A Week in the Life {Monday}
I did a "week in the life" series about a year and a half ago and it's something I want to keep doing periodically because I love to go back and see how much life has changed from one season to the next. I've been meaning to do another edition and seeing how summer is about to start for us after next week I figured I should get on it. This is kind of a hectic week to do it but hopefully I'll capture most of what our day-to-day is like at this point in our lives with a 3 and now 2 year old.
Monday:
6:30a.m. - Woke up to the alarm clock and hit snooze a couple of times before forcing myself up out of bed. (Rick left for work at 5:30, bless his heart) I went grocery shopping late last night after small group and after the kids were in bed and didn't get to bed myself until around 1 so I was kicking myself for staying up too late. I showered and got ready and then started packing lunches and backpacks. The kids go to preschool on Mondays and Fridays and today was "water day" so I had a little bit more to pack today.
7:45a.m. - Kids got up and I fed them breakfast and got them dressed and hair combed and teeth brushed. Which doesn't seem like it should take that long but for some reason it seems to just about every day. Lol.
9:15a.m. - Out the door and on our way to school, which starts at 9:30. We were running a little late today because Harper insisted on going potty but didn't need to potty and sat there for 15 minutes before I pried her off the toilet kicking and screaming. Gotta love potty training, right?! HA! Parked and unloaded them (and re-did pig tails and put shoes back on) and made our way into their classrooms for drop-off. School pictures were back so I forked over a ridiculous check to pay for 3 sheets...but how do you not?? I'm a sucker.
10:15a.m. - Got back home and ate a bowl of cereal for breakfast and made a few phone calls trying to get Harrison's colonoscopy scheduled. Still waiting to hear back from the hospital but it's looking like the procedure will be sometime next week. Spent the rest of my time paying bills, returning emails, and working on a couple of projects for Harper's birthday party this weekend.
1:00p.m. - Left to go get the kids. Stopped by Schlotzsky's for lunch since I realized we wouldn't be getting home for a couple of hours since Harper had a doctor appointment.
1:30p.m. - Picked up the kids and herded them back to the car. A certain little someone is going through a defiant phase and instead of holding my hand tried to run away and fell down and scraped her knees on the sidewalk. Seems like they are always injuring themselves right before going to the doctor. I'm pretty sure they are conspiring against me to make me look like I'm a bad mother. ;)
2:00p.m. - Harper had her well visit scheduled and I'm not sure what I was thinking scheduling it in the afternoon right after school! Never again! If I didn't look like I was a bad mom with the whole bloody knee thing I was certainly getting the bad mom looks from everybody thanks to my kids' terrible, awful, rotten behavior!!!! At one point Harper was throwing a fit because I wouldn't let her spin on the doctor's chair (and bust open her head) and Harrison was jumping from the chair to the exam table ignoring my requests to sit down and he actually ripped the paper roll off the table and broke the spool in half. Then when the doctor came in and sat down to look at Harper he grabbed the stethoscope right off of the doctor's neck. Fast forward through all of the disobeying and playing with the filthy trash can and grabbing medical supplies out of the drawers to the point when the nurse came in to give Harper her shot: Harrison was wailing because I had informed him that our plans to get ice cream cones afterward were canceled and poor Harper joined in when the nurse poked her with the needle. We were an AWESOME bunch today, folks. Nothing like feeling like you have zero control over your kids' in front of their pediatrician. I'm sure he sees it all the time and has seen much worse but I was mortified and beyond flustered.
3:00p.m. - We got back home and I let Harrison choose his consequence between a spanking or a nap. He chose a nap. He never naps anymore and I figured he wouldn't sleep but he did lay in his bed for an hour. Harper slept for about 45 minutes and I wasted every bit of that 45 minutes catching up on a few blogs. I came across this article and was of course convicted because the timing was perfect for me considering our afternoon. Rick and I are going to one of Paul Tripp's parenting conferences at our church next month and I am really looking forward to it. (And really need it, apparently! Ha!) I loved these takeaways from the article: "We tend to approach parenting with a sense of ownership, that these are our children and their obedience is our right.When they fail to live up to our expectations, we find ourselves not grieving for them and fighting for them, but angry at them, fighting against them, and, in fact, grieving for ourselves and our loss. It’s so easy to lose sight of the fact that these are God’s children. They don’t belong to us. They’re not given to bring us glory, but him. Our kids are from him, they exist through him, and the glory of their lives points to him. We’re only agents to accomplish his plans. We’re only instruments in his hands. Our identity is rooted in him and his call to us, not in our children and their performance." Ouch.
4:00p.m. - The kids wanted to put their swim suits back on and play in the backyard. We played outside for about an hour and then I went inside to fix dinner while they finished playing with the water hose.
