that I don't even mind the screaming. We head inside, where Brian offers to put on some Tiger. J is happy about that, but I regretfully inform them that I was planning to leave for a strollie ride soon. This escalates the meltdown, understandably. I feel bad overriding Daddy, but Mama gots to get her walk in before the sun scorches us later in the day.
8:50 We get the stroller all packed up and head out. It's a beautiful day, especially after some excruciatingly hot days last week. I huff and puff up the hill while J works on some Cheerios and a baba. We make it to the top of the hill, and we sing some songs, chat about toddler babble, and work on some shovel trucks. As we're heading down the hill, the nightmare situation that I've feared for many years finally happens. A barking dog scrambles its way under a fence and comes after us. Thankfully it's a little rat dog. I instinctively do a backward karate kick and yell "No! Get outta here!" which JDub finds absolutely hilarious. I do too, so we both start cracking up. Thankfully the dog was a little stunned by my rageful martial arts, and all he did was cock his head to the side and stop barking for a whole 3 seconds. He eventually started snooping around in the grass and went the other way. Jonathan then proceeds to copycat me throughout the neighborhood, yelling "No doggie! Stop doggie! No thank you doggie!" Funny boy. Toward the end of our walk, we see Kaitlyn getting into her car. We chat for a few minutes about where she's going to get gas.
10:20 We arrive back home, hot and sweaty. I switch over the laundry and get distracted with I don't remember what. But I look up to see JDub gleefully throwing about 8 dog bones at Teddy and Honey, who happily accept and gobble up the treats. I redirect J to the living room but laugh to myself and and secretly feel glad that someone still loves these mutts. We sit down for some "build-Os" (building blocks, which he somehow named build-Os. Brian and I crack up at every time he says it).
10:40 Outside at the patio table for a snack. Grapes for JDub. Grapes for me, as well as some evil Costco crackers and artichoke dip. At one point, J suddenly gets an idea and runs around to the door. A minute later, the dogs are out with us, tearing up the place. Again, I secretly feel glad that he cares for the dogs because I don't have much patience for them anymore. I also feel sad that he doesn't have a sibling to play with. I hope he does someday.
11:10 Back inside. I offer J all kinds of different foods for lunch, all of which he says, "Noooo!" and points his finger at me. Like he's offended by my offer or something. I guess it's a hunger strike kind of day. Cannot relate. Nope. Can't relate. We sit on the couch for some books.
11:30 I get the itch to cut his hair, which is desperately needed. We start some Daniel Tiger for a distraction, and I get my Edward Scissorhands on. So fun. He's a little squirmy, but I'm pretty impressed with how cooperative he is for a 2 year-old.
11:50 All done with the haircut. I do a quick clean-up downstairs, including the standard daily vacuum of the downstairs. Get his bottle ready, and we head upstairs for nap time. More books.
12:15 J is down for happy nappy. I bring up the laundry and try to fold it as fast as possible. I take a momentary break from said folding for a cheesy selfie. Get it done and then hop in the shower. Then put some paint on the barn and get dressed. I hear Brian downstairs, and I try to hurry up so we can chat over lunch. I dry my hair and head downstairs.
1:05 I head downstairs, but I'm sad to see I missed Brian. We're really late for lunch today, so I figure he was starving and needed to eat & run. I run my laptop upstairs to charge, pop a veggie burger in the toaster oven, and sit down on the couch for lunch. I scroll through Facebook for "the news" and learn absolutely nothing. I then read through another DITL and feel astonished at how other people do so much in one day.
1:35 I don't feel like it, but I decide to be self-disciplined and take care of as much work email as possible while J is sleeping. I actually get it all done before the 2:00 transition.
2:00 Kaitlyn arrives. I quickly explain that I need to run out to Brian's office for a teleconference meeting. Grab all my stuff. Find Brian in the office, wrapping up a phone call. I impatiently ask him to leave so I can do this meeting. I feel bad, so I apologize later in front of Kaitlyn. A little weird, but I don't want to forget. Anyway, I attend the meeting (A&R committee meeting, which is a complete and utter waste of time).
