and now, the life story you've been waiting for

Inspired by a great book I'm reading for Book Group this month (A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel), I decided to write out the details of each day of my life for one week. Just on the chance that some day it may make for good material for a memoir.

Turns out it's hard to be so egocentric on my own, so I also decided to post said details on this blog.

Today: Tuesday, February 14, 2012.

1am. I wake up to Genghis crying for bit, and finally go in to check on him. I rock him and sing a few songs while he talks about the possible cars he could be seeing out his bedroom window if only the curtains weren't closed. I determine that he is feeling well enough to go back to bed.

7:15am. My alarm goes off, much to my dismay (I will copy/paste this line to use every day this week).

7:45am - 10am. I sit up in bed and stumble through a brief morning prayer. Genghis is rousing so I quickly dress and prep for the day (read: wash my face, pull my hair back). When I get Genghis up and take him into the living room he discovers a new (used) swing that I'm sanitizing for his baby sister. He rocks the swing somewhat violently back and forth yelling "Weee!" for the next 10 minutes. He will be a great big brother.

We have breakfast: cereal, bran muffins, eggs, milk. I try to get some cleaning, sanitizing and scripture study done between assisting Genghis with his various morning games such as "Dump all my animals out of the bag" and "Throw all of the balls behind the couch where I can't reach them, make Mom get them out, and then Do It Again". Eventually, we get him dressed and head out to the car. We drop a DVD off at the library, attempt to cash a check at the bank until I realize it's actually a 1099 form, and swing by the store for 4 cans of frozen OJ because Dad's got a cold.

10:30am - 12pm. We end up at the church for the weekly play group. Genghis has learned how to commandeer any of the "ride on" toys, sometimes two at once. After an hour and a half of general bullying of children both young and old, Genghis is tired. We head home.

12 - 1pm. Genghis is joined by his play mate for the afternoon, as part of our weekly babysitting swap. He enthusiastically greets her by talking, laughing, and spinning in circles. I get some Mac N Cheese, softened carrots and grapes halves going for lunch. Both kids are enjoying their meal so I start in on baking some bread. I pull a bowl of melted butter out of the microwave, which I immediately dump all over myself and the floor. I run to the bedroom, strip down, throw my clothes in cold water, and find something random to wear. I come back to the kitchen and mop the floor (Genghis cries during this because he can hear the sound of the water squirting out of the Swiffer Wet Jet, which for some reason really bothers him). I walk out to the dining room to check on the kids, and see that they have methodically thrown every carrot piece and macaroni noodle on the white carpet, cheese included. Hmm... I go back in the kitchen to finish the bread dough.

1-1:30pm. I clean up children, floors, counters, chairs, table, dishes. Children play and chase each other around the house. I sneak in bites of leftover Mac N Cheese between tasks. We migrate to the bathroom for diaper changes and then put each child down for a nap. I collapse on the chair, read and eat chocolate for 15 minutes.

1:30-3pm. Work time. I take care of emails, then spend an hour on a Skype call talking to a client group about our strategic evaluation plan. At the very end, I can hear Genghis waking up. We end the call and I go back to being Mom.

3-6:30pm. Genghis wakes up knowing the word "banana". He insists on having one for snack right away. I agree, and set him up his high chair for a "mana" while I put some lentil soup on for dinner. His play mate wakes about half an hour later and within 15 minutes we're back at snack time, this time for yogurt covered raisins and graham crackers. Afterwards, Genghis keeps spitting up when physically exerting himself and I suspect he has over-eaten. I empathize with my pregnancy-induced acid reflux (feeling the dark chocolate from earlier in the day).

As the afternoon progresses, the kids manage to get into almost every toy container and book shelf we own, so I decide it's time to play in the snow. Genghis's friend gets the snow pants. I put Genghis in his footed PJs with two layers of pants on top. Once all the layers and boots are on, the kids keep face planting on the carpet while trying to make it to the open door. We walk in the snow, roll snow balls, and do some taste tests. Genghis declares the snow "yummy" while his friend insists it is "yucky".

Genghis's friend goes home just before 5pm and we play out in the snow a little longer. We come inside and Genghis is in a grumpy mood until dinner, which includes fresh bread and honey. After dinner we do bath time because, if nothing else in my house is clean and orderly, at least my child's skin can be. After bath, Genghis is insistent on seeing Dad, who is not home from work yet. He melts down and I lose my temper. Dad comes home about 10 minutes later to an unhappy family. He wisely plays with Genghis while I radiate bad vibes while cleaning everything in the house.

6:30pm - 9pm. We put Genghis to bed, a bit on the early side. I apologize right before for being in a grumpy mood and Genghis is quick to forgive. So is Abe. After bed time, Abe and I discuss our day, I read my book, and we play a game of Agricola (we are addicted to this game and have spent several irretrievable hours of our life staring at the board and lamenting how hard it is to be homesteaders).

9-10pm. Abe sits in on a weekly conference call he has with friends about geeky things. I put in my retainer (trying to wear it again after 6 years off) and write this post. I consider that tomorrow, I will not write as many details. I also consider that tomorrow, I may not write anything at all.