A Typical Day In The Life…

This blog post continues my Thirty Things series. A typical day in the life of me…hmmm well I would probably have to go with a week day because weekends are never typical and are usually so busy that I often feel like I have not had a break from the week at all — not that I am complaining because most weekends are filled with friend and family events and obligations so we are blessed to be surrounded by so many people that care about us and want us at those things.

My typical day is a week day and usually starts at an ungodly hour like 5:00 A.M. or 6:00 A.M. depending on when my daughter starts to stir. I wake up mumbling “need. more. sleep.” and stumble to the shower where I try to wake myself up with cold water but usually only end up succeeding in feeling worse than when I first entered said shower. I slap on some clothes and makeup (or as my grandfather always calls it — my war paint) and stumble downstairs to the kitchen. I then make myself breakfast (sans coffee as of late…and Lord do I miss coffee) and then I either blog as I eat or read the news. Then I prepare my daughter breakfast which involves me having to be fully awake because I need to think of what she ate the day before, what I plan for her to eat at snack and lunch (so I can give her a variety of fruits and veggies), and what her latest aversion is that might cause her to throw her plate discus style into the kitchen wall. My husband usually gets up around 7:00 A.M. and gets our daughter dressed for the day at which point she comes downstairs and we cross our fingers in the hopes that breakfast meets her approval. My husband is not a morning person — never has and never will be — so at this point in the morning (before his morning java) I typically get a grunt or two in my direction…this is a good thing…if no grunts are given then usually this means I have kept him awake the night before with my tossing and turning and/or have kicked him in the spine as I roll around. My husband has permanent sciatic nerve damage so a kick to the spine is more than just irritating for him…

At 7:30 A.M. my mother or father arrive — we are fortunate enough to have two of the most doting and loving grandparents on the face of the planet who volunteered (without bribery or flattery on my part) to watch their granddaughter during the time my husband and I are at work (typically 8:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M. although our careers often have us working shorter or longer days depending on the demands of the work day). Then there are kisses, hugs and “I love you’s” and my husband and I head off to work.

I usually arrive at work between 8:00-8:30 A.M. despite my best intentions of arriving earlier — before children I arrived at work at 7:30 A.M. (gosh I was a keener!) but having a child has drastically reduced my productivity in the morning. I always have my classroom set up the night before (most photocopying done, daybook complete, etc.) but sometimes have some last minute photocopying to do and my visual schedule at the front of the classroom needs to be set up. By this point the students are usually ready to come in the classroom and the learning day begins. At 3:25 P.M. my day is done — ha! Ya right… — well my teaching day is done, so I say goodbye to my “critters” (my affectionate name for my students) and begin marking and preparing for the following school day. This planning usually takes me until 4:30 P.M. at which point I head home regardless of whether I am finished or not. “Family time” is important, and my daughter goes to bed at 8:00 P.M., so I can not afford to be tardy at work and miss out on spending quality time with her.

I get home at around the same time as my husband (although he usually arrives a few minutes later than myself). One of us makes dinner (if my husband is home at a decent time this is usually his role because he is a much better cook than me. The extent of my culinary wizardry involves opening a can of pasta sauce and dumping it on some cooked noodles). We eat dinner as a family and talk about our day and then play with our daughter and read her books from her collection. We put her to bed together (my husband is usually on bath duty while I get our daughter’s bed ready and pajamas laid out. Then my daughter comes in to her bedroom and chooses a bedtime story book (this process usually takes ten minutes — what can I say? Our seventeen month old is very particular…). We read her story and tuck her into bed.

At this point in the evening the exhausted parental units typically collapse on the couch, cuddle up together, and watch a television show or movie. We chit chat about our day (this part usually expands on our dinner talk and involves words we can’t say in front of our child). Sometimes we even stay up until 10:00 P.M. if we are feeling particularly wild and adventurous…sometimes my husband will even make himself a scotch (oh my!).

10:00 P.M. is sleep at the latest…I am asleep before my head hits the pillow. Then the next day begins…