Day In The Life: Thursday, January 25th 2018
“Take it all one day at a time and enjoy the journey.”
A typical day in Calgary. A glimpse into our daily life. The mundane and boring made extraordinary because of family.
5:25am: Linden calls out for a feed. He no longer cries and screams upon waking; instead, he starts babbling, talking, and demanding some attention. He typically sleeps anywhere from 10 hours to right through the night *knock on wood*. I feed him and put him back down and he drifts back to sleep with ease and a full tummy.
7:10am: The husband is up and getting ready for work. I hear Maelle call to me through the monitor. She has lost her earring. So, I am abruptly woken from my sleepy daze to the bright lights of her bedroom as we comb through her sheets and pillows on the hunt for her earring. Success! We find it and put it back in its rightful place.
7:20am: Cue a meltdown. Maelle would like me to get her milk and put her show on, but I've already told her that Daddy would do that so I can get myself ready for the day. She cries and complains as if I've just told her that the world is coming to an end. I'm not backing down on this one because, quite frankly, the 30 minutes Dano has to help out in the morning need to be productive and creating a habit of her getting what she wants on demand is not going to fly.
7:30am: Dano puts on Maelle's show, gets her milk ready, and life goes on (for a minute there I was worried it wouldn't). Linden wakes up and I give him a morning feed before getting ready for my day. I rush about and put on my clothes that I laid out the night before. Every second counts in the mornings - especially on a school day!
7:45am: Dano heads off to work and the chaos in the house is now fully on my shoulders. We are less than an hour away from when we need to leave the house so all panic ensues. It goes a little something like this:
7:50am: Get Linden dressed and changed and ready for the day
8:00am: Finish getting myself ready; comb my hair, brush my teeth, and put on my 5 minute make up. So glamourous.
8:05am: I make breakfast for Maelle. Today is oatmeal. A staple in our house because both kids love it and it is quick and easy for these busy mornings.
8:10am: Maelle eats her breakfast while I get Linden's oatmeal prepared.
8:15am: Feed Linden. I think he has become accustomed to me shoveling food into his mouth. Second child problems... am I right?
8:25am: Get Maelle to go to the bathroom, get her swimsuit on - last week, this week, and next week are swim lessons at her school. It is one more thing that has to be taken care of but I am so thankful that she gets to do activities with her class and isn't cooped up in one room for the entirety of preschool. She puts her clothes on overtop and packs her underwear and towel in a separate bag. I help her with her belt and her hair but otherwise she is independent in terms of getting ready for the day
8:30am: Check the time and sweat a little. Get Maelle's backpack packed. I have all of her stuff ready the night before but I add her snack the morning of so it stays fresh. Today is carrots, blueberries, and a granola bar.
8:35am: Maelle puts her boots and coat on while I take care of bundling up Linden for the school run.
8:40am: We head out the door and make our way to our next door neighbours, whom I am so grateful for. With no family in Calgary, they have really stepped up when we need it. They have become our "emergency contact", you know the number you put down on sign up sheets in case something goes wrong and they need to reach someone. They have one son 3 months younger than Maelle and another 3 months older than Linden. So, beyond being helpful they have become great friends and I happily take their eldest to school on days when they are working and grandma and grandpa are caring for the kids. It is the least I can do.
8:50am: We arrive at school and I shuttle the 3 kids out of the car to wait for the classrooms to open up. Maelle and our neighbour are in different classes so I drop one off at a time and through all of this business Linden happily tags along. Thank goodness for his sweet demeanour and easy spirit.
9:00am: I can breath again. Back home we go
9:15am: Linden is given a feed and put down for a nap. Once he is asleep I start the whirlwind process of cleaning the house which we are currently attempting to sell. This translates to lots of showings, and therefore to me performing a deep cleaning almost daily. I clean from top to bottom making sure the house is presentable. We had a showing yesterday and it never fails to amaze me how much mess can form in just 24 hours.
10:30am: Just as I am finishing up, Linden wakes from his nap. Perfect timing since our showing is at 11am and we need to get out.
11:00am: I head out, fill up our car with gas, and arrive at Maelle's school 30 minutes before class ends to kill time chatting with other parents.
11:30am: The wild animals are let out of their classes and I shuttle them (the neighbour too) back into the car. We decide to stop at Tim Hortons because I need coffee and the promise of a chocolate Tim Bit is just too tempting to create any form of a complaint from the kids. I drop Ollie off next door and we head home for lunch.
