Step Into My Thimble

For the third time, I attempt to document a full day of motherhood.

As a testament to how things have changed, this year I… 1) Remembered to do this nearly a month later than I had done it last year (which was on the same day I did it the first year); 2) Sent my kid to day care and went to work for a large part of the day; and 3) Didn’t even bother trying to take notes all day.

7:10 a.m. Wake up. This is much later than the usual time of 5:30-6, and I am grateful. This year finds me waking up in Maeve’s bed, a full-size we got for her 2nd birthday in April, and last night I was in my own until about 12:30. Progress is very slow on this front, but in recent weeks it has been much better.

7:15 Take Maeve downstairs. Invoke Horrible Mothering Skills: get ziplock bag of Os (less spillable than a bowl), place kid and cereal in rocking chair, and turn on the benign “Baby Pro Splash” on On Demand Studio 4 Kids channel. Go take a shower.

7:25 Get dressed, fix hair, brush teeth, make lunch, etc.

7:45 “Baby Pro Splash” is done. Dress Maeve while she attempts to hold balloons (her “baby balloons” that she puts to bed at night etc.).

7:55 Out the door. Linger to chat with “teachers” at day care for a while.

8:30 Get to work. What I did at work isn’t important, but it was kind of a fun day. I got trained at the Circulation Desk so I can cover someone’s vacation hours later this week, and I messed around with some new software in the Archives (PastPerfect for you library types).

4:15 Go get Maeve. She is rolling around in the sandbox as usual, guaranteeing shoeloads, pocketloads, and diaperloads of sand will be coming home with us. However, she is not covered in food or art supplies, which is kind of nice for a change. According to the rather stoic afternoon “teacher” it was an uneventful day.

4:45 Get home. Sit down and nurse for the first time all day, only because she seems to need it. Otherwise it would only be happening at bedtime.

5:00 Start making grilled cheese sandwiches. We have some delicious white cheddar and oatmeal bread from our local bakery. Rodney comes home from work on his bike.

5:10 Eat dinner. Rodney makes us smoothies for dessert, a nice surprise.

5:35 Go out in back yard. Park Maeve in baby swing. Rodney helps me move the picnic table and start the lawn mower, then he leaves for his evening Statistics class. I mow lawn.

6:00 Take Maeve inside, change diaper, and grab purse. Go to Meijer to buy 5′ stakes to make supports for the snap peas in the garden, plus another tomato cage, some herbs and some marigolds for pots in the back yard.

7:00 Come home. Maeve and I feed the cat–a lengthy ritual involving one kibble at a time. Have a snack of raisins. Look at books and play with “baby balloons” some more. They wanted to go to sleep, but they didn’t like sleeping in the cat’s bed, so we put them to bed on the couch. The orange one popped. We needed to put it in the garbage.

8:00 Maeve has now reminded me that “the orange one popped” 5,000 times. We go upstairs to brush teeth. Usually by now she’s more than ready for bed, but she seems unusually wound up. Theories based on past experience: either her nap at day care was longer than normal (more than 1.25 hours), or she needs to poop still.

8:10 A certain odor tells me that theory #2 applies tonight. We take care of it, and switch from pajamas with shorts to long pants because it feels chilly, and Maeve hates blankets.

8:20 Lie down to nurse to sleep.

8:40 No success. Daddy will be home in five minutes; decide to let him try his story time magic.

8:45 Daddy comes in. I make Maeve say “Daddy, I need stories please!” from the top of the stairs, then “Daddy, I love you!” “Daddy, I need hugs!” “Daddy, I need kisses!” so of course, he can’t resist the late story time.

9:30 Nurse to sleep again, after debating over whose pillow is which, which color blanket is OK and which is not (tonight white and green are OK, pink and flowers are not). While trying to forget that the nursing is taking too long & getting annoying, remember that the last two years I did a “day in the life” post, and realize I’m probably way past the date I did those two. She finally falls asleep at 9:40.

10:00 Write this blog post. After it’s published, I plan to grab one of my backlog New Yorker issues and climb into my own bed. Tomorrow is a day off work, yeah!!

Some follow-ups to the previous years:
Since we got Maeve her own bed instead of having her sleep with us, at least Rodney is sleeping better. I am too, as long as I force myself to go to bed around 9:00. It’s still a struggle to get over my own night-owl tendencies, but consistent 5:30 wakeups have made me change, especially when I have to be functional at my job.

And in general, I have shifted to a life with a lot less daily goals, although I still have too many. Rodney maybe has more, since he’s taking all the prerequisites that he needs to get into Physician Assistant school now, and getting lots more exercise (lost 25-30 pounds this year & looking great!). He doesn’t take the call at work so much any more though. The money was helpful, but it’s nice to have him on a more predictable schedule.