Tuesday, May 14, 2013

A Day in the Life

Once upon a time back at The Mrs blog, we used to do this thing every once in a while where we'd document our day just because.

Okay, maybe not just because so much as we're total sickos who get off on a weird voyeuristic level by analysing the pieces that make up someone else's whole when it comes to filling their day. Whatever. Own it, I say.

And let's face it, when you're a stay at home mom, it's nice to document your hours just to remember you actually do something with them...

So here's my donation up for perusal...


May 9th 2013

6:42 - Wake up, shower, wash hair (this only happens twice a week, so yes, it’s notable. Uh... showers happen more often, though).

6:55 - Dress, wash face, brush teeth, make bed, open windows in master bedroom and bathroom. Lament that it’s rained, as there’s a perfectly decent load of laundry (the only one for today!) sitting in the washer ready to hang on the (newly rebuilt) triple clotheslines...

7:10 - Open windows in R’s (7.5 y/o) room, grab clothes for him for school. Head downstairs (he’s already playing Lego). Put water on for tea, make R’s lunch, set out juice for boys, make toast for R and myself.

7:20 - L (6 y/o) comes downstairs, begins talking about how the cats have sucked out all the heat from the air while we’re asleep because that’s what cats do. Um. Sure, kid. Send him upstairs for his housecoat (as clearly he’s finding it rather crisp this morning—it’s 18c/64F in here, but the sliding door is open in the hopes that the cats use their catdoor and it’s 13c/55F outside and creeping in...)

7:25 - Find grocery list and begin adding to it. Eat toast.

7:30 - Get online. Start writing this list. Check weather. It’s supposed to rain for the next three days?! ::headdesk:: Decide to wait until after groceries to see how the day is going and then maybe put laundry on the line...

7:39 - Gather L’s clothes for the day, tell him to get dressed. Get tea. Bargain with L as to what Wii games he is allowed to play today if it’s raining (Mario Party 9, MarioKart, and Just Dance are his options, though he’s currently addicted to Lego Batman—it makes me motion sick, so no, not when I’m kicking around). Remind L he’s getting dressed.

7:44 - Check email and blog. Remind L he’s to be getting dressed. Lament the number of blog posts begun and abandoned...

7:51 - Wander online. Discover favourite snobby sweater is now back in stock in the colour I was coveting. Oops, it fell into the virtual cart. (For the record, it’s a joint birthday/Mother’s Day gift already discussed with Mr Lannis.) Ooh... that book looks good. Uh ho, it jumped into the virtual cart, too! (No pre-purchase discussion here... heh. Hiding books is one of my superpowers. Shh...)

7:54 - Remind L he’s getting dressed. Celebrate Moghedien’s decision to finally use the cat door I installed in the screen two days earlier. Check Facebook news feed.

8:08  - Oh! Look! L’s finally dressed!

8:10 - Referee kidlets. Drink tea. Pin interesting shit on Pinterest. Dick around on FB (HOLY STUFF, BATMAN! Lego’s coming out with a Steampunk line! Steampunk Lego?! ::dies::)

8:15 - Watch CNN videos (specifically Charles Ramsey on CNN with Anderson Cooper. Wow.). Drink lots of tea. Be interrupted to clean up random cat puke (Minetters...)

8:30 - Referee kidlets. (Regardless of what you say, yes, your brother is allowed to use more than just the blue Legos. Stop making arbitrary rules to piss each other off!) Remind boys they’ll have to tidy up soon. Browse Twitter. Fall down a link hole and wander through the clickity-clicks...

8:40 - More tea. Read blogs. (This is my “relaxing” morning time, where I've finished a handful of kid-management chores and am waiting to take them to school.)

8:42 - Prompt kidlets to empty dishwasher. Referee kidlets (Stop arguing over which racks you're unloading! Just doooo eeeet!).

8:50 - Tell kidlets to tidy up. Remember to post the link to the blog post that went live almost an hour ago (whoops?).