2:30 Meeting is over, thank God. I head inside to find J snuggling with B, and Kaitlyn is chatting. JDub hears me and comes running over: "Maaaammmmaaa!!!" Melts my heart. Brian and I switch snugglebunny roles, and I chat with Kaitlyn while J seems to be still waking up. I love those moments when he's all warm and snuggly.
3:00 We finally all part ways. Kaitlyn gets J fixed up in the stroller. I head upstairs to finish some computer work. Brian was in and out of the picture -- post office and milk run. Once upstairs, I make my to-do list for the day. I laugh that I'm about 9 hours late with this, but I love that I can immediately cross off multiple tasks. I then put in a call to a supervisor, and I'm delighted to get her voicemail -- less time on the phone = more time to work. I start organizing an upcoming Fall course.
3:13 Phone rings. Supervisor calling me back. Damn. We talk about a problem student who is struggling with "self awareness, time management, follow-through, and defensiveness." Yay. I can't wait to deal with this.
4:00 Off the phone. Finally. I notify my chair about the situation. Then quickly finish organizing the Fall course. I get it done with time to spare, so I start a second class. On a roll!
4:30 I head downstairs to start thawing salmon for dinner and discover the freezer door has been open for who knows how long. Oh good. I reorganize the freezer so everything fits and start thawing the salmon. Head back upstairs to continue working.
4:55 Kaitlyn will be back with JDub any minute, so I check my calendar for her schedule next week. Wrap up my work stuff and head downstairs. Chat with Kaitlyn, and JDub is a total gentleman showing her to the door. "Tank you Quakin! See you waiter!" She leaves, and J immediately wants to show me his garbage trucks. He's so cute, getting right up in my face about the truck -- "see dat, Mama? Hear dat?" Ahh, I love this kid. I need to start dinner, but he's just so cute. Brian comes in and joins the party.
5:15 I start fixing the vegetables. Brian cracks open a white. We chat about the day. J happily vrooms his trucks in the living room. Brian grills the salmon outside to prevent stinking up the joint.
5:40 When the food's ready, we are just about to head to the patio, but J is on the verge of a meltdown. He demands "more Tiger more Tiger." Although I cringe at eating dinner in front of the TV, we decide it's not worth fighting him on this tonight. So we crowd into the living room to eat. The dinner is really good. And the dogs beg through the whole thing. Ugh. Where's the pound? (I would never actually do that because they're absolutely part of the family, but I just have no patience for these guys anymore.) I quietly scold Teddy repeatedly, hoping J doesn't hear me. After we eat, J climbs on us to wrestle and snuggle. As I'm trying to say something to Brian, JDub shushes me and puts his pointer finger on my lips. I die laughing, and then he keeps doing it. Brian and I finish the Cinnamon Buns Ben & Jerry pint, which is awesome.
6:45 Bathtime is overdue. There's a mini-meltdown about this, but he quickly agrees to get in with some trucks. I straighten up the downstairs again while Brian does dishes. As J is getting pruney, Brian gets an email from an a-hole attorney. We discuss how to handle it while we finish the end of our wine.
7:15 Out of the sink for jammies. He chooses Mama for bedtime tonight, so we head upstairs for more books and a baba. He goes to bed happily, as usual, and the day is almost over.
7:40 I go downstairs for the final clean-ups -- washing the bottle, covering the grill, letting the dogs out. Brian is upstairs playing his video game. I bring my computer over near him and start the beginning of this blog. Brian then buys a video rental for 99 cents. It's a ridiculous high school prom movie, which is not even worth 99 cents. I draft this post while he plays his game. We chat off and on.
9:30 I'm about finished with this post and so happy I did it! I tell myself I must keep up this quarterly tradition. I make Brian read the post, and we marvel at how many details can be crammed into one day -- one relatively slow-paced day without anything crazy. With the exception of the near-attack from the escaped rat dog, the day was a fairly typical stay-at-home day, but it's amazing how many details there are. He also says he wants to do it himself, which I think is awesome.
9:45 We head to bed. I go to sleep with the love of my life on my arm and our little miracle snoozing away down the hall and two stinky beasts snoring downstairs. It doesn't get much better than this.
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