A Day in the Life

Call me crazy. Whoa, whoa, ok. I didn't expect so many of you to jump on that bandwagon. Crazy or not, I decided that it might be fun? No, interesting? No...um, enlightening? Maybe that's the word I'm looking for....to take an entire day in our life and document it. A Blogumentary. Exactly as it happens. And really, this is for selfish reasons. It's all for me. Because I thought that it would be really interesting two years, or five years, or 30 minutes from now, when I've forgotten what days can be like with a four year old and a one year old. I imagine how much fun Ansley and Christian will have when they get older and can read about an exact day with their mom, and what we did and what they said and how it went. Also sometimes at the end of my day, it's hard to remember if I've done anything. Now I'll have proof. So, Ansley and Christian, this is for you! But for the rest of you out there, maybe you can relate, or maybe you can laugh at shared experiences being a mom, or maybe you can see how much more you get done in a day than I do, or maybe you don't care anything about our day. In which case, come back tomorrow.

8:15 - Wake up. But only because Ansley bounces in the room to ask me a question. I start my morning discussing how God makes people, where Jesus lives, why we can't see Jesus, and what Heaven is like.

8:22 - I get in the shower. Ansley is reading some books. Or watching tv. Those are the same, right?

8:30 - Get out of shower. Turn off the tv. I mean, close the books. Ask Ansley to get dressed and brush her teeth. Get ready myself.

8:40 - I'm putting on my clothes. Ansley comes in with a dress she wore 3 days last week that I had put in the dirty hamper (it got macaroni and cheese on it). I tell her it's dirty and she must change. She loves this dress, so she complains. Argues? Wails? Sometimes the line is so foggy.

8:44 - I'm ready. Ansley has changed. I make our bed, open the blinds and curtains, and put the dirty clothes in the hamper. I like our room so much better when it's neat. Ansley's hair is fixed and her teeth are brushed. (as are mine, in case you were wondering). Ansley helps me with these tasks, which is nice. The cleaning tasks, not the brushing my teeth part.

9:07 - We go downstairs for breakfast. This morning when I ask Ansley what she wants, she says "I don't know. You just pick out whatever I want." Makes me laugh when she confuses pronouns like that. So she decides on Cheerios.

Ansley watches Noggin while eating her Cheerios. I grab a breakfast bar and check email.

9:15 - I put some water on the stove and decide which kind of tea I want. There are so many choices. I'm thirsty. Milk will not do.

9:20 - Download "Every Day" by Rascal Flatts to my ipod.

9:22 - Get Ansley more Cheerios. Get some tea. Ahhhhhhh. Rest for my weary soul. Oh, wait, it's only 9 am!

9:30 - Ansley wants to play on the deck. So we turn the tv off and I go out with my tea and we bask in the sun. We watch birds and talk about where the birds are going and why cats like sunshine so much. (Kota is out with us.)

9:45 - I hear Christian talking, so I go get him, change his diaper and get him dressed. When I walk in his room, he is babbling and telling me "Book!" We come downstairs and I make him breakfast. Before I can get it started, he sees a banana and wants that.

10:04 - My Mom calls. We chat and laugh and chat some more.

10:15 - Clean Christian up from breakfast. Wipe his hands and face, and let him down from his high chair. I put the dishes in the sink and the breakfast items away.

10:20 - Head upstairs to the playroom.

10:21 But not before Christian stats shrieking over the fact that I AM NOT CARRYING HIM EVERYWHERE I GO.

10:22 - Distractions in the playroom. I love our playroom. We play Hullabaloo, Little People, puzzles, cars, balls.

10:57 - But then Ansley gets a time out for not listening.

10:58 - And then decides to scream and pound on the wall. She is sent to her room to calm down.

11:00 - Christian and I play airplane while he giggles with delight. This makes Ansley even more mad, to hear that we are having fun while she isn't there. Commence screaming.

11:13 - I email John to see if he might want to rescue meet for lunch before I go crazy. Oh, the screaming! While I'm emailing, Christian starts crying again because I AM NOT CARRYING HIM. Oh, I'm such a mean mother, making him WALK everywhere!

11:15 - Ansley has calmed down and returns to civilized life. We talk about expectations, disrespect and obedience. We both pray aloud for patience (me) and obedience (her).

11:16 - Christian stops crying.

11:22 - John emails back saying he can't meet for lunch.

11:29 - We sit down for some craft/art/project time. Ansley loves to paint and draw and Christian loves to throw pipe cleaners all over the room.

11:31 - Christian is screaming again. I'm not sure why.

11:35 - There is a mess on the table. Christian is still crying. Ansley is complaining about Christian. Christian is crying because Ansley is telling him sharply 'No!' Ansley tells me "He's bugging me Mom!" to which Christian replies with "WAHHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGH!"

11:36 - We leave the mess. We go for a walk. Fresh air is always good for what ails you.

