Day In The Life: Sunday, January 13th 2019
“Find people who love you unconditionally, surround yourself with them, and bring them the same level of intensity.”
This is our first full weekend back in Calgary after a long Christmas break spent in Vancouver. A holiday with young children isn’t much of a vacation and can be even more fatiguing than the norm as you battle new sleeping spaces, overtired attitudes, and an overwhelming number of interactions and stimuli that can push kids (and parents) to their limits. We wanted today to be a day for just our family; doing the things we love together while also knocking items off of our never-ending to-do list. Ultimately, I think we accomplished just that.
2:50am: I am abruptly woken from a deep sleep to the violent screams of Linden. Listen - it would be so easy for me to pretend that this never happened and for you to think my kids sleep solidly every single night. That’s just not the case. Both my kids are typically amazing sleepers but this entire week Linden has woken up periodically through the night screaming. Not crying. Screaming. He has been pointing to his mouth lately saying “teef,” which we deduce means that he is in the throes of teething and the pain is causing him to wake at night. We give him some Advil, a quick cuddle, and lay him back down and he is asleep within minutes. I, on the other hand, am not.
7:30am: Maelle makes her way into our room, waking us as she does most mornings before we send her downstairs to watch some shows. We drift back to sleep until we hear the thumping of her excited feet coming back upstairs not even 10 minutes later. “Daddy, can you make me my milk please?” And with that, Daniel drags his exhausted body out of bed to start the day.
7:45am: I grab my phone and browse Instagram for a few minutes before I officially start my day. My eyes slowly adjust to the light and the mental fog lifts as I start running through the plan for our day in my head. Not 5 minutes later, I am up - in the bathroom doing my hair, make-up, and getting dressed.
7:55am: Dano is still downstairs and there is a high probability he fell asleep on the couch. I text him: Are you awake? Feed Maelle and come up. Bring the laundry up. He responds: Yep. Going to make her oatmeal and come up.
8:05am: Daniel makes his way upstairs to get ready as I make my way downstairs. This signifies the commencement of the mad rush to get out of the house on time. I glance at the clock - we have 25 minutes until we need to go.
8:10am: I greet Maelle, who is already dressed in her base layer for skiing. She is independent and understands the expectations we have for her. Getting herself dressed is one them. I tell her she needs to hustle on eating so we aren’t late for the first day of her new skiing lessons. She listens and shovels another bite into her mouth as proof that she got the message loud and clear. I dash around the kitchen packing up for the day. I wash fruit and vegetables and pack them into the diaper bag along with a variety of other snacks to sustain the kids for the morning. I get a bowl, spoon, and instant oatmeal package ready for Linden’s breakfast since it looks like he missed the memo on needing to be out of the house by 8:30am. I also pack a few toys that he can play with while we wait for Maelle to finish her lesson. I dart from room-to-room gathering the things we need - scarves, toques, extra diapers, wipes, gloves - packing them away.
8:20am: Daniel loads up the car with all of the ski gear and skating gear and momentarily pops into the kitchen to tell me that everything is ready. I heard Linden wake up so Daniel heads back upstairs to get him dressed and ready to go while Maelle goes to the bathroom and gets herself ready too. I warm up a milk for Linden, let Lulu out, and feed her breakfast.
8:32am: We are in the car and on the road. Success. We blast our Disney song playlist and sing together in (not-so) perfect harmony. I turn to Daniel and say “I need a coffee.” As the words spill from my mouth I can’t help but wonder how many times I have said that exact phrase to him. Coffee has always been a part of our lives. From downing them to pull all-nighters in university, to casually sipping them while we strolled through a dog park before we had kids, to basically pumping it directly into our veins to survive the newborn phase of parenthood. In my mental snapshots of our life, coffee cups are always part of the picture.
8:50am: We pull up to the ski hill, get Maelle into her gear, and hustle out to the meeting area. Daniel takes her to meet her new instructor as I take Linden inside to wait for Daniel (and coffee).
9:05am: Daniel comes in and we grab coffees and hot water for Linden’s oatmeal before we head up to the viewing area to relax and play until the lesson ends.
9:10am: I truly cherish this time with Linden. It is so rare that it is ever just Daniel, Linden, and I. It is fun to shower all of our attention on him. I love watching his goofy personality shine as he giggles from Daniel’s playful teasing. We let him wander around the ski lodge as he pushes the boundaries, looking at us for only a split second before deciding to try to run down the stairs. When he sees Daniel coming, he grins broadly before running even faster. During breakfast, he pretends that his dinosaur is eating oatmeal with him and blows on every bite saying “hot” before he puts it into his mouth. He is all things mischievous and fun and we are loving the person he is becoming.
10:15am: We make our way back to the ski hill to watch Maelle for 10 minutes before it ends. Seeing her excel at everything she sets her mind to is awe-inspiring. She views obstacles as a personal challenge, conquering whatever dares to try and hold her back. She glides down the hill with ease and a look of determination like no other. I love that she is willing to try anything and everything and hope that she never loses that special quality she possesses.
10:30am: We get into the car and I give Maelle some snacks to fill her up before our next adventure. We make our way to the Bowness skating rink - an outdoor lagoon that is perfect for winter activities. It has fireplaces, an outdoor curling rink, games, a cafe, and an expansive, beautiful skating rink that is well maintained. It is one of our favourite places to go for winter fun! With the sun shining and the mild winter weather, we chose the perfect day to enjoy the outdoors.
