A Day in the life of Busy Body

OK, so my day goes something like this…Marlo wakes up anytime between 5:30 and 6:30 (usually). So I go get her out of her crib and bring her into bed with me. she will usually snuggle for half an hour or so. Then we get up and go downstairs. She has a sippy (lovingly referred to as a pippy in our home) cup of milk and some “Os”. (That’s what she calls Cheerios.) Then we play downstairs until Joy gets up around 8 or 8:30.

When Joy gets up she wants me to check to make sure she stayed dry through the night. (That’s been a great big YES! for the past 2 months! Hurray!) Then we (as in she) go potty, and put on some BGPs (that’s what we call Big Girl Pants, but Joy often calls them PGPs, so would that make them Pig Girl Pants?). Then all three of us go back upstairs to the loft. About 30 to 45 minutes of rigorous playing ensues. About that Time Joy is hungry and so is Marlo because the appetizer of pippy and Os has worn off. So we head back downstairs.

Marlo goes into her high chair, Joy parks it on the couch. (Marlo goes to the high chair because she can find the loophole in any child-proofing that I attempt.) Marlo has another appetizer, usually sliced fruit. We usually watch a Sesame Street episode (Glory hallelujah for DVRs!) while I make breakfast. Joy eats at the table, Marlo eats in her high chair and I usually eat half sitting and half standing because one or the other is constantly in need of something and I am not psychic enough to know what that is ahead of time. A plate goes into the microwave for Hubs.

Around 9:28 I wash Marlo’s hands and face and attempt to make a few swipes at her hair (which she usually uses as a napkin) and then it’s time for Nap #1. I pass Hubs on the stairs on the way to put her down. I put her down for Nap #1 after Nap Ritual (turn on the background noise, close the blinds, turn off the light, sing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”, put her in the crib, tuck a blanket around her). I leave her room and go directly into Joy’s room. If she has miraculously remembered to make her bed then I straighten it up. I put away any toys that “jumped” out of their box, open the blinds, pull the curtains back, lay out an outfit for Joy to wear for the day. (In the meantime, Hubs has gone to the microwave, sleepily smiles when he sees the “magic” has worked yet again, then parks himself on the couch to eat breakfast, listen to his voice mails, look at emails, and watch the news.)

I then go down the hall to my room. I make the bed that is still warm from Hubs rolling out of just moments prior. I open the blinds, I put away any toys that have mysteriously migrated into my room during the night and early morning hours, I plug in my flat iron, choose some clothes to wear, and turn the shower on to get warmed up. Joy has usually joined me at this point because she is afraid I will leave without saying good-bye and hugging and kissing her 52 times. (I’m not gonna lie, I don’t mind the 52 xs and os at all.) Joy then finds all of my make up that she has smuggled away and sits on top of my vanity and does her make up for the day.

I shower, get dressed, brush my teeth, dry my hair, flat iron my hair, find what little make up Joy has not “borrowed” and try to remember how to apply it, put my shoes on, straighten up the bathroom, put Joy’s mess away and send her to get her clothes. Then I help her get dressed, wipe off her face (with much protest), help her brush her teeth, and do her hair. Then we head back downstairs. At the landing we pass Hubs who is on his way up to shower.

I try to collect my thoughts while cleaning up the breakfast mess and decide what I am going to throw in the crockpot for dinner. All the while I am helping Joy with a project or with coloring or with playdough or I am playing ‘Jalexa’ to her ‘Angela’ (alter egos she has created for us when we play Pretend). Gigi and The Norwegian (Gigi's husband, The Editor's and Busy Body's father, Joy and Marlo's Grandpa, simply called Pa) arrive to watch Joy and Marlo. I get my dinner thrown into the crockpot, grab my laptop, my briefcase, my purse, and if I am lucky enough to remember it, a snack, and walk out the door (after 52 hugs and kisses).

We get to work and I walk into our office. I sit down, fire up the computer, and basically stay in that same spot for the next 6 or 7 hours. On occasion I take a bathroom break or make myself a cup of tea, but only working 3 days means busy, full days when I am actually there. Hubs drinks 4 pots of coffee, makes 23 bathroom runs, talks to everyone in the office, checks out Facebook, chats on the phone. Somewhere during that time he calls his clients and sends out emails to them. I think. And somewhere during that time he picks up 3 new clients and 4 new leads. It mystifies me. And then it’s quittin’ time so I gather up my computer, my briefcase, my purse, and hopefully the jacket that I remembered to grab on the way out, and we make the 15 minute drive home.

I walk in the door, deposit my stuff, hug and kiss both of my girls and then I wash my hands to start getting dinner on the table. Marlo goes into her high chair and Joy helps. Sometimes. Hubs helps. Occasionally. (If Gigi decides to stay for dinner, then I get an extra set of hands to help with Marlo.) Anyway, then we have dinner and by that time it’s Tubby Time. I grab pjs and diapers and lotion and lavender oil and we go upstairs for the girls’ baths. They bathe together, but I have to get Marlo undresses and into her bath chair, then I assist Joy. I wash Marlo from head to toe—she loves the bath. I assist Joy who fights me at every turn because she doesn’t quite love it as much. They play for a few minutes, we sing a few songs, we write a few letters on the bathtub walls, and then I have to get Joy out first, wrap her up in a towel, and send her to her room to wait. Then I get Marlo out, wrap her up in a towel, brush her teeth, and take her to Joy’s room. I dry her off, diaper, lotion, and put her pjs on…then I do the same thing for Joy.

Marlo kisses everyone goodnight, then it’s Bedtime Ritual…turn on the “noise”, read ‘Guess How Much I Love You’, turn off the light, sing “Twinkle, Twinkle”, say a prayer, and put her down in the crib, all tucked in for the night.

Then I go get Joy, comb out her hair—which is like Rapunzel’s, help her brush her teeth, read her 2 library books, apply lavender oil to her feet, tuck her into bed, say her prayers, and then lie next to her very quietly until she falls asleep. Then I sneak out of her room and go downstairs. On a good night the dinner mess is put away. On a not so good night the kitchen is still a mess, the floor is a combination of crumbs and sticky spots, and Hubs is snoring away on the couch. And so, I attack the kitchen, knowing that once it’s cleaned up, then I am free to have some “Me” time.

When I finally sit down to watch TV or read some blogs or write a little something, I realize—“Who am I trying to kid? I am way too tired to keep my eyes open.” So I turn off the TV, make sure all the doors are locked, turn off all the lights, and wake up Hubs to go upstairs to bed. As we sleepily stumble up the steps he whispers to me, “I’m beat—aren’t you?”

Posted by The Editor for Busy Body