Hellobee

On June 1st, I started back to work full time, in a new position that requires more time and travelling than I’m used to. Since Mr. O started back to school in November, he’s now at home with the kids Monday to Friday. He and I have much different approaches to our stay-at-home days, so I thought I’d have him explain a typical weekday in the Oatmeal household. Little Oats is almost 3 (August), and Baby Oats is 9.5 months.

5:30am: My alarm goes off. If I don’t hit the snooze button, I get up and go downstairs. It’s my chance to drink coffee, read my Bible and do some homework before the kids (and Mrs. Oatmeal) wake up.

6:15am: Baby Oats wakes up and that’s my 10 minute warning to finish up, while Mrs. Oatmeal nurses him.

6:30am: Baby Oats and Little Oats come downstairs, and I change their diapers, make breakfast, and watch a few minutes of TV. This morning, Little Oats asks for cinnamon toast, and I toss some grapes on her plate as well. Baby Oats eats oatmeal with PB2 (an awesome powdered peanut butter with lots of protein and very little sugar). I make scrambled eggs for myself, and both kids are little vultures circling my plate. Luckily I made an extra egg in anticipation.

7:15am: Mrs. Oatmeal is ready for work, so I either eat my breakfast and catch up on social media, or take a shower before she leaves.

8:00am: Baby Oats goes down for a nap. Usually, Little Oats and I will pick a project – unstacking the dishwasher, folding the laundry, tidying the kitchen or building puzzles. Lately she’s been on a card-making kick, so we pull out the stickers and make cards for people. She calls all cards “Valentines,” so we make one for Mrs. O and put it on her pillow.

9:30am: I like to have a plan to get out of the house each day. While Baby Oats slowly wakes up, I pack the diaper bag with snacks, extra clothes, diapers and wet bags, and tons of wipes to be prepared. Today we are going to meet some friends at the park, so I also pack the Tula carrier and Little Oats’ sunscreen.

10:00am – 12:00pm: We walk to the park nearby. These two hours are filled with countless requests for pushes on the blue swing (Little Oats), and signed demands for more snacks (Baby Oats). This park is great because all of the equipment is within eyesight of some grass and benches, so I can hang out with Baby Oats and a friend of ours while Little Oats tires herself out.

12:30pm: Once we are back from the park, it’s lunchtime. Little Oats loves noodles, tuna sandwiches, grilled cheese or hummus and veggies. Baby Oats eats whatever pureed food I have on hand, plus bites of my lunch, and then his bottle. Today, I mix up a can of tuna for Little Oats and me to share, with carrots, cucumber and peppers to dip. Baby Oats eats some sweet potatoes that Mrs. O roasted and mashed. When he is done, I put him on the floor to play while I try to get Little Oats to nap. Bedtime routine for Little Oats is complicated these days. She likes a few books, then she will use the potty, then we decide if she is going to sleep in her bed or in her play tent on the floor. Either choice involves lining up all 40+ of her stuffed buddies, tucking her in with blankets, and telling her a story. Then she needs her water bottle and a snack (even though she just ate lunch). She falls asleep about half of the time, and the other half she plays quietly. Her GroClock is set to turn yellow (meaning she can get up) at 2:30, and if she sleeps I make sure she is awake by 3:30 or else she won’t go to bed at night.

1:15pm: By this point, Little Oats is settled in her room, and I can give Baby Oats his bottle in the rocking chair in his room. I put on his sleep sack when he is done, and put him in his crib. His white noise is on and I make sure he can reach his pacifier if he wants it. I leave, and he babbles a bit before falling to sleep.

1:30pm: Little Oats is in her room (she sleeps 50% of the days), and Baby Oats is asleep in his crib. I clean up the disaster that has somehow appeared in the house since we’ve been home. I make coffee, and either tackle a household job or work on my schoolwork.

2:45pm: Little Oats didn’t sleep today, and she notices that her GroClock is yellow so she comes downstairs. Her loud singing wakes her brother, so I bring him downstairs too. We have a snack (watermelon for both kids, and a handful of kamut puffs for Baby Oats), and then choose our afternoon activity. Sometimes we play in the basement, or outside with bikes and sidewalk chalk. If we stayed home in the morning, we’ll try to go out now. Yesterday we went grocery shopping in the afternoon. Today, the kids seem content to play around the house. I stuff the inserts in our cloth diapers while they pull all of the plastic food out of the play kitchen.

4:15pm: I start dinner if I haven’t already put something in the crockpot. Now that it’s summer, nearly everything goes on the barbecue. I cut up vegetables and potatoes for the grill basket, but won’t turn on the grill until Mrs. O gets home. We have burgers in the freezer that I’ll grill with the veggies.

5:00pm: Mrs. O gets home and I finish dinner while she nurses Baby Oats and snuggles the kids.

5:30pm: We all eat dinner together, and Little Oats tells us all about the (real or imagined) adventures she had that day. Apparently today I took them to the aquarium and she got to swim with a shark. She also met Dora the Explorer and Baby Oats went fishing. Her imagination is awesome.

6:00pm: I tidy up some of the dinner dishes, then retreat to the basement for a few solid hours of school work. Mrs. O does bath and bed for the kids, tidies up or washes cloth diapers, then usually bakes or blogs. Since we washed diapers last night, she is getting a jump start on a cupcake order she has for the weekend. By 10:00, I’m exhausted, so I come upstairs and watch some TV before bed. Usually I’m asleep by 11:00pm.

Weekends are slightly different for us; Mr. O does an 8-hour day of school work on Saturday, and Sundays are for family time. It’s a really crazy season in our lives, but we know it’s only temporary. And I love that Mr. O is able to spend this time at home with the kids.