(Work) Day in the Life - Spring 13'

I thought it would be fun to do a whole Week in the Life but I just didn't have the ambition to follow through with it. I did decide to do a stay at home day and a work day. You can read about our stay at home day I documented here. I work for a non-profit 24 hours a week. So far, it's working out great. Some weeks are busier than others but I love the flexibility! It seemed like our stay at home day on Monday was so smooth & easy so this one seems a bit more realistic :)

Wednesday, April 24
Charlie - a young 3 | Levi - 14 months

Sometime around 4am Charlie is coughing quite a bit. Erik went up to check on him and he was fine but a few minutes later he was crying, so I went to check on him & he had wet the bed. This is the second night in a row he has done this (last night he didn't wake up though) and probably the fourth time he has ever done it.  I take him to the bathroom & get some clean clothes for him. He tells me that it's still dark out so he has to put pajamas on again. Duh, mom. He is pretty upset when I tell him his blankies are all wet and he can't go back to sleep with them. I really want to strip the bedding right away but our washer is in the upstairs bathroom & when it spins it is so loud and I don't want to wake up Levi. Charlie comes down & lays with us and falls back to sleep.

At 6:20 he wakes up & instead of telling me he's awake, he just flops around and kicks all over, which is exactly why he sleeps in his own bed! Levi is awake too, so we get him out of the crib. He is not in a good mood. We get the sheets off of the bed & take everything in to start the washer. We won't be able to go to daycare and such until the blankies are clean. Now that it is light out, we can put on real clothes. Charlie picks out his clothes & gets dressed and then changes the day on his calendar (again, I got the idea from here) & we are excited to see the SUN again!! We play for a bit until Levi starts trying to rip all of the things off of the calendar. It's hard to have something at Charlie's level where he can access it but yet high enough where Levi can't destroy it.

Once downstairs, Levi is a hot mess. I change his diaper & he continues to cry while I get him some milk. Erik has his overnight bag ready to go and tells us he will see us later...maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow night, maybe Friday night...so who really knows? He's got meetings for sure today and will maybe get something lined up in SD for tomorrow as the day progresses. Luckily, we are pretty go with the flow & used to it. Charlie wants "sandwich" for breakfast but decides that pancakes & blueberries will work. After 3 attempts to get Levi to sit in his high chair without freaking out, he finally relaxes when I give him some blueberries. He also has a banana and a pancake & seems much happier. Charlie has blueberries & pancakes too.

As Charlie goes to wash his hands, he starts stumbling around and tells me he is sleep walking like Captain Hook. He also needs "his camera" so he can take pictures. I let him have it to practice his skills.

Possible finger over the flash/finger prints on lens.

 

The washer is done so we throw the blankies in the drier & get Levi dressed. Charlie wants me to spin in circles with him but after about 5 turns I think I'm going to pass out.  Levi's mood is starting to improve but he still requires to be held 100% of the time. Charlie wants to watch Jake (shocker) and I tell him he can so I can get ready. I get ready & I convince Charlie to take a break from Jake & brush his teeth. Then I start getting ready for us to leave for the day. I get my lunch (leftover pork roast, potatoes & beans) ready and pack some stuff for the boys to eat for supper since Charlie has "jumping" tonight. I also put diapers in the diaper bag, get the clean blankies & fill up my water. I bring a jug of water every day because there is no water source besides the bathroom sink in the whole building. With only 3 people in my office all working part time, we have a water cooler for when we have guests come in but I would rather bring free water than pay for the big jugs of water. It's a hassle but it's an easy way to make sure I drink water too.

Having a rough morning.

I know chances are slim to none we will be allowed to leave before the episode of Jake is over so I get Levi ready & haul everything out to the car. I notice Levi's car seat is FILLED with Cheerios & take the opportunity to clean them out....2 big hand fulls. Meanwhile, Daisy (dog) is all up in Levi's business and he does not appreciate it. I guess if a furry, slobbering creature that weighed 3x as much as me was trying to lick my face I would be mad too. Charlie starts yelling that Patty (cat) came in the house since I left the door open. I get Levi strapped in & go back to get Charlie who is now on the stairs with Patty. Thankfully, Jake is  done too so we are now allowed to leave. I take Patty back out & put Charlie in the car and we take off for daycare. Levi only takes off his shoes & hat on the ride in today. Charlie quotes Jake the entire way & then gives me a lesson in water towers. Levi's mood seems to take a drastic change the moment we walk in the door. Apparently he was just ready to play! They take off & I scoot on over to work, arriving right at 9am. Normally, I shoot for 8-8:30 but our office hours begin at 9 so I am ok.

