Hellobee

The last time I did a “day in the life” type of post, Lil Miss Wagon was a mere infant at home with my mom and I was pumping four times a day. Now that she’s 17 months and Wagon Jr. is 4, life these days is quite different. So here’s a peek at a typical work day in my life. Reading through it might give you an idea why I’ve been a little absent from blogging lately.

6 : 0 0  a m
Wagon Sr.’s alarm goes off, but he doesn’t stir. I nudge him awake and he hits snooze. I peek at the monitor and cheer silently that both kids are still asleep. I doze off again.

6 : 1 0  a m
Alarm again. Nudge again. This time the monitor peek reveals that Lil Miss Wagon is up, but thankfully, just rolling around and not crying. I swear she has supersonic hearing and has heard W Sr.’s quiet cell phone alarm from across the hall, through our closed doors and over her humidifier white noise. I doze off again while W Sr. stumbles around getting ready for work.

6 : 2 0  a m
W Sr. heads downstairs to let the dogs out and make breakfast (scrambled eggs, sausage, and toaster waffles today) while I check my email, the weather, and a quick glance at the news on my phone. This is my morning ritual to help me wake up. I’m NOT a morning person. I drag myself to the shower.

6 : 3 5  a m
I get out of the shower and check on the monitor. W Sr. is getting LMW dressed. Usually I get her dressed and downstairs to start on breakfast, but some mornings she freaks out or W Sr. finishes prepping breakfast early so he runs up and gets her. In the meantime, W Jr. has gotten up, gone to the bathroom, dressed himself in the clothes I put out on his nightstand last night and heads downstairs to join W Sr. and LMW for breakfast. (They brush their teeth at daycare… one less thing to think about!)

After I’m finished getting ready, I wrap up things upstairs (turn off lights/nightlights/humidifiers, turn down heat, close doors, etc.) and head downstairs. The kids are finishing up their breakfast and WS is adding ice packs to the lunches we prepped last night. I throw a freezer meal that I put in the fridge to thaw last night into the slow cooker and turn it on. I tie up LMW’s hair, put on shoes, fleeces and hats, and put on my own coat and boots while WS piles up everything we need by the front door: backpacks with lunch boxes, our work bags and lunch bags, and our coffee and breakfast. The kids’ nap bags, puffy coats, snow pants, mittens, and boots (as well as extra changes of clothes) are all in their cubbies at school already, and we take them home every weekend to wash and bring back on Monday.

7 : 0 0  a m
WS and I tag team to get every thing and every body in the car. Today LMW hasn’t finished her breakfast (she just doesn’t seem interested in food this morning), so I throw the remainder in a baggie for her to munch on in the car and at daycare. WJ still has his waffle left which he takes with him as well. As we pull out of the driveway, we tick off everything on our checklist… Lunches? Blankies? Mondays are tougher since we have to remember everything to restock the cubbies. The haul for two kids in winter is just gigantic.

7 : 1 0  a m
We arrive at daycare. WS grabs LMW and a bag and heads in while I help WJ get out of the car and grab the rest of the stuff. We’ve arrived before the preschoolers head upstairs to their own rooms, so both kids head into the toddler room and sit at the table to finish their breakfasts. We hang up their bags and put their lunches in their cubbies, say our goodbyes and head out.

7 : 1 5  a m
Finally on the road. We drive in to work, sharing a breakfast sandwich (microwaved from frozen) and an iced coffee (from the keurig). The drive usually takes about 45 minutes, but the later we are running, the worse the traffic gets. I drop WS off at a subway stop near my work, park in the garage and get to work.

8 : 2 0  a m
We usually reach our desks at about the same time. We both work 8am-4pm… this morning we are both late!

1 2 : 0 0  p m
I eat my sandwich at my desk. Sometimes we pack lunches from leftovers, but last night we had kind of a spotty dinner (the kids had mac and cheese with ham and we scrounged for food after they went to bed) so WS has packed me a sandwich. Sometimes I’ll grab lunch from the cafeteria, and every now and then WS and I meet up for a lunch date. But lately we’ve been trying to spend less money, so sandwiches and cans of soup it is. At daycare, the kids are both eating leftover mac and cheese for lunch. Their snacks are applesauce pouches, cut up fruit (today it’s strawberries), and goldfish.

4 : 0 0  p m
The mad dash begins… I leave work and drive to the subway stop to pick up WS and we drive home.

5 : 0 0  p m
We arrive at daycare and pick up the kids. Sometimes it’s a struggle because neither of them want to leave! But we’re always rushing them because we’ve gotta feed them and get them into bed. Hats on, fleeces on, bags gathered, into the car.

