5:30 I wake up to a little face staring at me silently in the dark. "I want to sleep with you, Mom," whispers Brighton. She knows she's not allowed to sleep with me at night, but at 5:30 am it's too early for the fight I know would ensue if I tried to walk her back to her room. She snuggles into me and promptly takes over my entire pillow. I doze uncomfortably for another hour.
7:00 Having finally fallen back asleep, I wake to the sound of running water. This doesn't compute as Chris is already getting dressed after his shower; after a minute I realize it's absolutely pouring outside. On rainy mornings it feels like a real luxury not to have to be anywhere specific. Pacey's up now too and both kids are in phenomenally good moods, giggling and jumping around. I grab a cup of coffee and set the kids up watching a hideous princess movie Brighton picked at the library while I have a shower.
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| Huff hasn't quite roused himself yet |
7:45 Pacey has had his fill of lame princess animation so he's taken over the computer in the kitchen. His proficiency is amazing and somewhat terrifying. Our elementary school has a beautiful Mac lab so I'm happy he will go in familiar with computers and ready to get real benefit from the resource. I empty the dishwasher and start some laundry to the sounds of the PBS Kids website.
8:00 Brighton has finished her princess movie and comes out to help me make some monkey bread. I have a friend coming over and the rainy morning is begging for something cinnamon-y baking in the oven. My mother--in-law has always given us traditional gifts for each anniversary; the ninth anniversary is the pottery one and so she sent us a pottery monkey bread pan. It's required some creativity on her part! I was happy to be able to use the pan. We put it in the oven, I get the kids some breakfast and sit down to answer some emails.
9:30 My friend and her two-year-old son arrive. She and I are on the Board of our MOMS Club...in fact, I took over the president position last month. Our budget is due to the International chapter this month so we need to look over some numbers. I'm not great with financial things, especially as I don't know the ins and outs of non-profits but we manage to put something together in between mediating arguments over toys. My friend is due with a baby girl in a few months and I don't envy her having to chase after a two-year-old right now.
11:00 Despite the fact Chris told me several times he'd be home at 11:00, my heart leaps into my throat when I hear someone bust into the mud room. He runs through on the phone and goes to change clothes; his boss gave him some tickets to the Twins and a friend has just turned up in a Mercedes with a driver to chauffer them to the game. Nice life, eh?? (just kidding, he's been working really hard lately and deserved an afternoon off!)
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| Running off to the game |
11:15 I start preparing some things for dinner, knowing that we'll be in a time crunch at the end of the day. We're having stir-fry so I am dry frying some tofu to marinate. This is the first method I've used successfully to prepare tofu and even my carnivorous husband has been willingly eating it. It takes a little time but is worth it.
11:45 My sister calls on her way into work. She has a commute and a couple of times a week it works out for me to keep her company while she drives. It's a good time to catch up and we have a good chat. Much as a I hate not living nearer, I think we actually talk more now than we did living 5 miles apart. Talking to her distracts me from the fact that I am preparing the seven thousandth identical lunch for the kids: chicken nuggets for Pacey and a quesadilla for Brighton. If there was one thing I could outsource in my day, it would be preparing kid food, no question.
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| Mmmm, sweet and sour tofu |
12:45 I make a quick sandwich for myself and start preparing the list of documents we'll need to refinance our house. I quickly get frustrated at the fact that my best efforts at maintaining organized files still don't make this an easy process. So many different documents from so many different places and requires remembering a zillion different log-ins and passwords. I really have to figure out a safe way to put all that information somewhere. I find everything eventually except for our tax returns from last year, which are nowhere to be found. ARGH. I make a note to ask Chris to help track down a copy.
1:15 I realize we need to leave for swimming lessons in five minutes and no one and nothing is ready. I run around gathering swimsuit and towel, snacks and drinks for afterward. I tell the kids approximately 479823 times to please put their shoes on. We fly out the door with just enough time to get to the pool.
1:40 Brighton has her swimming lesson while Pacey plays the iPad. I signed him up for a session too but naturally he got sick and we will have to try again later this fall. Brighton has done really well and she'll move on to the next level in September. I have a chat with the woman who coordinates all the lessons. She is incredibly helpful and friendly; I'd like to make sure that whoever is her boss knows what a great job she does.
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| She's the little one on the right. Look at those straight arms! |
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| After a warm shower to stop the shivering |
2:30 Pacey requests ice cream so I bargain with the kids: if we can make a quick trip to Target with no fuss, we'll get ice cream after. They are actually pretty good in Target and the deal is sweetened for them when I agree to buy them each a pair of goggles (or "dobbles" as Brighton calls them).
3:15 We drive across the street to Dairy Queen where the kids each get a "brown ice cream." I regret the day I ever introduced the idea that ice cream came in any color but white. Thank goodness for good stain removers.
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| Two little monkeys |
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| Pacey was standing up in the booth and I told him to sit down. He deliberately sat down ON the table and this is the look he turned to give me: "what are you going to do about it?" |
3:45 We have 45 minutes until Pacey needs to be at speech therapy, and I know that B could do with a nap. We drive around looking at fancy lakeshore homes until she's asleep and then we go park at the therapy center. Pacey plays iPad, B snoozes and I browse the internet.
4:30 I run Pacey into therapy and apologize profusely to his therapist for completely forgetting our appointment yesterday. At the start of the summer we changed his morning appointments for afternoon ones and I have had the HARDEST time remembering. Adding in swimming lessons further threw me off. She is understanding as always and I head back to the car to sit with my sleeping girl.
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| Sleepy girl and one very raggedy blankie |
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| My little yogi |
5:00 B is awake and we retrieve Pacey from the center. They both take FOORREEEVVVER to walk across the stepping stone path from the door to the parking lot. The therapy center is the same building that houses Brighton's preschool and this stupid path causes my blood pressure (as well as all the other parents') to spike all through the school year and especially during the winter. Stupid meaningful decorative touches.
5:30 Home now and I feed the kids dinner while I continue folding the mountain of laundry I washed today. C texts me to say that he's eating dinner before the car brings him home so I postpone the stir fry til tomorrow evening and make a quick dinner for myself.
6:30 I lure the kids into the tub with the promise of trying out their new "dobbles." Bath time is relatively peaceful for a change and we proceed through the bedtime routine without incident.
8:00 The kids are in bed and I relax with a glass of wine and the newest season of Dexter on Apple TV. One of my absolute favorite parts about not having an infant anymore is my uninterrupted evenings. With occasional exceptions, once the kids are down they are down and we can relax for a couple of hours before bed.
10:00 Lights out (and thank goodness because I'm tired of typing this. If you actually made it to the end, bravo!)
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