Not helping

"But Jake is on!"

NOT an indoor cat....

Since it's my first day in the office this week I spend the next few hours returning phone calls, emails, helping people that come in to the office as I am the only one in, etc. I also spend time working on grant applications & figuring out expenses on another grant...so basically, staring at invoices for lumber and trying to decipher it.

After eating my lunch, I head outside to take a little stroll around town since the sun is actually shining. It's a little windy but I will not complain. I get back to work and have to run something to the bank down the street. On my way back, I pop into a little consignment shop next door because I have heard they have nice stuff but have never been in there. I end up finding 2 pairs of pants from the Gap & ask the lady if I can come back at the end of the day and pay for them. Then I finish up my work day, leaving at exactly 4:30 because I left some messages telling people I would be in the office until that time. Of course, I find out the next day that they conveniently returned my calls at 4:35...I stop next door and pick up my impulse purchases and head for home. I stop at KT to pick up bananas & milk (so much cheaper than anywhere else!). You know you are in a small town when the cashier intercoms a customer by his first name at the fuel bay to say he thinks he short changed him on his lotto tickets.



dirty snow piles are gross

Erik had called earlier to let me know he didn't get any other appointments set so he was on his way home so I swing in and pick him up to go get the boys. Daycare reports that all of the kids were WILD today and that she had to have all of them take a break. Charlie tells me he was jumping too much (she said the bigger kids were all ramming into each other). Levi was just his usual crazy self getting into everything & not letting anybody push him around. Charlie is sensitive and gets upset or his feelings hurt easily; Levi gets even. When we're leaving, Levi starts saying "bye bye" to Cheri which is the first I've heard him say it.

I signed Charlie up for toddler tumbling or as he likes to call it, jumping. It's not exactly what I envisioned but he seems to enjoy it. The class is just one night a week for 4 weeks so this is the last one. The first week he didn't participate much but now he runs around and loves it. He's the oldest in the bunch (and the only boy) and he's very patient, always letting the little girls go first. He eats his sandwich I made for him in the car on the way to the school. Once we get inside, him & Erik go in while I visit with a few former students hanging out & Levi inhales the yogurt I brought for him. In the gym, they pretty much just spend a few minutes rotating through stations starting with the beam, the bars, a spring board and then they end with the trampoline, which is his favorite. They don't practice somersaults tonight. Levi crawls around and climbs on and off the mats.

Future Olympian?

We get done at 6 and head home, it's now snowing out again. When we get home Charlie & Erik have leftovers & Levi has a veggie muffin & strawberries I had gotten out to bring to the school for his supper. Originally, I had planned on picking them up and having a little picnic lunch at school before jumping so I wouldn't have to make supper alone when we got home. While they are eating I make Charlie's bed, take care of the diapers from daycare, and bring down pajamas for everyone. Erik unloads the dishwasher & cleans up the mess from supper.

I feed Levi and put him to bed around 7:15, a little later than normal. Charlie does his puzzles & they build towers with blocks. Around 7:45 I take him to bed and we read stories. He's really getting crazy tonight by switching it up. He pulls out this huge book of farm stories and I'm impressed when he settles with just reading one story out of there. We read 3 other books (2 are the usual, the other is a new one he got from a library event the day before) and he gets mad because I won't read them again. I distract him by having him go to the bathroom but those little 3 year old minds don't forget anything so he keeps bugging me about reading "Thump" again. Finally I win this round and he goes to bed with no problems.

I get done just in time to catch Law & Order. I spend the next hour texting some of my sorority friends about the funny stereotypical sorority/fraternity stuff on the show (pledging, circling the fat, etc). I decide not to eat leftovers and instead make a nutritious supper of pizza pockets. Then, I complain to Erik about how I always burn my mouth when I eat pizza pockets. It is just impossible to give them an extra 2 minutes to cool off. After Law & Order we realize that Chicago Fire is a re-run so we decide to call it a night. I start reading some smutty book I downloaded for $0.99 and it's kind of a snore so I'm sleeping quite quickly.

Another good day where Charlie managed to keep a level head for the most part and not lose his mind over something ridiculous. Since both days that I documented were relatively drama free I feel that I should make a disclaimer that don't worry, we definitely have days where he is a total mess, I'm hoping that the actual arrival of spring & being able to get outside will help make those days fewer & far between.