A Day in the Life
July 14th, 2006 Caroline
I’ve been trying to figure out where my time goes. You all know this feeling — you’re up for hours, you’re working hard, you don’t seem to make much headway on the to-do list. So I thought I’d pay attention for a day; apparently others have had the same idea. So here’s the rundown of my day. I considered waiting around to log a more “typical” day–this happened to be the one day in the week that I have some time without children– but then this project would never happen. So here goes.
5 AM Eli wakes. I bring him in bed to nurse, futilely hoping he will fall asleep, but he’s not having it. We’re downstairs at 5:22. It’s dark.
Over the next three hours, I:
- Put away the barbecue tools, trying to keep Eli off the wet deck
- Feed Eli a bowl of oatmeal and myself a bowl of granola
- Let Eli play with playdoh while I put together a bag of art supplies for Ben’s preschool
- Call my mom and sister (conveniently visiting each other)—letting Eli play with Tony’s cell phone while I do (he takes a nice closeup photo of his pjs which I make Tony’s new screensaver)
- Unload the dishwasher
- Feed Eli some toast with sunflower seed butter
- Play with Eli in the play kitchen
- Let Eli help himself to a box of crackers off the pantry shelf while I check email and write a quick blog post
- Sweep up cracker crumbs
8 AM Ben wakes up (he slept in!); I fix him a bowl of cereal.
8:15 Tony gets up. I turn the boys over to him and fold 2 baskets of laundry.
8:40 Tony takes Eli upstairs for a nap; I set Ben up with an episode of Oswald. We have a brief difference of opinion about pulling feathers out of the couch cushions. He’s not convinced of my perspective.
8:45 I head out for a run.
9:20 Home, shower, get dressed (I let Ben pick out my clothes). I argue with Ben, who is dancing around the bathroom, about his need to pee, and tell him I won’t play with him until he does. I am, in no particular order, amazed at his bladder capacity (he last went before bed at 7 last night); irritated by this daily argument; frustrated with myself for not letting it go (but glad he doesn‘t let it go); and sad when he decides to play a concert on his ukuelele and I’m stubbornly not participating.
But I do get a couple emails written about my book project, so that’s good.
10:22 Ben finally pees. In the toilet, I should add. We all relax.
10:25-11 Ben plays with the photo booth function on the computer and chats with me about trains and planets while I wash dishes and caramelize onions for tonight’s dinner.
11:15 Eli wakes up (nice nap!) – and we all play.
11:30 Make lunch: sunflower seed butter sandwich for Ben, scrambled eggs for Eli, leftover pasta for me.
11:45 Lunch over, I sweep up and load the dishwasher while the boys play, then we all play together.
12:30 Tony takes Ben to school and Eli to the babysitter –this is the one afternoon a week when we’ve got both boys out of the house for 3 precious hours. I spend the first chunk of it working: I read and comment on 3 essays (2 for my writing group; 1 for my book); return several phone calls; set up a college savings plan for Eli.
2:30 Break time. I take a walk in the neighborhood to clear my head and wind up at the used clothing store; I try on and reject a pair of pants. Stop by the used bookstore looking for a copy of Mansfield Park. Strike out there, too.
3 Back home to work. I finish a draft of my next column and send it out to my writing group. I wrap a gift for Ben’s teacher and mix together pizza dough for dinner.
4:15 Tony brings the boys home from babysitting and school; Eli nurses while Ben chatters to me about his day.
4:45 Ben and I pick chard from the garden for dinner. Uncle Fun (Tony’s brother) arrives.
5 Start making pizzas. Uncle Fun keeps the boys occupied while Tony and I cook.
6 Eat dinner. Ben tells us all about the planets; Eli stuffs his face. A good time is had by all.
6:40 Take Eli up to bed. We sit in the glider and I start to read him his bedtime story. A short time later I’m startled awake by the sound of the book clattering to the floor. Eli’s still awake in my arms, but I put him in the crib and he starts to burrow into his blanket. I pat him goodnight and start to leave the room when a trumpet sound from downstairs startles us both. Ben’s saxoflute! Eli’s sitting up and crying now. We start over. Some time later we hear the saxoflute again; this time I run down the hall to holler at Ben, Tony, anyone. Eli’s wailing. We start all over again, I calm him down, get him back in the crib and pat his back until he falls asleep. For the first time in over 4 years of mothering, the crib looks really comfortable to me; I briefly consider crawling over the gate and curling up right next to him. But instead I stand there, leaning uncomfortably in; if I shift my weight Eli starts to wail again.
8:10 Sneak out of Eli’s room, give Ben a goodnight kiss, and head downstairs. I’m done.
Entry Filed under: General