Quite simply, it's a chronicle of my day, on the 14th of the month. So here's my day....
3:10 am Pirate Jim crawls into bed with us and immediately falls deeply asleep
3:11 am - 5:45 am I get woken every 15 or 20 minutes by an elbow or hand to the head, or a foot to the kidneys. PJ is a restless, space-monopolising sleeper. I should have just gone into his bed.
5:45 am Princess Grace awakens for her morning feed. I listen to a podcast of In the National Interest, an in-depth public affairs program. No idea what it was about, I dozed through most of it.
6:30 am Dress the Princess and head out to the kitchen. Kettle on, first cup of tea and a chat with the Princess while I try to wake up properly.
6:45 am I turn on the computer and my suspicion that it is wirelessly linked to PJ's brain is heightened when the Windows boot-up tone and "Morning Mama" are heard simultaneously. I put porridge in the microwave for him, pour juice, dress the porridge with fruit, cinnamon and brown sugar, give him the porridge, fish out the pineapple, add banana, give him back the porridge. Tag with Beloved and I head to the shower.
7:00 - 7:15 am Alone time as I shower and dress - until there's a banging on the door because PJ needs to use the toilet.
7:15 - 8:15 am UN-level negotiations over day's attire for PJ, brushing of teeth, washing of face, combing of hair, putting of shoes and socks. I get to have a bowl of cereal in there too. PJ watches 15 minutes of ABC kids (including Sean the Sheep, which I watch too!) before we leave for childcare.
8:45 am Return from childcare drop-off. The Princess is dozing in her rocker, so I scan the newspaper online and check my email, getting time for one or two few-lines replies before she wakes up for morning tea.
9:00 am Morning tea feed for the Princess. And West Wing time for me; second last ep of the second series. I love this show!
9:45 am Change the Princess and have a play, tidying the lounge room and kitchen, make phone calls to try and see if I can find a swimsuit for PJ, who starts swimming lessons tomorrow afternoon.
10:15 am The Princess is getting cranky so I put her down for a nap and open my email.
10:40 am The Princess is finally asleep so I can finally answer an email or two and do some online searching for a birthday gift. I've been trying to do some sewing these last few weeks, so I get out the patterns and fabric and lay out and cut out a little dress for the Princess. I sit down at the machine but realise I don't have the right colour thread for this fabric. Lay out another fabric instead. She needs a few of these dresses this summer.
11:30 The Princess wakes up, so I grab her and then tidy up the sewing stuff. She has another feed and I watch the final ep of West Wing for series 2. It all gets a bit over done in the last minutes, but is moving and compelling nonetheless. I'm sad because I don't have series 3 yet, and Christmas is a very, very long time away.
12:30 We pack ourselves up and head to the Plaza to check out a large sporting goods store for that elusive swimsuit, pay a bit off my laybys and see if I can find the thread I need. I didn't score on one and three, but did find a nice little short-sleeved cardi for a bargain. It's a lovely red, yay! Wes top at the post office on the way home to try and locate a missing parcel. No joy there either.
2:00 I put the Princess down for another nap and finish cutting out the second little dress. Time for a couple of quick emails and to do an order for some yarn I promised someone.
2:45 pm. The Princess wakes up, another feed, this time watching the first ep of season 3 of Veronica Mars. I loved seasons 1 and 2, but this first ep didn't do it for me. I'll give it a couple more eps, otherwise I may just have to buy myself an early Christmas gift.
3:30 pm Change the Princess, have a play, tidy the kitchen, start preparing dinner. Tonight its salmon and leek tart from the July issue of Super Food Ideas (not online yet, sorry!).
4:30 pm. Put her down for a nap. Check email and start blog post.
4:45 pm She's still awake
4: 55 pm Go and get Princess and go for a stroll in the garden to look at the flowers and pat the dog.
5:15 pm The boys arrive home, PJ clutching a small pink rosebud for me. He presents it to me and promptly clonks his head on the edge of the buffet in the hall. Ow. After the tears are dried, he helps me finish the dinner prep.
5:30 pm Sit down to feed the Princess. Read a book with PJ and discuss his day at the same time. Watch him empty the sand out of his shoes all over the rug.
6:10 pm Put the veggies on to steam, set the table, finish getting dinner ready. UN-level negotiations take place once we are at the table as PJ is unhappy that he doesn't have a "big piece" of the tart like Papa.
6:45 pm Last mouthful is successfully negotiated in, tantrums are averted (for a change), the table is cleared and the bath drawn. Beloved cleans up the kitchen while I undress the Princess and get her and PJ into the bath.
7:15 pm The Princess is dressed and back in the lounge with Papa and I get PJ out, dried and into his jammies. I swap kids with Beloved and give Grace her supper feed and put her down to sleep. That's the last I'll see of her until 6am. PJ on the other hand.....
7:45 pm After a couple of stories, I take PJ to brush his teeth and tuck him into bed. Beloved is making a cup of tea in the kitchen and I come in to the study to blog.....
8:45 pm PJ is still awake and calling out. I've finished this post and my cup of tea, Beloved is talking on the phone and I'm about to hit "publish", go and make another cup of tea and hit the couch with my knitting.
Today was a fairly quiet day by general standards: no lunch dates or other sppointments, no real errands to do, PJ was fairly balanced - trying but at least no real tanties - and the Princess was happy and playful. I'm pretty tired, but it's all good. No major failures of parenting today, always a bonus.
He's still awake. Do you happen to know any gypsies who are looking for a child to buy??
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And don't forget the Word for tomorrow is pilgrimage
8 comments:
I really loved reading your post (in fact, I felt exhausted reading it- you forget just how bitty and busy and endless a day with an infant is). It's amazing how much you can fit into a day when you start the day at 3:10am!
Your post is wearily familiar. It has me thinking, what have I gone and gotten myself into? I remember those days when the boys had to get down for sleep at the exact same time, in different rooms, one with stories and one nursing, and when Chris was traveling it was absolutely impossible to split myself in two. And he's not even here for breakfast and my shower time! (He leaves early so he's home by 6 pm.) Hmm, it's probably too late for me to reconsider now, isn't it? :)
Phew. It makes your days sound very long. I feel tired.
Do you reckon the gypsies would sort him out?
for someone who is worried about not achieving much you sure get through a lot! how much do you want for him?
I'm exhausted already! and I still haven't posted my day in the life...might have to wait until lunch time.
I forgot (again) about the 14th. I love reading how people spend their days. Sometimes it makes me glad I have the day that I do and sometimes it makes me wistful. Yours made me wistful. I remember having little ones running around. Now I am forever running around asking "who's home for dinner"?
What a fantastic post - thanks for sharing your day in such great detail. We have one DD and she's getting married in January - she can look forward to that scenario; I can hold back the tears as I think of her not being here anymore! :-(
Why is this eerily familiar?
Eerie. deja vu. I am so tired!
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