A Typical Day

6:30 - My alarm goes off. I hit snooze.

6:35 - I wake up (sorta) and read scriptures for as long as I can keep my eyes open.*

6:50 - I try to get a few more minutes of sleep in.

7:00 - Ace wakes up, here follows a flurry of diaper changing, panty put on-ing, and usually at least one bed that needs to be changed. My kids sleep for 13 hours, I'd like to see you go that long without leaking through your diaper/Pull-Up!

7:05 - Miss E asks to watch Sleeping Beauty, if she can have milk, if she can eat Cheerios dry in a bowl while watching Sleeping Beauty, where we are going today, if she can wear all ten of her Halloween rings to the store, and can she have her milk in a princess sippy cup. This intense level of communication continues unabated all day.

7:15 - Ace attacks my back in his signature "Hug Mama From Behind While She's Crouching." The first few back hugs really caught me off guard!

8:30 - Kids have eaten and are settled down with Dinosaur Train or Super Why or Insert Your Favorite PBS Show Here. (Recently though it's been All Sleeping Beauty, All the Time.) I hate soggy cereal, so I just don't even try to eat until the kids are done.

9:00 - I think about getting dressed. Decide to do the crossword instead.

9:30 - If it's sunny, I go on a long walk. I have a route, 2.75 miles. It takes me right past the movie store and bank, so it's multitasking.

If it's not sunny, I make up an errand or go to the library. I say make up an errand because the kids get rawther bored if we stay home all day. And yes, Miss E wears all ten of her Halloween rings (skulls & bats, thanks dollar store!) to the grocery store. Ace brings a small jar of PowerBait. I cannot explain his attachment to small jars of PowerBait, but he really truly loves them.

11:00 - Wish I had gotten dressed earlier, and therefore out of the house earlier, and therefore wasn't still out when Ace is STARVING for lunch because oh my gosh the boy cannot handle discomfort. Even if he is watching you make food, he will fuss for it.

11:15 - Arrive home and start lunch.

11:17 - Realize Ace left his PowerBait in the special car-shaped shopping cart. Realize that Dh is not going to be thrilled that I left his $5 jar of stinky fish bait at the store.

12:00 - Ace goes down for his nap.

12:15 - Miss E dawdles her way through naptime routine.

Blissful, blissful coinciding naptimes.

2:00 - Ace wakes up. Discover that Miss E pooped in her Pull-Up and therefore did not nap at all, but rather played so quietly I just thought she was asleep. (I've told her many times to just let me know when she poops, but I guess I shall tell her many times more.)

2:30 - Watch beaming as children play nicely together.

2:33 - Tell Miss E to stop choking Ace with the tape measure.

2:37 - Tell Miss E to stop stealing Ace's toys.

2:39 - Put Ace in time-out for hitting.

2:45 - Put Miss E in time-out for hitting.

2:50 - Take advantage of kids temporarily playing nicely again by reading novel.

3:00 - Watch kid videos on laptop with kids draped on me.

3:20 - Try to fix keyboard settings which Ace managed to change when I wasn't looking. How does he always randomly hit the shortcut keys??????????????????

4:00 - Start dinner prep.

5:00 - Eat dinner. Remain calm as Miss E tells me she doesn't like soup (it's chicken pot pie). Watch in wonder as Miss E actually eats dinner. Pretend I don't notice that Ace is carefully scooping his dinner into the cup holder on his tray and not eating a bit.

5:10 - Daddy gets home. Greet him at door with kiss. (That happens on the good days.)

5:20 - Get Ace ready for bed. Have I told you how much I love that my son goes to bed at 5:30?

5:31 - Inform Dh that overpriced PowerBait was sacrificed to the grocery store gods. Inexplicably, Dh does not find this amusing.

6:10 - Miss E has meltdown and I remember she missed her nap. Dh and I put her to bed twenty minutes early.


It was a good day.


*God had to pretty much hit me over the head with the whole "scripture reading" thing. I really need it to make it through the day successfully. I have to wake up and read before my kids wake up, otherwise it just doesn't happen. I have been such a happier, calmer person since I started doing this. It's amazing (and also a bit pathetic that it took me so long to start).