Thursday, June 2, 2016

One second, all day


I've done a few "day in the life" type posts before, and while they have a very real likelihood of being BOR-ING (at least to anyone who isn't me...and maybe also to me) there's still something I like about recording the minutia of everyday life. It's like a time capsule- the stuff you put in might not be exceptionally valuable or rare, but the passage of time eventually makes even the most ordinary items special. By packaging up the details of our life now and then, maybe I'll preserve a few gems for the future. Because while right now, these days are just days, someday we'll look back at them and say, "those were the days..."
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As an extra experiment this time around, I thought it'd be fun to incorporate my newest obsession- one second video. The 1 Second Everyday app has a "freestyle" option, where you can stitch together as many seconds as you want, from whenever you want. So I had some fun taking little snippets of video from sun up to sun down (and then some) to capture the tiny pieces of action that add up to a day; that add up to a life. 
One Second, All Day from Courtney Bowden on Vimeo.


Tuesday, May 31st, 2016:

6:39 AM Miller is squawking (quietly. happily.) through the monitor. I pry my eyes open to check the clock, thankful that it's a "reasonable" time. Dustin is traveling for work today, so I'm flying solo with the kiddos. I check the video monitor of the girls, and since everyone's awake, but happy, I laze in bed for a few more minutes cycling through my typical AM app circuit: Calendar, Weather, Mail, Timehop, Instagram, Facebook... Ok, ok, time to get up.

6:52 AM I brush my teeth, put in contacts, and head to the girls' room . I need to feed the baby, so I set the girls up in Piper's bed with their new tablet (we purchased these for "very special occasions", and me getting 10 minutes of peace and quiet obviously qualifies as a very special occasion). They're happy to play a game together for a few minutes and it allows me some time with Miller before the real craziness of the day begins.

6:56 AM Miller is up in earnest now, rolling around with his Jelly dog, babbling away. I lift him out of his crib, soaking up my first snuggle of the day. I nurse him and change his diaper, leaving him in his jammies because they're clean, and I've long since given up impressing anyone at daycare with fancy outfits.

7:12 AM My turn to get dressed. I throw on the outfit I had laid out the night before, which might be the same outfit I've worn for the last two days: a new jumpsuit. It's as comfy as pajamas, but has the added benefit of looking like I actually tried, so basically: it's perfection. I plop Miller on the bathroom floor to play while I quickly do my AM routine. Today I'm rocking 2nd day hair, so it's dry shampoo to the rescue.

7:27 AM We all gather in the girls room to get them dressed. They're not thrilled about getting out of jammies (who is?) but I manage to weasel them into clothes while they argue about what show they want to watch on Netflix. Kids these days.

7:40 AM Miller sits in his bumbo, noming on a waffle while the girls watch Kate and Mim Mim, and I cook eggs. The girls eat their breakfast on what Fin has dubbed the "prick-prick" blanket. Piper eats at least three servings of eggs while Fin rolls around on the floor ignoring her plate entirely, and Miller just mashes things all over his clothes/tray/hair. Typical. I graze, eating half slobbered on leftovers as I get bags packed up for the day- bottles, daycare sheets, my lunch...I'm a mom and a pack mule.

8:02 AM Papa arrives to get the girls. Today is normally a G'mi day, but she's on vacation this week, so he's stepped in as single-grandpa. The kids are thrilled to see him, running to the door to meet him. I scramble to get a few more things done (mostly cleaning eggs off of every surface in a 5ft radius of Miller's high chair) while they all play. There's a near catastrophe when Miller finds an open marker, but I manage to snag it from him before our couch gets any new decorations.

8:22 AM I get Miller in his seat, and give the girls 1,000 goodbye kisses. It's later than I wanted to leave, which is par for the course for....oh...the last 4 years or so. Thankfully, school is out for the Summer, so I can zip through the 4 (yes, FOUR) school zones between our house and daycare, saving myself a few precious minutes.

8:32 AM I pull up to daycare, and breeze in quickly. The difference between dropping off one kid and dropping off three kids is exponential. Plus, Miller's needs are refreshingly easy in comparison- as long as I don't forget his milk, we're good. Days with the girls on the other hand are a flurry of carseat arguments, wardrobe regrets, stuffed animal rescues, and snack negotiations...all set to a Pandora Kids soundtrack, for extra brain-frying power.

8:36 AM I'm in and out quickly, but as I'm pulling away I realize I forgot salad dressing for my lunch. It's pretty solid bet that on any given day I'm going to forget at least one thing...thankfully this is a pretty easy solve. Looks like it's going to be another Jimmy John's day.

