August 16, 2011

A New Day, a New Day Plan

Well, I'll be the first to admit, everything here has just gone to sh*t. I'm out of the country for four days--four days of friends, feasting and wedding festivities--but it takes me twice that to get caught up. Kevin and Colin did a reasonable job of holding down the fort while Archer and I were away, but I still returned to about 12 loads of dirty laundry, dead plants, a feral dog, and only a half a loaf of stale bread in the cupboard. Now that the house is spit spot again, it's time to tackle the other things that have gone to sh*t lately...

First, Colin's eating habits. Colin's not eating anything. At least nothing more than cereal and bagels with cream cheese. Granted, he is the world's pickiest eater, but before this past month of upheaval I was getting him to eat more, try new things. He had discovered he actually did like peaches. And I got him to put vegetables in his mouth--twice! Of course, he immediately said they were "yucky," but it was progress, believe me.

Second, our family sleeping arrangements. I am a big fan of co-sleeping. It has enabled me to get a sinful amount of sleep despite having a newborn; however, I am ready to have my bed back to myself. Well, Kevin is welcome, too. In fact, I really miss sharing a bed with my husband, who spends about half of every night in Colin's bed trying to coax him to sleep. I don't understand. Why won't he just go the f*ck to sleep? By the way, have you seen this? It had us laughing to tears.

Third, potty training. It needs to happen already. We were doing really well before the baby was born, but since then the toddler has rebelled. New rule: underwear only, except for bedtimes and outings.

Fourth, the children's personal hygiene. I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I don't always remember to brush Colin's teeth. Heck, these days, I'm not sure I've remember to brush my teeth twice a day. Same goes for our vitamins. Did you know that we have to give the children Vitamin D supplements every day because we have so little sunshine up this far north? Well, I had forgotten, and the pediatrician gave me hell about it. So, now I've got to remember to do that, and the teeth, and make sure nails are clipped, ears cleaned, faces washed, and that everyone has put on a clean pair of clothes at least once a day--Mama, too.

Fifth, Mama needs some time to herself. And not just between the hours of 10:00 and midnight when I get to clean up the house all by myself. I need at least one hour every day when I can sew or read a book or soak in the bathtub--alone. Did I mention that I haven't taken a bath alone in about a year?



So, here's my new day plan for accomplishing all this:

6:00 a.m. -- Kids wake up. Daddy does the breakfasts while Mama sleeps. By herself. Spread eagle to the corners of the bed.

7:00 a.m. -- Daddy goes to work. Mama takes over an entertains kids with books, songs, art projects. No more movies!

9:00 a.m. -- We get dressed. It takes about an hour. Archer = 5 minutes. Mama = 5 minutes. Colin = 50 minutes.

10:00 a.m. -- We go somewhere. Anywhere, so long as it's out of the house. Otherwise, Colin starts bouncing off the walls. Literally. (I'm not joking.)

12:00 p.m. -- Lunch at home. A real lunch. At least one piece of fruit. No more corn chips!

1:00 p.m. -- Naptime. All of us. Dishes can wait.

3:00 p.m. -- Wake up. Even if we could all keep sleeping until 5:00. Maybe that way Colin stands an outside chance of going to bed before 10:00.

5:00 p.m. -- Daddy comes home and takes the kids outside so that Mama can make dinner, tidy up the house, and do all those chores she can't do when she has a baby in her arms.

6:00 p.m. -- Dinner and play. But no playing with your dinner, Colin.

7:00 p.m. -- Bath, books and bed by 8:00. I'm often tempted to go out in the evenings since my kids are such night owls--taking Colin to the bookstore or Archer to the grocery store--but that's probably why our bedtimes are such a mess. So no more evening outings, although I don't know when I'm supposed to go to the grocery store now.

8:00 p.m. -- Mama's time.

10:00 p.m. -- Bed. And to each his own bed. Perhaps if I'm really in bed by 10:00, I stand an outside chance of waking up in the morning without two hours spent watching a movie with Colin while I nurse my (decaf) coffee. Although, as I write this, it is already 11:00, so the new day plan begins tomorrow.

(Archer laughs, "Day plans are for babies.")

What does your day look like? Especially if you have kids, how do you manage your day so that you can eek out a little personal time?

4 comments:

judith black said...

Did you go to Wellesley College?!! Planning with a newborn and a 2 yr old?! This part of motherhood passes quickly enough! Those babies are too cute and the photos are great. xo

Anonymous said...

Cynthia says:

Have you seen "parenting with crappy pictures"? http://crappypictures.typepad.com/crappy-pictures/
So stinkin' hilarious.

Rachael said...

Oh man! Chaos abounds (but sounds like it's being reigned in). Once, we left my spacey friend in charge of house & petsitting and when we called 4 days in to see how it was going, she was totally confused. She forgot she was supposed to house and pet sit!!!
AH!
Hopefully your new schedule will work out fantastically...

Vicky said...

Your post made me laugh even though you sound frazzled. Finding a routing is so hard. My days are still to sh*t. I desperately want a routine but Logan is a little madam when it comes to feeds and not sleeping, and with the girls off school there is no routine.
I have all the same personal hygiene issue as you + hair brushing. My kids seem to be oblivious to the benefits of not looking like tramps!
Spread eagling out on the bed is a mothers right. Ian & Logan get kicked out so that I can have some "proper sleep".
Hang in there, it does get easier, most people will tell you that going from 1 to 2 kids is the hardest.