8:55 - Interrupt kidlets tidying up to talk about the new Steampunk Lego. BECAUSE STEAMPUNK LEGO, YOU GUYS!

8:58 - Start mental To Do list. Have ADD kick in. Open document from last night and Google which phase is the resting phase of mitosis, because while my university biology has gotten me as far as remembering the terms for the different stages, I can't remembered what each phase does. That course was, what, $900? Clearly well spent. (In my defense, it was over ten years ago, and fulfilled the "general education" requirements of my bachelor's degree. Fascinating shit, too, which is probably the only reason my brain retains the word "telophase" at all... um, or that I managed to make even one of the three 9:30am lectures each week for eight months of the year. I think it goes unsaid that that Friday morning class was a joke for everyone. Heh.)

9:02 - Remind L to put marbles in his jar for emptying dishwasher. Remind kidlets to tidy up.

9:10 - Have R put lunch bag and agenda into his backpack and have boys get shoes and sweaters on for school.

9:12 - 9:35 - Get in van. Wait for boys to buckle up. Drive to school, park. Walk R to edge of yard. Drive to Tim Hortons for a mocha. Drive to Walmart (ugh). Park, wait in the van so L can listen to “his new favourite song” as it plays on the radio (who am I to deny the simple joys in life?).



9:35 - 11:27 - Lament spilling mocha on sleeve of current snobby sweater (this is why I can’t have nice things!). Pick up groceries and household items, argue entire time that L looks as if he needs to pee (he insists he doesn’t he’s simply wearing his dancey pants), only to have him exclaim at the checkout that “it’s almost an emergency!” (GAH!) Checkout, park full cart at Customer Service and take L to washroom. Walk to van and load groceries. Drive home. Hold discussion with L on ride home about how Adele’s song Rumour Has It sounds as if background singers are singing, “booger” instead of “rumour”. Reach house, have L pull recycling and green bins back into the garage (for marbles). Unload van. Put away groceries/new items. Make tea. Call two landscaping companies and leave messages to arrange appointment for quote (want front walkway redone). Crumble and switch load in washer to dryer and start it (it’s been light rain all morning). Scrub sleeve of snobby sweater with stain remover. Add sphagnum moss to the mango sprout’s new pot. Turn on laptop. read a bit of Kiss Chronicles while waiting for laptop to boot up. Mess around on FB. Update this list...

11:27 - Read this post by Sandi. Open glue stick for L.

11:33 - Listen to L describe his new craft. Listen to him dictate what he wants for lunch. Make tea. Make lunch for L (blueberry jam sandwich on brown bread, and orange slices). Remember I was supposed to buy orange marmalade because R has switched his morning toast-topper. Oops.

11:45 - Sit down for lunch. Salad: iceberg lettuce and mixed baby greens, shredded mozza cheese, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, peanuts, and crunchy chow mein noodles topped with my second favourite dressing (Renee’s Asian Sesame). Because I forgot to buy my favourite dressing (Renee’s Balsamic) and strawberries (swap the chow mein noodles and peanuts for strawberries and it’s a completely different salad... both are delicious). Orange slices for dessert. Read more online while eating.

I swear it's tastier than it looks.
11:57 - Update this list. Begin composing blog post on Blogger (instead of simply a document file on my desktop). Add pertinent links, etc. Remember to (finally!) donate to Kiss Chronicles.

12:38 - Lunch break is over. Listen to L read.



12:41 - Time to start cleaning out the fridge (yes, if you’re keeping track, I brought home groceries this morning. Not exactly the order I’d recommend for these two activities, but then again, I am a doofus lesson. Learn from me). Put away dishes drying in sink, clear and wipe counter and table, load dishwasher. Scrub sink clean and fill with water for washing fridge shelves.

1:25pm - Fridge clean out is interrupted by phone appointment I’d forgotten about (oops). Toss cheese, milk, eggs, and yogurt back in the fridge, quick! (Erm... possibly late.)