9:04 AM I arrive at work, only a couple minutes late...which for the Tuesday after a long weekend, feels like a win. My first meeting of the day starts a little late because someone else felt the AM struggle even more than me today. (at least I'm in good company!) I've got back-to-back meetings for the bulk of the day, which is more common that not, but still always leaves me feeling frazzled. It's hard to split my attention between the mounting pile of emails, and the real-life conversations and conference calls. Often it feels like I don't have time to get any actual work done, because of all the talking about work I have to do.

10:32 AM Time to pump. It's so hard to carve time out of my day (and even harder to stay productive...though three kids later I've gotten pretty decent at typing one handed), but I do my best to prioritize and protect this time. It's always been a labor of love, but is even more so these days, as my supply is dwindling. I'm not sure how much longer I'll make it, but for now I just keep on keepin' on.

10:56 AM  Work work work work work

12:39 PM Our office is organizing a Summer Shape Up competition, so the peer pressure forced me to at least commit to the initial evaluation. I do exactly 12 "girl" pushups, and an embarrassing example of a sit and reach, before allowing the trainer to grab my fat in her specially calibrated claws- all to determine my "real body age" (or something). In 8 weeks we'll be evaluated again...I make no promises regarding my behavior between now and then.

1:02 PM My sub arrives freaky fast, and I eat it shamelessly during a meeting. I got the low-fat chips, so my fitness progress is pretty much off to a perfect start. Then it's more meetings, followed by some meetings. 

2:39 PM Oh, is it time to pump again? Why yes, indeedy.

3:00 PM Work work work work 

4:47 PM I was aiming to leave at 4:30, so I could get to daycare and home for dinner at a reasonable hour, but as is always the case, I'm a solid 15 minutes behind my goal. Tonight is bible study, which means it's a babysitter night for the kids, so I try to get home early enough to get at least a little bit of time with them. I feel slightly guilty about leaving them, even though I know it's for a good reason. I think if I stayed home I'd feel like I "deserved" outings more....

5:27 PM Miller is excited to see me (is there anything better at the end of the day than a baby grinning/sprint-crawling to greet you?) and equally excited to take a long-overdue nap on the way home.

5:41 PM The kids (+ Papa) beat me home, and have Panera waiting for dinner. (I'm supremely spoiled, but also really thankful, so it's ok, right?) Miller is still snoozing in his carseat, so I put him up in his room for a bit while we eat. Hearing about the girls' adventures over dinner is one of my favorite parts of the day (though the conversation is typically broken up by a fair amount of bickering, complaining and mess making). Piper tells me all about her Mickey shaped lunch plate, with STEAK in the EARS, mama!

6:25 PM I clean up a bit, and Fin announces she has to paint her nails. Right NOW. So I send her up to choose a color, while trying to talk up the idea of the sitter doing beauty shop with her (shockingly, she goes for it). I wake Miller up, and nurse him while the girls play/color/argue/stage whisper questions to me (MOM! You wanna read this book? When you're done feedin' Miller? Yeah? OK!), and then feed him some leftover bits of our dinner. He polishes off some avocado, egg, chicken, and a whole container of baby food (something orange...?) The sitter is late, and isn't answering my texts, which means I might have to shake up the plans and make this a traveling circus. Piper gets her shoes on to come with me, just as the sitter arrives, and I panic she's going to have a meltdown about having to stay behind after all. Luckily, she and Fin are excited enough about cupcakes and nail polish that they let me and Miller slip out without any drama.

7:08 PM Small group starts before I even leave, but fortunately it's only a few minutes away, and I already gave them a heads up that there was no way I was going to be on time (as if they needed to be reminded). Dustin's been leading the studies recently, so tonight I'm running the show. We are starting a new series, but I didn't do any prep work, so I just read through the study questions thankful that everyone participates in the discussion. Miller is a wild animal, banging/chewing everything that's not nailed down, but he's in such good spirits that no one can be too mad about the adorable distraction.

8:49 PM The girls are in bed when I get home, but are still awake. I pay the sitter, and then head upstairs to feed Miller one last time. I put him to bed, switching my attention to Fin who needs to be tucked in again (because of course), and Piper who needs a band-aid (because of course). After everyone is finally down, I start my last sweep (literally and figuratively) of the house, corralling some of the day's clutter, running the dishwasher, unpacking and repacking bags for the next day.

9:38 PM I jammie-up, and collapse on the couch to catch up on some of the email I never got to (with a side of social media, and some TV).

10:48 PM Final pump session to bridge the gap between supply and demand (this kid will thank me someday, right?) while I watch Intervention and eat some of the leftover popcorn the girls must have swindled the babysitter into making. I can barely keep my eyes open, but I get sucked into the story of a Irish-dancer turned heroine addict. It's heartbreaking, and ironically addicting to watch.

11:39 PM It's late. Way too late. How does it always get this late? I lay down and within minutes...zzzzzz.

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1 comment :

  1. All of this sounds so very familiar :P Keep up the great work, mama!

    ReplyDelete