Day in the Life

Here are previous day in the life posts. This time around, I decided to do a weekend day, so here’s what life looked like this past Sunday, July 12!

7:02 I wake up to Emma coming into our bedroom. We used to be able to “sleep in” until 7:30 or even 8 on the weekends because she would lie happily in her bed until we went to get her, but in March (?) or around then, she started getting up and coming to find us. We now have one of those kid clocks that changes color at a certain time. It’s set to change to green at 7:00, and she knows she’s supposed to stay in bed until then. Sometimes she pays attention to it; sometimes she doesn’t. Today she did, so hooray!

7:05 It’s Jose’s day to sleep in, so I stumble out of bed and help Emma use the potty and brush her teeth. (‘ve been meaning to introduce her to the dentist for months and finally made an appointment last week. The earliest they had was the end of August, but at least I finally scheduled it. I know we’re way overdue.)

7:15 I let Emma watch TV (recorded episodes of Olivia, which she has just discovered, and Daniel Tiger) while I lie on the couch. Emma admonishes me — “Mommy, don’t close your eyes!” — and I partly obey. We lounge here for quite a while — and take selfies, because, why not?

8:16 Emma is literally doing headstands on the couch, so I suppose I should look alive and do something for breakfast.

8:20 Jose appears, so we all eat breakfast together. Just cereal today — cheerios for Emma and oatmeal crisp for the adults. When we’re done, we all just kind of putter around for a while.

9:20 Jose heads to Home Depot to rent a pressure washer, because we got a second letter from the homeowner’s association saying we need to pressure wash our driveway. I will refrain from ranting about the ridiculousness of having to spend money to rent machinery to wash a patch of concrete that is designed to be a place to park cars. Stupid HOA. They also said we need to weed our flowerbeds, but whatever. It’s hot and I’m 7 months pregnant and I don’t plan on weeding anytime soon.

9:30 Emma and I read books. I drink coffee.

9:50 Emma asks to watch Olivia again and I concede. Man, I’m having a hard time waking up today.

10:05 Jose’s back. I get dressed so that I can go help him get the pressure washer out of the car — it’s just a bit too heavy and unwieldly for one person. I do actually pull about a dozen (of 1000) weeds, then head back inside to put in some laundry and hang out with Emma.

10:25 Jose is having issues getting the hose connected between the washer and nozzle. I go outside to take a look and figure out the trick after a minute or two — totally one of those “fresh set of eyes” things.

10:35 Emma is stamping. Yes, she’s still in her pajamas. Don’t judge.

10:53 Emma is dressed and ready for the day. She requested “two braids” and I’m pretty proud of how well I obliged.

11:05 It’s snack time, so I cut up an apple for Emma and me to share while Jose cleans up outside for now. He got about half of the driveway washed, but we’ve got plans for the afternoon — we’re going to check out the Houston Symphony‘s Day of Music, which promises several fun family activities. Jose jumps in the shower while I clean up the kitchen and put in more laundry. I let Emma play on the iPad. She’s gotten more screen time today than she normally would on a Sunday morning, but oh well.

11:45 We’re getting ready to go. Emma wants to flush the potty herself. Emma wants to put on her own pull-up. Emma wants to put on her own shoes. Do you sense a theme here?

11:52 We are finally out the door with one seriously ornery preschooler, and I’m hoping she either sleeps or gets over it.

12:00 Annnnd she’s asleep in the car. As predicted. She sleeps the whole way downtown, which takes a little longer than usual because they closed I-45 north through downtown for the weekend and we have to detour on surface streets. (Fortunately we realized this ahead of time and were able to get off the highway and re-route before getting stuck in the traffic jam.)

12:50 We have arrived at Jones Hall! And are happily eating free ice cream.

1:04 We hurry inside to hear the symphony’s family concert, which is scheduled for about an hour. Emma is really excited to see the stage and the “guitars.” (She thinks all the string instruments are guitars.) She sits on the edge of her seat and claps along with the rest of the audience at the end of each piece. Yay! It’s fun to see her so excited!

1:57 Emma made it through 4 pieces and ~30 minutes of the concert before starting to get pretty antsy — not bad! So we snuck out between songs and headed outside to the food trucks for a late lunch. We decide to go low-key with sandwiches from Monster PBJ — peanut butter and blueberry jam for Emma, almond butter, blueberry jam and apples for Jose and peanut butter, pickles and sriracha sauce for me. Sounds bizarre I know, but it was good.