1:52 - Phone appointment over. Start Mario Party 9 for L (there’s a lot of reading involved, it’s actually not bad practice for him, all things considered...) Continue washing the fridge.

2:30 - Finish putting everything away—the fridge is all clean! Whip up a quick post about it. Help L read words in his game.

2:52 - Sneak outside (it’s sunny now, OF COURSE! especially since the laundry is sitting in the dryer, DRY! ::headdesk::) and nail garden decorations back onto the fence—they’d been removed the other day while reorganizing our backyard gardens.

3pm - Recover from ADD and finish writing and scheduling fridge clean out post. Check bank accounts online and make mental notes about bills to be paid on pay day. Tell L to get himself a snack (granola bar) from the cupboard.

3:15 - Begin cutting veggies for dinner. Decided on stir fry. Tell L it’s 15 minutes until we need to leave to pick up kids from school.

3:30 - 4:45 - Walk with L to pick up the kids from school (including after school care charges). Walk home. Get mail. Get kids to pull our neighbours’ recycling and green bins up to their garage. Get in the house, have them wash their hands. Talk to R about the school’s book fair, allow him to access his piggy bank money for a book fair purchase. Toss the kids into the backyard and give them freezies. Eat a cheese string. Update this list. Referee kids with pool noodle light sabers (Not in the face!)

4:45 - Begin making dinner (chicken stir-fry). Referee kids outside. (You can't boss someone into playing with you.)

5pm - Mr Lannis comes home. Have him hand books out to the four kids outside (GAH! Why can’t they occupy themselves?!). Put on rice to go with stir-fry. Have R come in and practice spelling words. Discuss day with Mr Lannis.

5:25 - Sit down and update this list.

5:30 - Call the kids in to wash their hands. Dish out plates of stir-fry and rice for them. Grab plates for Mr Lannis and I. Sit out on the back step in the sunshine to chat and eat, while the kids eat at the table.

6pm - Clean kitchen. Sit down with Mr Lannis to go over property prices online and compare with our own house. Talk about possible upgrades and renovations.

6:30 - Sweep floor. Referee kids (why are we hiding each other’s Lego men?!). Have them tidy up the toy area. Fold laundry from dryer.

7pm - Send four kidlets outside to play in the backyard. Chat with Mr Lannis about how our new hot water tank is set at the hottest possible and is not hot enough. Google Chef Ramsay memes to share with Mr Lannis (he’s not online much and got a kick out of it. My favourite is here.).

7:07 - Plan to fertilize lawn this evening once after school care kids are picked up.

7:10 - Update this list. Read this article and be shocked that a racist tradition is still alive and well in a Georgia small town. (Seriously?! And thanks again for sharing, Uno!)

7:15 - Update the blog post for this list, including links.

7:21 - Go to garage and organize fertilizer gear. Tell kids to tidy up the backyard.

7:25 - After school care kids' parent shows up for pickup.

7:30 - Go to basement to discover Mr Lannis on the phone with the hot water heater company to get to the bottom of the not hot enough problem.

7:35 - Send boys upstairs to put on PJs and begin getting ready for bed. Discover Mr Lannis has set up service appointment for hot water heater for Monday (good).

7:35 - 8:14 - Fertilize lawn while listening to Audible's The Three Musketeers on the Kindle. Come in, change clothes, wash hands, wash face for bedtime. Wash feet (dirty feet on clean sheets makes me bugnuts). Say goodnight to boys—Mr Lannis has handled their bedtime.

8:15 - Join Mr Lannis on main floor. He's turned on season four of The Muppet Show while waiting for me (the Debbie Harry episode).

8:25 - Watch an episode of Game of Thrones.

9:30 - Turn off TV and lights, call Moggie in from outside, lock doors and head upstairs. Brush teeth, put on PJs, read more of Kiss Chronicles.

10:02 - Sleep. ::sigh::

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