Day In The Life: Monday, February 19th 2018
“Family is not an important thing. It’s everything. ”
February 19th was Family Day in Alberta and we definitely spent our time as the holiday intended us to. We enjoyed each others company and took part in activities geared towards the whole family. This is my idea of the perfect day. Spending time with the people I love most with no agenda other than having fun and being together.
6:20am: We are awoken to the calls from the wild one. He wants a feed and we want to pretend we can't hear him. This doesn't last long, of course, as we give in to his cries and I feed him. He is put back in his crib and he falls asleep the way I only dream I could. Sleep is a funny thing... the more you get of it, the more painful it is to suddenly not get it anymore. I felt less tired during the early days when I was feeding every 4 hours through the night.
7:20am: Little miss comes bounding into our room with an energy that reminds us that she is three and we are not. Her zeal for life is so pure it can only come from a child who has yet to experience the difficult blows that life often hands us. It is refreshing as a parent to see the world through our children's eyes; to know that they only see hope, faith, and positivity in all.
We are in the process of teaching Maelle that she is allowed to come out of her room when the time is right. Prior to this, she stayed in her room until we came and got her. It didn't matter if she was awake for one hour or one minute - she didn't call for us and she didn't get out of bed (unless she needed to use the washroom). Using an Ok To Wake Owl, she waits until it lights up green which signals that she can get out of bed on her own.
7:30am: Dano gets up and sets Maelle up with some milk and Netflix then gets back into bed, falling asleep with such speed that I'm not entirely sure he was awake in the first place. Seriously. I envy his ability to sleep anywhere, anytime.
7:45am: Linden wakes up and babbles with glee in his crib. He calls out to us and we call out to Maelle, "Go get your brother!" She happily obliges and we hear the abrupt opening of his bedroom door, the turning off of his white noise machine, the thump of her body falling into his crib, and the laughter from Linden as he greets his sister.
8:00am: Maelle screams to us, "Linden has a poop!" Our hopes of more sleep are quickly dashed as we play parental chicken waiting each other out to see who will move and make the change. There is not a chance I'm changing the first diaper of the weekend so I nudge Dano to get moving as I get up to get the day started.
8:15am: Breakfast begins. Today we are having crepes with nutella, apples, and sausage. No complaints from the tiny human with this breakfast. The tiniest human gets blueberry oatmeal which is his absolute favourite food to eat.
8:45am: We clean up after breakfast and get ourselves ready for the day. We plan to make it to the Trico Centre to experience the free family activities they have for the holiday. The kids play together with their toys. I love the period after breakfast, before Linden goes for his nap. Generally, the kids are both happy and entertain themselves without any fuss.
9:30am: I give Linden a feed and he goes down for his first nap of the day. Maelle gets herself ready for the day and Dano completes her outfit with the hairband of her choosing.
9:40am: I walk into the kitchen to see that a dance party has broken out. Dano, Maelle, and Lulu are putting their best moves forward to some good ol' Tom Petty. Scenes like this will never get old. I know that one day, these moments will only be memories so I sit back to take it in; to try to remember every detail. Everything from the way Maelle swings her hair as she sways, to the smile on Dano's face as he lifts our daughter above his head, to the joyful giggles that erupt out of her as she is spun around, right down to Lulu's excitement at all of the commotion happening in the house. These moments make all the hard work worth it.
9:50am: Dano takes Maelle to the Trico Centre to go skating. We know that it is going to be packed so the plan is to arrive right at opening. I stay behind until Linden wakes up.
10:00am: Dano and Maelle take to the ice. Maelle has no fear, she quickly took to skating and enjoys getting on the ice like many true Canadians do. Ever since showing her videos of figure skaters she insists on doing dance moves and "jumps" which has greatly increased the amount of falls but she doesn't care because she's doing it all in style.
11:00am: Linden wakes from his nap so I feed him and get out of the door as quickly as possible.
