December 8, 2010

A Day in the Life

Tuesday, December 7, 2010


6:50am  Monday I woke Moe to go to school and discovered he had a fever. I'm keeping him home today so of course he wakes up early. At least he's in a good mood.

6:51am  Jelly walks in. Moe starts screaming.

7:15 am Moe is still screaming and crying. I'm trying to comfort Moe. Jelly starts screaming. Both kids are crying in my ear. Where's Jeff

7:20 Jeff walks in, dressed for the gym and ready to go. He takes a screaming Jelly from my arms and brings her to the kitchen.

7:40 Moe is still upset. Maybe some breakfast will help. He sits at the table but doesn't want to eat or drink anything. Jelly refuses to get in her high chair even though she's yelling "cereal, cereal!" So I strap her into a booster seat. She starts screaming and crying. Jeff has to leave.

8:00 Jelly wants "down!" Then she wants her milk even though the rule is she has to drink it at the table. I cave and give her the milk. I cannot handle both kids screaming for one minute longer.

8:15 I sit with Moe on the couch. Eventually I turn on the TV and Curious George is on. Moe quiets down, snuggled up against me with his head pushed into my side. If I move he gets upset so I stay still. It's kind of nice to know I can still comfort him. The dog scratches to go out. I do not move.

8:30  Where's Jelly? I'm sure she's fine.

9:00am Moe figures out a new game where he runs around the spinning chair a few times to pick up speed then lifts his feet and spins around. It can't be good for the vintage 1970s chair, but I let him do it.This chair used to be my pride and joy. Now it is missing buttons and has bite marks on it. I'm just happy he's not crying.

9:15am Moe is still calm, now sitting on the chair. Berkeley, our dog, barks because a garbage truck went by. Moe loses it again.

...Time Passes...

The day goes on. The dog barks every time someone is calm or napping. I'm imagining just opening the door and letting her run away, except she wouldn't leave and would just scratch up the outside of our newly painted front door until I let her in. Suddenly, there's a knock at the door. It's FedEx. The dog barks.

12:30 Hooray! It's the new chair I bought Jelly to match Moe's. Now everyone can sit at the table together. I think I'll just put it together now.

12:40 Why is there a hole in the box? $%#$!@!!! Hardware is missing. I have 6/10 screws and 3/6 washers. Dammit.

12:50 Chat with Amazon guy who tells me that he can't just send a new one. I have to send this one back and they'll refund it, then I can buy another one. Arrgh.

...More Time Passes....

The rest of the day is a blur with fun art activities, puzzles and games. Not.
Jelly naps. We watch more TV than we should. Moe listens to music in his room. I surf the Internet. We're bored and grumpy.

3:15 Bath time for Moe. Jelly chants "Brush teeth! Brush teeth!" and chews on her toothbrush for 15 minutes. Good oral hygiene is very important to her.

4:00 Warm and dry. Let's have a snack. I pinch my finger in the clip on Jelly's booster seat. #$!@@#!! No one eats much but Moe is comfortably sitting on his new Bitty Bottoms seat cushion. This is the longest he's stayed sitting in a while. He's flipping through his new Animal Baby magazine and seems content.

5:00 Dinner time. I over-microwave their Trader Joe's mini pizzas. Jelly won't touch hers and Moe eats 3 bites. The kids have grapes and milk for dinner. But they're happy. Moe goes back to flipping through his magazine.

5:45 We all go to Moe's room. He climbs into his crib and I come over to see him. He pushes me away with his foot. I fake getting pushed across the room and he thinks it's hilarious. We do it over and over. Hooray! An actual social game. Jelly thinks it's pretty funny too.

6:15 Jeff is home. Let's light Hanukkah candles. When we're done, Jelly says "more!" "More what, I ask?" "Hanukkah!" she says. We open presents. Moe is unimpressed but Jelly loves her new stacking blocks and plays with them for a while.

6:40 Dammit! I forgot to give Moe his melatonin. Give him the pill, get him in a clean diaper and pajamas. He climbs right into bed. I think he's been trying to say "night night." It sounds like "nnn nnn" but I'll take it.

6:50 At hearing the words "bed time" Jelly takes a new interest in the blocks. I tell her she can pick out a book, so we go to her room. We read "I Love You Through and Through" 3 times. She begs for more, but I tell her she has to go to bed. Tuck her in. "Ni Ni!"

7:00 I start making dinner. Jeff makes me a Gin & Tonic. I'm in love. Jeff is pretty cool too.

7:30 We're eating dinner. Jelly is still chatting away in her room.

...Time Passes...

3:45am I hear Jelly making noise in her room. She's not upset so we leave her alone. She better not wake up Moe.

3:57am Moe is awake. He starts crying. I go in there but he pushes me away. I try to offer him milk. He kicks it and I barely manage to keep it from spilling. I leave the room and vow not to go in for 20 minutes.

4:17am Jeff and I go back to Moe who is still screaming. He still pushes me away. We get him tucked in again and I look for monkey in the dark. I can't find the monkey. Ugh. We leave.

4:45 Moe is quiet.

7:00am Alarm goes off. I go to get Moe up for school. He is fast asleep. Of course he is - he was up half the night. I open the blinds. He starts to stir so I leave for a few minutes.

7:25 He's screaming. I manage to get him dressed and in the car. He is going to school today.

7 comments:

  1. Enjoy your day! Whew, your kids keep you busy!

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  2. I don't think you'll take it the wrong way if I tell you that that just depressed the hell out of me. As God as my witness, you will read that 5 years from now and wonder how you survived it because your life will be so vastly different...

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  3. I so do not enjoy days like that. Wish I could buy you a drink. Or three. =)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Cheryl - yes, yes they do.

    Ashley- Any time! For now, I do have a full wine fridge :)

    Lynn- That is exactly what I needed to hear. It is so hard to imagine anything other than this tedious cycle we're in right now.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I know exactly how you feel. Although we are getting much better at sleep over here. My 4 year old only gets up once or twice 4 times a week now! I love how that is something to celebrate!

    It is good to know that I am not the only one with crazy, insane, totally packed days.

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  6. I wrote a post like this a while back. When someone wonders what I do all day? More than you can imagine, really. I hope you get to take a breather soon!

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  7. I'm having a hard time figuring out how old your kids are here, but man, it sounds like both of them are taking turns doing the kind of stuff that alternately makes me happy & insane.
    I especially relate to:
    "8:15 I sit with Moe on the couch. Eventually I turn on the TV and Curious George is on. Moe quiets down, snuggled up against me with his head pushed into my side. If I move he gets upset so I stay still. It's kind of nice to know I can still comfort him. The dog scratches to go out. I do not move."
    I've been doing that sort of thing with my son since he was a newborn - 3 years of if he's having an iffy kind of day & is quite & calm with me, I do not move. The phone had better not ring. I don't care how badly I need to pee. When I had a dog who barked at everything that moved outside, I'd hoarsely whisper-shout at him to be quiet (he really was a fantastic dog - this was his worst characteristic). Don't let anything or anyone ruin this moment by making any sudden moves.

    ReplyDelete

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