11:56 - We return home. My Fresh Air Plan failed miserably. One of Ansley's training wheels was loose, making her bike a little unstable, which made her nervous. (Make mental note to ask John to fix it.) After some talking and convincing, Ansley gets back on the bike. About halfway into our walk, she says she's done with her bike and wants to walk. And we all know what that means: now Mom has to push Christian in his car as well as lug a bike back to the house. So I say that we'll just go back to the house if she doesn't want to ride her bike. Ansley wails. And then proceeds to literally scream the entire way home. I send her to her room. Again.

11:58 - Christian plays with pipe cleaners. I listen to "You're Gonna Miss This", hoping it will inspire me with renewed energy.

I wonder why my kids are acting so terribly today. Is it because I decided to document our whole day, today of all days? They normally are much better than this. Am I acting different? No. Are they sick? No. Are they tired? Possibly.

12 noon - Is it really just noon? The crying turns to soft sobs in Ansley's room. I go upstairs to talk to her.

12:15 - Finish discussion with Ans while Christian cries. Why? Everybody say it with me: because I'M NOT HOLDING HIM. Ansley says she's tired today and she wants her baba back (oh, did I forget to mention that? It was taken away earlier that morning).

We read books together in Ansley's bed. Amazingly, no one is crying.

12:20 - Until now. Christian's crying because he decides he wants the book instead of me reading it. On a whim, I feel inside his mouth. I feel a tooth coming. Duh. Could that be why he is SO RIDICULOUSLY GRUMPY?

We keep reading, while Christian climbs all over me and grabs the books. Oh, and cries.

12:40 - We come downstairs and I start to fix lunch. We have hotdogs leftover from the weekend with fruit and chips and carrots and Ranch. While the dogs are cooking, I play "Last Dollar" by Tim McGraw and the kids dance. Ansley loves when he says "Ha-ha-ha-ha. Ha-ha-ha-ha."

John calls. We talk for a minute. Nobody is screaming. We call this conversation a success.

1:07 - We sit down for lunch. While we're eating, a bird comes to the feeder and Ansley yells "Look everybody! A common grackle!" Makes me smile.

1:21 - We finish lunch. Well, Ansley and I are finished. Christian takes a little longer. I ask Ansley to clean up the mess from earlier. For the first time I can recall she doesn't say "but Christian helped me make it!" Off in the distance, I hear angels sing.

I see a few more (craft) pom poms on the floor and say "There are some more pom poms here" to which Ansley says "What? PopPop can hear me?"

Christian is still eating.

I sweep the floor.

1:30 - I get Christian down from his highchair, and we go upstairs to the playroom. We pick out some more books (my kids love books! One for reading them, one for eating them, but still, they love 'em.)

1:50 - I administer Tylenol to Christian. I change his diaper, rock him briefly, and put him in his crib.

2:00 - I set Ansley's timer for Quiet Time (An hour and a half.)

2:01 - I clean Kota's litter box, then head downstairs.

2:02 - I unload dishwasher, then load the breakfast and lunch dishes in it. Clean up from lunch.

What's that sound? Oh, silence. I didn't recognize it.

2:22 - I walk outside to get the mail. I straighten up the family room.

2:35 - I sit down at the computer to update my blog.

To be continued.....

Comments

[Christina]

Megan... I may have to copy this blog idea! The only thing you omitted was how you recorded each activity -- I mean, I could never have remembered the times or activities 10 minutes from their happenings. Please share ;)
Okay... so I have tears in my eyes from this post from laughing so hard. It is reassuring to hear the happenings of others in their days are not unlike mine. I am impressed that you at least manage to shower and dress before going downstairs for breakfast!! Maybe my days would go better if I started them that way...

Oh... and SOOO relate to absurdly grumpy teether ;)

[Christina]

oh... just checking out your 366... so sad about Avery, I know it must be hard for him and you, especially you -- taking care of him all this time. Poor thing.

just had to comment on the book fair too -- We have borrowed "Diary of a Worm" from the library a few times. I think it is hilarious. The first time I took it out, Alex kept calling it "Diarrhea worm" and -- that was a word he knew, unlike Diary. He couldn't quite figure it out. Made me laugh, so I thought I'd share :)

[Candace]

Ooh, Megan, I have read these before and may have to try it too. But you are a much funnier writer than I am. :) I loved reading about your day...did you carry a notepad around or a laptop? Just curious, I wouldn't be able to remember more than oh, one of those at a time.

And love the bird watching! We have common grackles too! :)

[megan]

Thanks, Christina and Candace! I would encourage you both to do it on your blogs. I had so much fun doing it! I carried around a small notebook to record what we were doing during the day. So much so that Ansley said once "Mom, what ARE you writing?!" :)

[Ashley]

Whew, I'm tired. I think I'm going to take a nap...