10:45am: We lace up our skates and strap Linden into the stroller before heading onto the ice. Doing up my skates reminds me of my age as my feet start to ache within minutes of putting them on. There was once a time I would lace these very skates up to play 3 games of hockey a day for 2-3 day tournaments. Daniel also complains of aches and hints that we need to buy new skates. Once we hit the ice, however, muscle memory kicks into gear and we glide around the lagoon with ease. There is something so satisfying about the sound of your blades cutting into the ice. It evokes positive and oh so Canadian memories.
10:50am: I take tons of pictures and videos as we enjoy each other’s company without expectation. We hold hands, glide up and down the ice, and laugh for no reason at all. Occasionally, Maelle falls so we stop while she gets back on her feet as if it never happened. Bliss.
11:30am: We head off the ice so that we can make it back home in time to get Linden down for his nap. We take off our skates next to one of the fireplaces and load our gear into the stroller.
11:40am: We head to the little cafe to get hot chocolates and (another) coffee to go.
11:50am: The Disney playlist is back on after loading up the car. The kids sip their hot chocolates as content as content can be.
12:15pm: When we arrive home, Daniel whisks Linden into the house to eat lunch before nap time. I unload the car and put all of our gear back where it belongs. Linden watches some Paw Patrol to wind down and relax while Maelle heads into the playroom to find something to entertain her. While the kids are distracted, Daniel and I start collecting our Christmas decorations in order to put them all away.
12:30pm: Daniel puts Linden down for his nap while I start “un-decorating” our house. Putting away the Christmas decorations always makes me pause and think about the holiday season. I reminisce about all that we did and didn’t do. I am overcome with a sense of melancholy as I close yet another chapter of our book. I am reminded of how quickly time is passing and how the children are in a constant state of growth. I snap back to reality as I silently vow to be a little more present, to enjoy the moments more often, and to not get caught up in tomorrow before today is even over.
12:45pm: I serve Maelle lunch and let her eat while she watches Daniel and I take down the Christmas tree. One by one, we carefully pack away the ornaments and in no time our tree is bare until next year. We pack everything away into boxes and bags, then pack those boxes and bags into the nooks and crannies of our house. Cheers until the next holiday season is upon us.
1:45pm: Daniel and I make ourselves lunch. While we eat I begin working on this blog post while Daniel draws and colours with Maelle.
2:30pm: We take a break and all end up on the couch. Maelle watches a show, I browse the internet, and Daniel drifts off to sleep for a much-needed nap. He doesn’t get much rest as Maelle climbs on top of him or whispers into his ear. Despite his grumbles, I know that he truly doesn’t mind since he often spends long hours working and, although she may be slightly annoying, Daniel would rather have her there than anywhere else in the world.
3:15pm: Linden wakes up and it’s time for us to tackle some of the not-so-fun stuff that comes with adulthood. We send Maelle into Linden’s room with an iPad and Daniel goes upstairs to hang our family pictures. We have lived here almost a year - it’s about time we displayed some family photos. I start cleaning. I vacuum up all of the debris left behind from the Christmas tree. I put in a load of laundry and then head upstairs to deep clean the entire second floor. While I finish cleaning, Daniel gets Linden ready, feeds him a snack, and by the time I am back downstairs we are all ready to head out the door again.
4:30pm: We arrive at Ikea to make some returns and purchase a few items that were out of stock the last time we were there.
5:30pm: We finish our trip with ice cream which pleases everyone. All is good except for the fact that I have to hold the cone for Linden while Daniel drives. Halfway through he started trying to eat the ice cream with his hands, creating a sticky mess. But, with no complaining from him, there is no complaining from me.
5:45pm: We arrive home and unload the car. When we get inside I start cooking dinner immediately and Daniel takes the kids upstairs to have a bath.
6:10pm: Dinner is almost ready when the kids make their way back downstairs. Tonight we are having maple glazed salmon and coconut rice. Maelle eats happily as Daniel feed’s Linden.
6:30pm: Malle and Linden watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse as they decompress from a long and exhausting day. While they watch, Daniel and I continue doing chores.
7:00pm: The kids head up to bed with Daniel. Linden takes milk up with him to sip while they read books together. The bedtime routine is always books, brush teeth, and final goodnights for Malle before a few more books for Linden and his final goodnights after. While the nighttime routine is in full swing, I head into the bedroom and fold all of the laundry from yesterday’s and today’s batches. I rush to get everything put away before it is officially bedtime.
7:20pm: Both kids are in bed and tonight, for the first time in almost an entire week, Linden goes down without complaining about his teeth. We silently thank whatever higher power is watching over us and are hopeful that this teething spell is coming to an end.
7:30pm: Daniel and I eat dinner together while watching the Canucks game.
8:00pm: We clean the rest of the main level of the house. Daniel spends some time patching the walls and painting a few spots that have been damaged over the last few months.
9:00pm: I start to write this blog while Daniel does some work. We are sitting side-by-side as I type these very words. It is a comfortable familiarity that we share. Although we are not conversing we are content to just be together. Everyone talks about the joys of beginning a relationship; where everything is new and exciting. I, on the other hand, would choose this stage of life every single time; no questions or regrets in sight.
10:30pm: Daniel heads upstairs to get ready for his week. He is traveling for work Monday-Thursday, so he will be up very early to make his flight. I get Maelle’s swim gear ready for school tomorrow and pack her snacks to avoid whatever last minute rushing I can.
11:30pm: We head to bed with full hearts that our days are made up of all the things we love. Although there is a lot to be done, we live pretty blessed lives that we never take for granted.
