A Day in the Life

I have read “day in the life” posts on other blogs and have decided to do one myself. I was hesitant to write it because it felt intrusive and too personal. But, then I realized I write an awful lot of personal things on this blog, so why not? And, I found a fellow blogger who was running a day-in-the-life post-a-thon, so what better time to give it a try? I have a link at the bottom of the page. So, here it goes!

This is a day in my life on October 12, 2016:

Participants:

Me - Mom and Foster Mom extraordinaire

Primero - teenage son, age 16
Chica Marie - Kindergartner, age 5
Love Bug - the little guy, age 2

Sometime before 6:20 am – I hear one of the cats knocking stuff down on my desk and yell for the cat to stop. Not long after this I hear one of the cats batting at my necklaces I have hanging in my room and yell at the cat to stop. Love Bug jabs both his feet between my shoulder blades.

6:20 am – My alarm sounds. It’s still dark outside. I roll over, grab my phone and hit the snooze button. I pry Love Bugs feet from under my back and close my eyes for 10 more minutes. I’m not a morning person.

6:30 am – My alarm sounds again and I repeat my previous routine, shifting Love Bug’s toes out of my kidney’s and repositioning myself for just 10 more minutes of sleep. I snuggle deeper into my covers, pondering what to wear today.

6:40 am – All out of snoozes, I turn my alarm off and drag myself out of bed. I walk into the kitchen to find a pile of dog poop and two puddles of pee on the kitchen floor. I turn the light on to clean it up. Then, I let the dogs out into the backyard, the crisp air dancing across my warm body. I use the bathroom and begin preparing my breakfast and gathering my lunch. I set out Chica Marie’s pills, get a sippy cup of juice ready for Love Bug and pour myself some coffee.

7:00 am – My alarm sounds again. It’s time to get Chica Marie out of bed. I go into her room, switch on the light and hand her the clothing I picked out last night. She says a groggy, “Good morning Mommy” and starts getting undressed. I resume eating my breakfast as Primero catches up on his social media.

7:10 am – Primero leaves for school after feeding the cats. Love Bug is now awake, demanding to watch SpongeBob on TV with his juice. I sigh, thinking he watches too much TV and drinks too much juice but those are pretty much the only things that keep us sane so I let it go. Chica Marie is now emerging from her bedroom and sitting at the table to take her pills.

7:20 am – My lunch is packed, breakfast is finished and I am now washing my face and brushing my teeth. Chica Marie joins me and I fix her hair while she brushes her teeth. I run the flat iron through my hair a few times and try to spray down the parts that are sticking out.

7:30 am – I find something to wear to work and cajole Love Bug into leaving the TV to get him ready for the day. He tries to hide from me under Chica Marie’s covers, but as always I find him and get him changed. I brush his teeth and comb his hair, then begin putting my make-up on.

7:40 am – Love Bug realizes it is getting close to go time and cannot fathom facing the day. He clings to my legs, crying for me to pick him up as I try not to stab myself in the eye with my mascara wand. I hand him his juice and tell him to watch TV with his sister.

8:00 am – My alarm reminds me we are running late and I yell to Chica Marie, “it’s time to go!” setting off wails of protest from Love Bug as I squirt a few drops of perfume on my neck and wrists, grab my phone and purse and head for the door.

8:01 am – Love Bug refuses to leave the house. As I holler for him to move, Chica Marie holds the front door open. I tell her to get in the car since I already opened the doors. I grab my work bag, purse and water and head for the car, calling to Love Bug I would be back for him. Prancer, the smaller dog, decides she wants to join the commotion and takes advantage of Chica Marie holding the door open. Prancer jumps in the van, expecting to go along with us. Her diversion distracts Love Bug who walks to the car with his sister and climbs in eagerly. I tug him into his seat and he babbles about the dog and asks me to turn the music up, please. I gingerly reach for the dog, knowing she tends to pee when you grab at her, and she tinkles on the notebook I used when I met with Primero’s school a few weeks ago. I carry the dog back into the house and grab a paper towel to soak up the pee.

8:07 am – There is no parking at our usual place, so I drive a little further and then park to walk Chica Marie to school. Love Bug walks with her, holding her hand. He says good-bye to her and then says good-bye to me, attempting to enter the building with his sister. I tell him he can’t go with her and he asks to be picked up. I carry him back to the car, strap him in and head out.

8:11 am – We are sitting at a red light and the van starts shuddering, then shuts off. It takes me 3 tries and several minutes to get it re-started. I worry what this means and vow to check the oil when I get home tonight.

8:19 am – We arrive at daycare. I walk Love Bug inside and worry if the van will start when I head back outside. Love Bug hands me his sippy cup and joins the other kids for breakfast. I say good morning and good bye to the staff, check the kids in with the finger scanner, and get back into the van. Luckily, it starts with no problem and I head the short distance to work.

8:28 am – I walk into work, greeted by the substitute security guard who likes to chit-chat. Fortunately, we don’t have a full staff meeting this morning, since I would be late. The morning passes by slowly, but eventually it is lunchtime.

12:05 pm – I sit outside for my lunch. My lunch buddy took a new job last month and so I’m on my own for lunches. I spend the time checking my Facebook, texting potential mates on the online dating app, and enjoying the peace and quiet. Too soon my 30 minutes are up and I head back inside for the afternoon orientation.

3:45 pm – I needed an afternoon pick-me-up and since our office is next to a Dollar General, I walked next door for a Reece’s Peanut butter cup. I mean, I need sweets like I need a hole in my head, but I don’t get enough sleep and chocolate helps to keep me from face-planting into my keyboard.

4:00 pm – Primero calls to inform me his bedroom is still infested with fleas. He also wanted to go over to a friend’s house but I reminded him Love Bug’s speech therapist was coming over and I wouldn’t be available to run him anywhere until it was too late in the evening.

