I have a proper 9-10 month post for Z and a 2.5-year post for C coming, but I also managed to capture a full day in the life with them a couple weeks ago, and I never actually remember to finish out the day when I start. So. Here it is.
I’ll note that this is, like, my perfect parenting day right now. Naps were ideal. No one woke up too early. We were able to stay home. Jack was done working at a reasonable time and played with the kids for a little bit while I got stuff done in the evening. Just really a great day, and they do not all go like this! Also, it feels so weird to say that I want to stay home right now. For almost a year, if not longer, I’ve felt like we needed some sort of errand or plan every day just to add some structure and give us something to do. C has always done really well with novelty, and if we stayed home all day (even if we went outside several times), I usually regretted it and felt like she needed to get out and do something.
But recently, C started keeping herself pretty busy at home, and I don’t have to make sure she’s in eyesight here. She goes off and plays with toys or asks to go to the basement or hangs out and plays with me and Z, no problem. And Z is in this place of sort of wanting to be held and sort of wanting to crawl all over the place, and he’s a lot more independent at home. So it’s much easier to be here. We still go out a lot and on days I plan to be home, I have an errand or activity in my mind that we can do if the day goes sideways. But for now, I’m really enjoying sticking around the house a few days a week, and so are they.
5:15am — I wake up and think, “Holy crap, Z slept through the night,” followed by, “Why am I so tired?” He’s been sleeping not-that-well for the better part of the last two months.
5:30am — I wake up for real, brush my teeth, and put my contacts in.
5:40am — Go downstairs and drink coffee and water and read while I pump.
5:58am — Z is awake, so I go nurse him.
6:09am — I surprisingly got Z back down, so I go downstairs to write.
6:52am — C is up and calls, “Mom-mom, I have some chocolate milk?” as she’s coming down the stairs, which she does pretty much every morning. Change her and get her requested chocolate milk. She then starts asking for Grandma and being a touch whiny and I think, “Ooooh, she needs more sleep.” I offer her to go back up and snuggle with Daddy, but she says no.
7:10am — Jack comes downstairs and confirms she slept very restlessly.
7:15am — I hear Z awake, but he’s happy. I go up to get dressed and do my makeup.
7:38am — Suddenly, he’s mad on the monitor because C opened his door. She heard he was up and thought I was in there. We go downstairs to get everyone dressed and let Willis out.
8:04am — I get Z and me strawberries, yogurt, and peanut butter toast.
C doesn’t want anything. She eventually joins us for some Cheerios and one bite of Z’s toast.
8:32am — The kids and I go to the basement for a workout. I’m lifting 6 days a week and this is my off day. I do a light Peloton ride that I stop about 4 times to move or love on kids. I think I make it though 17ish minutes before it’s not worth the effort anymore. Also, our Peloton keeps glitching out and I need to get it looked at.
9:00am — We go to C’s room to play with Tonies and Magnatiles.
9:20am — Z is totally melting down, so I take him to his room to get him a nap.
9:40am — It’s earlier than I was anticipating him napping, but he’s out. C and I go downstairs because she said she wants to go outside. I eat the last brownie because they are fantastic and I am always hungry. C and I go outside to read books and go for a walk and snuggle on the driveway.
10:43am — We get back from our walk and we go inside. She requests an ice pop. Fair. It’s hot.
It’s been a week or so since I’ve even attempted preschool with C, but she was really into the books for this unit today so we did some activities and talked about apples. One day we’ll get into a routine and do this more often. But she’s only 2.5, so I’m not in a rush.
11:28am — She’s totally done with my attempts at school activities, so I bury her in the ball pit at her request and start prepping dinner.
11:34am — I shred zucchini and onions and C sneaks into Jack’s office. He tells me she’s fine so I keep going and listening to EconTalk.
11:52am — Jack and C come into the kitchen after his meeting and we chat for a few minutes.
12pm — Z starts waking up but he’s happy. I start heating up leftovers for lunch.
12:15pm — C and I head up to get Z after fifteen minutes of babbling to himself. I nurse him briefly and we play in their rooms for a bit. Jack texts me that he finished heating up leftovers for when we’re done.
12:54pm — We come downstairs to eat leftover hamburger helper. C eats a few slices of ham, one bite of the leftover ham and cheese sandwich, and a spoonful of peanut butter. Z eats lots of noodles and over half of the sandwich half. I wouldn’t call C “picky” because she’ll eat a lot of different things, but maybe “choosy” is appropriate, because she definitely has to be in the mood to eat them.
1:12pm — C asks to go outside. Jack has a rare minute to help me clean up so we quickly tag-team the kitchen.
1:20pm — I get the kids out back to the water table. They play and play together. I read nearby.
2:00pm — We go inside after one too many water-spitting incidents. Everyone is tired. I change both kids into dry clothes and diapers.
2:15pm — Settle C on the couch with milk and Aladdin. Take Z up to play pre-nap.
2:27pm — He’s crabby and done playing. I nurse him and give him a bottle. He’s been sleeping like crap lately, and my mom stayed with us while Jack was out of town last week and gave him a couple bottles while I slept. I’ve tried that the last day or so and I think he might’ve just been extra hungry? Oops.
2:35pm — C is asleep when I get downstairs. I read for a little while bit and then start working on making zucchini cakes for dinner.
3:45pm — Z is awake. I bring him downstairs after I nurse him and we play with the ball pit for a few minutes before I keep working on dinner. He stays in the play room.
4:15pm — C wakes up and asks to watch Aladdin again, which I allow since she slept through all but about 10 minutes of it before. I check on her a few times to make sure she doesn’t fall asleep again, and I invite her to make dinner, and she comes in to play with spices for a little while.
Then she decides to go play with Little People and jump over the couch.
5:02pm — I’ve somehow made zucchini cakes and diavolo sauce, chicken thighs, cut up a loaf of sourdough, and made salads… and everyone is still happily playing. And then Jack is done with work early, which hasn’t happened much lately, and C wants to play in the basement with him. He takes both kids down there and I just offer to keep dinner warm. I clean up the kitchen, listen to a podcast, and make brownies.
6:01pm — Jack texts me that they’re ready for a scenery change. Having had an entire hour to myself, I feel like a new person. I plate dinner real quick and we eat.
6:13pm — As is her custom during dinner, C asks to go outside. She has so little interest in eating. We tell her we’ll go after dinner. She goes off to read and be annoyed at us for wanting to eat.
6:30pm — We all go outside and go on a walk, which we do most nights after dinner. C alternately scooters, runs, and sits in the wagon with Z.
7:10pm — We all go inside. We take our time getting the kids in pajamas, cleaning up, and brushing teeth. There’s a lot of playing and climbing and bouncing all over me and Jack and the couch. At some point, we turn Bluey on, too.
8:07pm — The later nap means Z is ready for bed a little later than usual. He and I go upstairs with a bottle of milk. After a couple minutes of playing on his floor, he nurses and is still restless, and then he downs the whole 3.5 oz bottle.
8:40pm — Z is asleep. I go take a shower.
8:45pm — Jack and C go upstairs to get her to bed.
9:05pm — I’m done showering. I gather up laundry, deal with stains, and throw it in the washer before I eat a brownie and some ice cream.
9:15pm — Jack dozed off putting her to bed and comes downstairs. I read, he plays video games, and we chat and watch Iron Man for a little bit.
10:01pm — I go up to bed and read for twenty minutes before I fall asleep.
