Many days, I feel like I get approximately
nothing done. By the end of the day I have a messy house
{okay, who am I kidding? the house started the day messy, too.}, often don't have dinner made, maybe got something sewn, maybe...... but so far both kiddos have survived every day of their life, with me, and I guess that's something....
My day
often sometimes starts at about 5:45am. I *try* my best to get up when Jimmy gets up for work, so that I can get my coffee made and a little bit of work done before the monsters wake up. Depending on how late we went to bed, whether or not Brendan woke up, how much work I have on my "to-do" list, etc., I may or may not actually get up at that point. If not, I get up when the first kiddo wakes up.....
{5:45am}
I wake up, often not by choice, and sometimes because B-man is awake and needing to be nursed - nurse Brendan, put him back to bed, then reluctantly head downstairs myself
{6am}
I sit down at the computer (or sewing machine) and do a bit of work
{anytime between 6:30am and 7:45am}
Colby wakes up.
{Colby's wake-up time until Brendan's wake-up time}
sometimes these two are the same time, other times B-man sleeps a bit longer than Colby... just depends - but during this time I change Colby's diaper {always poopy}, get him breakfast (usually cold cereal & a sippy cup of milk... but sometimes I get
fancy and warm up an Eggo waffle or other tasty treat... or sometimes he wants yogurt, or a granola bar) -
Oh, and most importantly, Curious George gets turned on. Colby is OBSESSED. I try to get a bit more work done - sewing, computer work, etc.
{Whenever Brendan wakes up (almost always by 8am)}
Go get Brendan, change his diaper, usually nurse him, let him play on the floor or jump in the Jumperoo
{usually around 9am or 9:30am - basically within about 90min of Brendan waking up}
Put Brendan down for a nap. This includes the same conversation between Colby and me - every.single.time - Me: "Colby, I'm going to go upstairs to put your brother down for his nap, I'll be right back, can you be safe downstairs?" Colby: "I want somefing." Me: "I thought so. What would you like?" Colby: "Hmmm... uhhhhh.... butttttttt... hmmmm.... chocolate milk!" (not always chocolate milk, and often with MANY more hmmmms and uhhhhhhs) - so I go get the thing he requests, bring it back downstairs, then head upstairs. Turn on the heater in Brendan's room, nurse Brendan, walk into his room and sing him "Itsy bitsy spider" while patting his back to burp him. Often get a spitup shower. Lay Brendan in his crib (FULLY awake - amazing!), say "night night, love you, have a good nap" - and leave the room. Most days, he's asleep within 5 minutes.
{next hour or 90 minutes or however long Brendan naps}
I work, Colby plays. Often he likes to "help" me work. Sometimes I don't work and instead play with Colby - or watch Curious George with him, or clean up our house (ha!)
{Brendan wakes up from nap}
This is usually around 11am - sometimes earlier, sometimes later. If it's about 11am, I go get B-man from his crib, change his diaper, and we come downstairs to get Colby. Then we all head upstairs to play upstairs and work on lunch. Lunch is usually simple - leftovers, or sandwiches, or crackers & cheese, or edamame (Colby loves edamame!) - Brendan also gets some lunch - some sort of mushed up deliciousness. Usually he's YELLING at me (really, he yells) as I'm stirring up his food frantically while getting everything else together. Sometimes Mum-Mums help, but not always. Often he just slams them down on the tray of his high chair
(equivalent to giving me the bird?!)
{anytime between 11:30 and 12:30}
lunchtime. We all eat. Colby doesn't usually eat tons, but sometimes he eats everything I put in front of him. He's two.
{once lunch is over}
Move all dishes to the sink
(where they will stay until.... who knows when....), wipe down both kiddos, head to the bathroom to brush our teeth (at Colby's insistence!)
{naptime routine}
Change both kiddos' diapers, then grab Colby's blanket and we all sit on the chair in Colby's room and read three books. Lately it's the same three books:
Dinosaur Dig, Mighty Machines, and One Snowy Day. In that order. Colby turns off his lamp, I set Brendan on the floor. Colby does an awesome roll / summersault off of the black chair. I pick him up and lay him in his crib - covering him in his blanket (right side up, it's a must!). I pick up Brendan, and we sing 3 songs. The same 3 songs.... always -
Itsy Bitsy Spider, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and ABC's.