4:30 pm – I leave work, remembering the car incident from this morning and worry about the van starting. It starts with no problem. I drive the short drive to pick up the kids. I get Chica Marie first, saving my arms and back from carrying Love Bug up the steps to get her. While talking to her teacher, she sneaks out behind me. When I turn to get her I see her tugging Love Bug up the last two steps into the school-age room. Love Bug gives the teacher a good-bye hug and we start back down the stairs, Love Bug reaching for my hand. I hobble down the steps, bent over holding Love Bug’s hand and telling Chica Marie to go slower. We pile into the car and Love Bug refuses to sit in his seat. After a melt-down, he accepts his waiting sippy cup and settles in for the short drive home.

4:55 pm – We arrive home and I usher the kids into the house. Primero is home, playing a video game. He tells me one of the cats peed on the couch cushion, so he has it in the wash. I immediately start a pot of rice, before unloading my work bag and giving Love Bug a fresh sippy cup of juice. Love Bug gets angry when I send Primero outside to start the grill. He is still screaming when his speech therapist arrives.

5:08 pm – Love Bug’s speech therapist comes in the house just as Primero gets the grill to light in a controlled explosion. Laughing, he asks me if his coveted eyebrows are ok. I toss him the tin foil to put on the grill and turn the rice down before heading into the living room with the speech therapist. Love Bug does good at first, but when he asks for the key to a Winnie the Pooh book and the therapist tries to tell him she didn’t bring either along this week, he has a melt-down. A new toy distracts him for a moment until he begins screeching about something else. I send Primero outside to put the marinated pork roast on the grill and Love Bug howls in protest. The speech therapist and I try singing to Love Bug and I sing his favorite song, the one I used to sing to him all the time while changing him. He calmed down enough to let me kiss him but then, inexplicably started another tantrum.

5:50 – The speech therapist is leaving, Love Bug has calmed down and is saying good-bye to her. That is, until I won’t let him stay on the front porch. I leave him with Primero so I can finish making dinner. I cut up the broccoli while the pot simmers. My favorite way to prepare broccoli is to steam it. I also make a pot of red beans. I go outside to rescue the pork roast. It got a little darker on the bottom than I would have liked, but it smelled delicious. I leave Primero to turn off the grill and take the roast inside on a plate. Chica Marie is having a fit about something, so I send her to her room where she rages and screams while I finish dinner. The broccoli is soft enough, so I take it off the burner and put a pan of ground meat on to cook. I’m going to put the ground meat in the crockpot to make tacos for Thursday night.

6:17pm – We sit down to eat. The pork loin is really good, Primero thoroughly enjoys it. Chica Marie actually eats all her beans and rice. Love Bug asks for seconds. I finish first and begin putting the left-overs into containers. I wanted to hurry so we could go to the store and get more flea control items plus pick up Chica Marie’s meds at the pharmacy. We leave the dishes for when we get back.

6:48pm – I wait in the car with pouting Chica Marie and screaming Love Bug while Primero escapes into the grocery store to find a flea treatment. He calls me for my opinion and Love Bug screams so loud because the music has stopped (I was using my phone to play music) that I’m sure my ear drums popped. I yell for him to stop and beg Primero to hurry.

7:08pm – I almost forget to stop at the pharmacy to pick up Chica Marie’s prescription. Fortunately, there is no one else in the drive-thru line so our task is quick and painless.

7:18pm -  We arrive home. I instruct Chica Marie to go inside and get her pajamas on while Primero and I put oil in the car. He uses his phone flashlight as I check and confirm the car was low on oil. Fortunately, I have a quart in the back, which I add after Primero and I wrestle the cap off. Love Bug watches us from the front door, pushing on the screen to break free. He demands chips as soon as I go back inside. I ignore him and go to the bathroom to put toothpaste on Chica Marie’s toothbrush.

7:30pm – I tie the pink silk head cover around Chica Marie’s hair. I had finally relented and put beads in her hair the other night and I was trying to keep it nice. Most mornings she wakes up with the head scarf stashed on the pillow next to her head. This does not help to keep her hair nice. I read her a short book and Love Bug comes in the room just as I am done. He hands me another book, but I saw all done and he screams. I tell him to say good night to his sister and turn the light out as I’m leaving the room to encourage him to make it a short ‘good night.’ I start water for the dishes.

8:05 pm – I’m finished washing the dishes and cleaning off the counters. I want to take a shower but Primero has been in the basement spraying the flea spray all over and also wants to shower. He used the entire can. Because I take less time than him, we agree I can go first. But, I need to change a whiney Love Bug into his pajamas first. I hand him his sippy cup of water that he sleeps with and try tucking him in but he is so dysregulated he cannot tolerate the normal good night routine and I leave him screaming in his crib to take a shower.

8:30pm – I am out of the shower after enduring a cold rinse because Primero started washing clothing he insisted was infested with fleas. He is folding the clean laundry he found in the dryer. I grab my ASL book to practice last week’s signs and to prepare my story about a farm for tomorrow night. Primero turns on Scream Queens. I play card games and check my email on my new laptop. I had contacted a previous co-worker about some essential oils company she joined and was reading about the virtues of using their organic offerings.

11:20pm – I realize it’s after 11 and get up to put Prancer outside. I don’t want a repeat of the mess I had to clean up this morning. While she barks at imaginary intruders, I brush my teeth and cajole Primero into turning off the episode of American Horror Story he was watching. I let Prancer back into the house, give Primero a hug and head to my bed.

11:39pm – Lights out, the day is over.

http://julia-transition.blogspot.com/2016/10/day-in-life-heads-up-for-fall-2016.html