2:24 Shave ice time! We got a huge one from one of the other trucks to share. It was pretty darn hot outside even in the shade, and it’s amazing how much the shave ice helped cool us down. Emma was a big fan. (Also? This is my new favorite photo.)

2:58 We head back into Jones Hall for some more music day fun, including a stop at the “instrument petting zoo” where they had some instruments out for kids to touch and try. Emma had fun with the kid-sized violin, even though she didn’t really get how you use the bow.

3:45 Jose and I are both hot and tired, but Emma doesn’t want to stop dancing. Finally after a minor temper tantrum, we’re on our way home. The “Day of Music” was really fun, although it definitely got a bit overcrowded in mid-afternoon. (It ran until 9:00 at night; no idea what the crowd was like later in the day.) Jones Hall is not really laid out well for a big crowd all trying to move around — there are lots of terraces and stairs and levels.

4:35 We’re home, Emma has been “forced” to go to the potty, and she’s now contradicting everything I say. For example, I want to change her shirt since she spilled red cherry shave ice all over the bottom. “Go pick a new shirt from your drawer,” I say. “I don’t WANT to get a new shirt,” she says. “Then I’ll get one for you,” I say. “No I’LL get it,” she says.

4:53 No rest for the weary! Jose heads outside to finish pressure washing the driveway since we only rented the machine for a day. Meanwhile, I load Emma into the car and we head to the grocery store.

5:15 While in the aisles of HEB, I get a text from Jose who says the pressure washer won’t start, and he’s pulled the stupid cord at least 100 times. Ugggggh. He says he called Home Depot and they’ll swap it out, but he has to wait until I get home with the larger car.

5:49 Emma and I are done checking out (and playing Buddy Bucks) and are on the way home. When we arrive, I turn on Olivia (yet again) since I promised her she could watch it if she behaved at HEB, and she did. I need to help Jose anyway.

5:58 The pressure washer is loaded back into the car, and Jose has left to deal with Home Depot. Did I mention it’s been one of the hottest days of the year so far? By this point we’re both feeling pretty bushed.

6:21 Jose called to say he’s on his way back. The Home Depot guy only charged him 1/3 of the price since the pressure washer only worked for a bit, and apparently they promised to rent us another one next weekend for a full day but only charge us for a 4-hour rental. Seems reasonable enough, even if it is a hassle. I’ve unpacked all the groceries and Emma’s now playing while I cut brussels sprouts for dinner.

6:44 Sprouts (and Emma’s fish filet) are in the oven. Laundry is still going. Jose’s in the shower. Emma’s on the iPad. In ways both good and bad, this has felt like an insanely long day. I sit at the kitchen counter planning my week (with my Get To Work Book!). It doesn’t look too bad so far, although Monday through Wednesday at work are full of big flight readiness reviews that I have to support. Undoubtedly this page will look at lot busier by next weekend.

7:05 Jose is cooking our salmon patties while I sit on the couch with Emma folding her laundry.

7:42 Whew. Dinner is done. I set a 5 minute timer for Emma to play — when it goes off, she knows it’s bath time.

7:48 We head to the bath, but first there’s potty. I seriously think she’s starting to use the potty as a stalling technique to put off bathtime.

8:15 She’s clean, hair and teeth brushed. She says good night to Jose, and we head into her room to read books. (Normally Jose and I split the bathtime/bedtime routine. But I have a 6 a.m. meeting the following morning, and Jose will have to do the whole morning routine on his own…so I decide to give him a break and do the whole nighttime deal myself.) We read 3 books, and then Emma successfully negotiates a 4th book. We sing a few songs too. Lately she’s been making up words — instead of “C is for cookie,” she’ll sing “M is for mama” or something like that.

8:30 I tuck Emma in. Since her only real nap today was ~40 minutes in the car, she’s got to be tired. As usual, she goes right to sleep.

8:47 Yet another load of laundry is done and yet another load is started — I’m still catching up from being out of town last weekend, which meant the laundry pile was bigger than usual. I am FINALLY sitting on the couch. Jose and I put on an episode of Food Network Star. Neither of us are too into this show anymore, but nothing else is on.

9:09 Ohhhh yes, it is ice cream time. I’ve been looking forward to this since getting home from the grocery store.

9:45 I drag myself up to fold more laundry and start getting ready for bed. Given my 5 a.m. wake-up call, I’m trying to be good by getting to bed earlier than usual.

10:46 Well, I ended up reading for a bit, so I’m not really going to sleep all that much earlier than usual. In any case — lights out!