12:00pm: I feed Linden some lunch. Today he has turkey soup which he loves. While he eats, Maelle snacks on what was packed for school that she didn't have time to finish.
12:30pm: Play time. This is probably my favourite part of the day. Seeing my kids play together brings me so much joy. Maelle willingly entertains Linden as he gleefully laughs at everything she does. They love each other so much and their bond already amazes me. Maelle particularly likes holding Linden's hands and assisting him while he walks. Linden is in the beautiful stage of life where everything is meant to be explored and everything is fun... until it's not. He loves opening every cupboard, examining every item, and throwing everything on the ground. He particularly enjoys toilet paper; unrolling it, ripping it apart, and eating pieces of it. He likes to race to the dishwasher and try to climb on the door as I open it up. He can find an outlet faster than you can say "don't put your fingers in there". He loves the trash can and taking everything out of it. Today, he has learned the joy of using his high chair as a walker. He is thrilled about this until he gets stuck on something. He is the happiest kid ever but once something frustrates him... watch out! So the game of "push the high chair until it is stuck and then scream my head off until mommy corrects it" continues until we both hit our limit.
1:30pm: Maelle requests rice and seaweed for lunch and since this is easy I happily oblige, adding some carrots and sausage to round out the meal. Linden snacks on a fruit puree and is then given a feed.
2:00pm: Nap time and quiet time. Yes! I love my kids but I also really love nap time. I finally sit down, start editing this blog post, eat some lunch, have a coffee, and just relax. During quiet time I go into Maelle's room every 15 minutes to change her activity. She normally reads, does some letters, plays an iPad game, and then watches a bit of a show. This ends after 1 hour.
3:30pm: Maelle has a snack and then gets herself ready for ballet. I have to help her get ready still because nylons are tricky and her hair has to be put into a bun. She is responsible for remembering her slippers. This "responsibility" means she is required to bring her own slippers to class, which means I am constantly asking her "what have you forgotten", or "where are your slippers", and most often "where did you leave your slippers?" This is called building independence in a 3 year old AKA building patience in a mom. Linden wakes from his nap.
3:45pm: I get Linden ready and bundle him up again for yet another shuttle to one of his sister's activities.
4:00pm: We load up the car and are on our way out the door.
4:20pm: Dance class begins. Maelle loves this class. She was absolutely born to move in every sense of the word. She loves to perform and has no issue with being the centre of attention. Parents are not allowed to view this class and I am probably the only parent who is happy about it. This is one of the few times in a week that I get completely alone with Linden. It was so challenging for me to become comfortable with the lack of time I got to spend alone with Linden. It is definitely a second child issue so I take full advantage of the time Maelle is in a class. We play and laugh and enjoy the company of the other younger siblings who are waiting on their older sisters too.
5:00pm: Class ends and for the last time of the day we get in the car and head home.
5:30pm: Dinner tonight is pizza and vegetables. Maelle eats while talking on Skype with her Uncle and Auntie. Her Uncle Christoph is probably her most favourite human on earth. He is willing to play with her for hours on end and has therefore skyrocketed to the top of her "people she loves" list. We made the mistake of telling her that they are coming to visit us after Linden's birthday (which is in March) and almost everyday she asks me when that is.
6:00pm: Dano arrives home. This is early for him and I am not complaining. Time for baths and bedtime prep. Bodies are clean, hair is washed, PJ's are on.
6:30pm: Maelle settles in for a show while she snacks on carrots. She winds down and shows all of the classic signs of being tired.
6:45pm: Maelle and Linden go with Dano to read books, after which Maelle brushes her teeth, goes to the washroom, is given her last sip of water and its hugs and kisses goodnight.
7:00pm: Maelle is already fast asleep and Linden is given his final feed and put to bed. He too, is asleep within 5 minutes.
7:30pm: Dinner with the hubs while we watch Jeopardy. We are the definition of an old married couple. We have not missed an episode of Jeopardy in years. It is one of the few shows we can both agree on.
8:30pm: We talk about our days and enjoy each others company. We bought a Nintendo Switch as a Christmas gift to each other and have been obsessed with the Mario Odysessy game. We play on together, have a cup of tea, and I continue to edit this blog post.
9:30pm: Time to catch up on the bachelor. I love mindless TV. It is all I can handle after long days with the kids. Shows that require thought are reserved strictly for the weekends.
11:00pm: Time for bed. Another day in the books.