11:30am: I arrive at the Trico Centre and the parking lot is packed. I find a spot and head inside. When I enter the building, floods of people rush past me and the buzz of energy is palpable. Through it all, however, I can hear the muffled cries of Maelle. I follow the cries and am greeted by a very frustrated husband and a daughter so upset that she can't even talk.
(I could easily gloss over these emotional outbursts and pretend they never happened. And perhaps years from now when I look back on these posts I wouldn't remember that they ever did. But that isn't the point of these blogs. I want to be authentic. I want the memories to be real. And most importantly, I want other moms to know they aren't alone. So here it is in all its glory)
Maelle is upset. She is throwing a fit because Dano told her we can't go swimming which was the original plan. I can't blame her, we told her one thing and are going back on our original promise. The line up is over an hour long and it would not be worth it for us to wait. I get in and immediately calm both her and Dano down. We move on to other fun activities and all is forgotten when she sees the other possibilities offered to her. The rest of our outing goes like this:
12:00pm: Get popcorn.
12:15pm: Participate in an art activity.
12:30pm: Jump on the trampolines.
12:45: Cookie decorating and eating.
1:00pm: Clay figurine sculpting.
1:15pm: Music making.
1:30pm: We leave the centre exhausted but thankful that we live where these opportunities are open to us. It was packed, but well organized, and the kids were entertained so we can't ask for much more than that.
1:45pm: We pick up Tim Hortons on our way home and eat lunch when we get in.
2:00pm: Linden is asleep and Maelle has quiet time. She reads books, plays games, and watches some Netflix. Dano and I relax and breathe a sigh of relief that the busy morning is over and done. We try to recharge our batteries and gain enough energy to get through the rest of the day.
3:00pm: Maelle comes out of quiet time and has a snack. She puts on a show for us which is her new favourite thing to do. She dances and tells us facts - "Did you know that constellations are a bunch of stars?" "Stars don't actually twinkle, its refraction!" She then takes a bow and awaits her applause; we happily oblige and are thankful we didn't actually have to pay for that.
3:30pm: Linden awakes from his nap and is his usual happy self. We send Maelle in to play with him, giving us a few extra minutes to pack the bags for our second outing of the day.
4:00pm: We stop for a coffee at Starbucks and then head to the mall where the kids play at the free play area. Maelle loves taking Linden down the slide and Linden doesn't complain so we watch happily from a (safe) distance. He loves crawling through the tunnel and exploring independently.
5:00pm: We head home running on fumes and caffeine.
5:15pm: We have a family game night and play a game called "Don't Wake the Bees" which is a cute version of "Kerplunk." Maelle cheers emphatically as bees drop into her slot thinking that she is winning the game. Dano and I quickly tell her that she is losing and that the point is to not let the bees fall. We are trying to teach her that she will sometimes lose, which is a fact of life. The important thing is that she tries hard, plays fair, and doesn't give up. We are hoping to avoid the "I must win" mentality that a lot of kids have these days but still ensure that she doesn't lose her competitive spirit. It's a delicate balance but aren't almost all parenting choices just that?
5:30pm: We have dinner as a family and then get the kids bathed and ready for bed.
6:00pm: We have a family movie night and decide to watch The Incredibles. Maelle loves it and makes us promise that she can finish the rest of the movie tomorrow.
6:30pm: Dano takes the kids into Maelle's room where they read books together.
6:45pm: Time to brush teeth and go to the washroom for the last time. I give Maelle her last sip of water, turn on her white noise, and kiss her goodnight. I give Linden his final feed and Dano takes him into his room, puts him in his wearable blanket, turns on his white noise, and lays him down to sleep.
7:00pm: Both kids are asleep by now. Dano and I high five each other and congratulate each other on another day survived. Parenthood is a tough gig and I am thankful every day that I have someone to commiserate with through the lows and celebrate with through the highs.
7:00-11:00pm: We catch up on social media, watch tv, have a tea, talk, drink a scotch (Dano, not me), and get ready for bed.
11:00pm: I watch Netflix as I attempt to fall asleep and before I even push play Daniel is gently snoring. Seriously, was he actually ever awake?