Then.... I grab Brendan's sleep sack, zip him up, nurse him, and burp / sing / get spit up on / lay him in bed. Same as before.
{kiddos are usually down for nap by 1pm - but that can vary greatly.... then they usually nap for a couple hours - so we'll say 1pm - 3pm}
Kiddos nap and I frantically get some Eggo in the Oven work done. This is usually my most productive time of the day. I do my best to get as much done during this time, but find it pretty difficult (have you ever tried to squish your WHOLE workday into two hours? Oh, and by two hours I mean it could be 45 minutes, or two hours, or 3 hours, or one hour.....)
{Kiddos wake up from nap - around 3pm, sometimes earlier, sometimes later}
If Colby wakes up first, I get him (change his diaper, 90% of the time it's poopy) and let him watch
George for a bit while I squeeze in *a little bit* more work. If Brendan wakes up first, I do the same things, except he tends to just play on the floor or in the jumperro {he only gets to watch George when Colby is awake, duh!} I usually take a shower once both of them are awake and entertained. If not, I wait until Jimmy is home / we have the kids in bed.
{around 4:30pm}
Lately Brendan has needed an afternoon nap. This all depends on how long his mid-day nap was, etc., but I just let him "tell" me what he needs. If he does take a late afternoon nap, it's usually pretty short. Sometimes it's in the double stroller while I push the kiddos around the neighborhood.
{around 5:30pm}
I work on dinner. I am not a gourmet cook... and don't pretend to be. I consider it a success if something -
anything - gets made. My husband is very understanding and really,
truly, appreciates anything I can find the time / energy / desire to make. By this point, Brendan is usually yelling at me again because he's hungry. Often I end up feeding him his cereal / mush mixture while also making dinner. Often Colby chooses to stay downstairs to play / watch George / etc., but sometimes he comes upstairs with us.
{between 6pm and 6:30pm}
Jimmy gets home. We all eat dinner together.
{end of dinner until about 7:30pm}
Jimmy plays with the kiddos. I hate doing dishes, and sometimes Jimmy does them, but I also sometimes appreciate the break from the kiddos - and know that Jimmy only gets a little bit of time with them each day, so I let him play.
{7:30pm}
Bedtime routine. Jimmy and Colby brush their teeth while I'm finishing up the dishes. We all go to Colby's room. Diapers are changed, pajamas are put on (or maybe they're still on.... we often don't get out of our pj's!). I sit on the floor and nurse Brendan while Jimmy reads books to Colby in the black chair. Brendan and I usually say goodnight / goodbye around the end of
Mighty Machines. This includes a pretty set routine of kisses for the whole family, and lots of "good-night, love you, sweet dreams". I go to our room and nurse Brendan on the other side, then walk him into his room and put him in his bed. Jimmy finishes up the bedtime fun with Colby - same books, same songs as naptime.
{8pm - 10pm}
Jimmy and I hang out downstairs..... our house is great, as our main living space and my workspace / studio / etc., are in the same big room. Jimmy usually plays video games while I sew. Once I'm done sewing for the night, I bring the laptop over and sit on the couch and do computer work while we watch shows together. We shoot to go to bed by 10pm - but it's often later
(and sometimes earlier).
{10ish - 5:45ish}
shhhhh - we are all sleeping! Lately, Brendan sleeps from when we put him to bed until when we are getting up in the morning. Ah-ma-zing. Sometimes he wakes up around 3am... Colby sleeps all night, not a peep
(well, rarely a peep!)
It's a bit of a circus, and every day is different..... but it works!
Oh.... and I should mention that weekends are much different. Well, similar structure / events.... but I have an amazing husband who tends to take on most of the parenting duties on the weekend (at least the ones he can.... I am still needed for nursing!) We
try to do at least one activity as a family each day on the weekend.... but sometimes just being in the same room -
the basement, where our main living / play room and my studio are - is our "family activity". Weekends tend to be when I get most of my work done.
A little update..... I just posted this comment as a reply to a friend's comment about often thinking I must have super powers.... and thought I should add it to this post.
"Most days I feel like a "bad mom" because I feel like my kids spend too much time watching tv (Curious George) / playing independently. But then I think about days where I do NO work. Absolutely zero. And we play outside / make a mess of the basement with a box and packing peanuts / etc. And I realize life is about balance. Any one day / hour may not have that balance.... but our life does."