5 : 2 0  p m
We arrive at home and unload the car of things and kids. The kids run around whining and screaming as WS struggles to get their shoes, coats, and hats off, with the dogs barking in the background as I prep dinner. It’s crazy, but honestly, I love it. I’ve missed them all day, and the second we get home I have to turn my back on them to get dinner on the table, so hearing them go crazy is actually a bit of a relief for me. I put rice from the rice cooker (made the night before) onto plates to cool with the creamy salsa chicken from the slow cooker, and throw a bag of broccoli into the microwave to steam. We ask WJ three times before he finally washes his hands and comes to the table for dinner.

5 : 3 5  p m
We all settle in to eat dinner. WJ eats very reluctantly and slowly, while LMW pops every piece of broccoli in her mouth and, while munching, screeches for more. We resort to bribes and threats with WJ (if you finish this much, you’ll get dessert… if you don’t finish, you won’t get dessert!) and give LMW a slice of cheese so we can sneak bites of chicken and rice into her mouth. We also throw her some leftover fruit from their lunches and she vacuums that down as well.

6 : 0 0  p m
I finish eating and WS continues to try and get food into the kids while I wash dishes, empty the dishwasher, clear out their lunch boxes, and start on their lunches for the next day. Today we have enough leftovers to pack for everyone’s lunch the next day, so I pack that, fill water bottles, and throw in the prepackaged snacks. Then I help WS clean up the kids, the chairs and table from dinner.

6 : 1 0  p m
Precious playtime! We look at the artwork they’ve brought home from school that day, read books, and just play. Today the kids want to play chef in the play kitchen. WJ asks four times if it’s the weekend (read: if he can watch TV). I respond “no” three times and, “I already answered, I’m not going to answer again” the fourth.

6 : 3 0  p m
I duck out early from playtime to prep bedtime. I run upstairs and turn up the heat, run LMW’s bath, and put toothpaste on her toothbrush. I go into both kids’ rooms and turn on their lamps, humidifiers, and nightlights. I lay out pajamas and tomorrow’s clothes. I change the sheet in LMW’s crib and lay out a fresh blankie (she sucks on her blankie so we give her a fresh one each night). It’s laundry night so I head downstairs with the full laundry basket (we keep ours in the hall and throw the clothes directly into it).

6 : 4 0  p m
LMW had a pretty good nap at daycare (1.5 hours) so after a little more playtime, WS heads upstairs to bathe LMW and put her to bed. WJ plays by himself while I use the stain stick on LMW’s blankies (seriously, they get so gross) and put a load of laundry in the washer. Then I play with him… tonight it’s all about his Lego Iron Man boat. He brings out the big boy toys that he doesn’t want LMW to touch after she goes to bed.

6 : 5 0  p m
WS comes downstairs after LMW is in bed, and WJ and I are preparing to head upstairs. He didn’t nap at daycare, so he needs to go to bed early and throws a fit about it. After some convincing we finally make our way upstairs, where WJ goes potty, brushes his teeth, and takes his shower. The shower is the only thing he still needs help with. Then WS takes him to his room where he gets lotion, pajamas, and usually two bedtime stories and a very specific tucking-in routine. Once his blankets are just so and his stuffed animals are lined up correctly, the very long goodnight sequence begins where he recites everything he wants to do tomorrow (play with Iron Man legos, play with his basketball net, go to school and pre-k and summer camp) and finally the door is closed.

7 : 2 0  p m
WS joins me downstairs where I’m throwing the laundry into the dryer and doing a second rinse on LMW’s blankies. We work together to clean up the last bits from dinner, start the dishwasher, and I pull the next night’s dinner out of the freezer– Beef and Mushrooms. We already have rice in the rice cooker so I don’t have to make pasta. WS lets the dogs out and feeds them.

8 : 0 0  p m
Finally on the couch to relax for a bit. The dogs need bathing, brushing, and clipping tonight, so after I clip their nails and trim their paw fur, WS bathes them in the kitchen sink and I carefully brush them out.

8 : 4 0  p m
The laundry is dry so I pull it out to fold. We watch some TV and scrounge for dessert (pudding cups and kettle corn).

9 : 3 0  p m
We start thinking about heading to bed but decide to watch one more Big Bang Theory rerun from our DVR.

1 0 : 0 0  p m
We finally head upstairs to bed. Inevitably, we end up on our phones and/or tablet, surfing Instagram or Facebook or the Hellobee boards (that’s me… I have no idea what he surfs! ESPN or tech blogs or music or whatever) before going to bed.

1 1 : 3 0  p m
LMW screams. By the time I turn on the monitor screen (approx 2 seconds after the scream starts) she is totally silent and motionless again. This happens at least twice a night, usually around 9:30pm and midnight. I go back to sleep.

1 : 0 0  a m
WJ wakes up from a nightmare and starts asking for Daddy. After talking to him a little through the monitor (love that microphone/speaker feature!) he cannot be talked off the ledge, so WS heads over to tuck him back in and bring him a cup of water. He goes back to sleep without further incident.

Five hours later, it starts all over again!