5:30p.m. - It was a beautiful day so we ate outside at the picnic table. By this point somehow both kids were wet and naked and covered in grass but I just rolled with it. That's what privacy fences are for, right? :) Harper chowed down but Harrison decided he wasn't done testing boundaries and threw a fit about dinner. We have a rule that everybody has to at least take a bite to try it before I'll consider offering other food options and Harrison despises this rule. But I don't know how many times after a giant battle he'll finally give in and taste a bite and then gobble the rest up because he realizes he actually likes it. Not tonight, though. He threw a fit and I told him that his choice was to either take 1 bite and taste it or we were going to go inside and take a bath and go to bed. After 3 chances (2 too many) and his plate thrown on the ground in protest, it was bath time and he was. not. happy. Like, at all.
6:00p.m. - I put Harrison to bed (screaming and crying and yelling) and I bathed Harper and then we read books and played for a little bit. Harrison came out of his room several times and got a couple of spankings and I absolutely hate this part of parenting. But even in the midst of all the ugly I can see God working in the moment. It gives us an opportunity to talk about what unconditional love means and that no matter how many bad choices he makes or how mad I am, I will always love him. And so will God. And that even though I know he doesn't like getting in trouble and I don't like it either, we discipline him because we love him. And that just because he made bad choices doesn't mean that he isn't still a good boy. He is. He's a stubborn, strong-willed, exhausting little boy sometimes but he is a good boy with a good heart and I pray he hears and believes us when we tell him that.
7:30p.m. - I brushed Harper's teeth and went through our bedtime routine where she (SHE) turns off the light, turns on the fan, and tells me rock now, Mommy. And we rock and I usually sing a song or two (but she usually puts her hand over my mouth and tells me no sing...she's a little young to be criticizing but that's just my opinion) and we say our bedtime prayers. Then I tuck her in and kiss her with her 10 various dolls and stuffed animals and cover her up with her 2 blankets in the right order. She may or may not be a little ocd like her mom. :)
8:00p.m. - And here I am. Rick goes to BSF on Monday nights and then usually back to the shop to work late. Since we don't get to see him, Monday is usually "Harrison and Mommy Night" as he coined it. Harper is always ready for bed but I usually let Harrison stay up and watch a movie with me and we eat popcorn together. But we will have to wait until next Monday for that. Instead, after I finish this post I will be vacuuming and shampooing our carpets because they are beyond overdue since we have been potty training for the last few weeks. Once again, isn't potty training a blast?? ;)
Click here to see what Mondays were like a year and a half ago. Crazy how so much has changed!
Monday:
6:30a.m. - Woke up to the alarm clock and hit snooze a couple of times before forcing myself up out of bed. (Rick left for work at 5:30, bless his heart) I went grocery shopping late last night after small group and after the kids were in bed and didn't get to bed myself until around 1 so I was kicking myself for staying up too late. I showered and got ready and then started packing lunches and backpacks. The kids go to preschool on Mondays and Fridays and today was "water day" so I had a little bit more to pack today.
7:45a.m. - Kids got up and I fed them breakfast and got them dressed and hair combed and teeth brushed. Which doesn't seem like it should take that long but for some reason it seems to just about every day. Lol.
9:15a.m. - Out the door and on our way to school, which starts at 9:30. We were running a little late today because Harper insisted on going potty but didn't need to potty and sat there for 15 minutes before I pried her off the toilet kicking and screaming. Gotta love potty training, right?! HA! Parked and unloaded them (and re-did pig tails and put shoes back on) and made our way into their classrooms for drop-off. School pictures were back so I forked over a ridiculous check to pay for 3 sheets...but how do you not?? I'm a sucker.
10:15a.m. - Got back home and ate a bowl of cereal for breakfast and made a few phone calls trying to get Harrison's colonoscopy scheduled. Still waiting to hear back from the hospital but it's looking like the procedure will be sometime next week. Spent the rest of my time paying bills, returning emails, and working on a couple of projects for Harper's birthday party this weekend.
1:00p.m. - Left to go get the kids. Stopped by Schlotzsky's for lunch since I realized we wouldn't be getting home for a couple of hours since Harper had a doctor appointment.
1:30p.m. - Picked up the kids and herded them back to the car. A certain little someone is going through a defiant phase and instead of holding my hand tried to run away and fell down and scraped her knees on the sidewalk. Seems like they are always injuring themselves right before going to the doctor. I'm pretty sure they are conspiring against me to make me look like I'm a bad mother. ;)
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| Going to pick up Bubba |
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| they each have to press this about 3,594 times :) |
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| Notice the "Didn't feel like resting" option was circled |
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| Still crying over ice cream |
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| As Harper put it, "mean Mommy" |
3:00p.m. - We got back home and I let Harrison choose his consequence between a spanking or a nap. He chose a nap. He never naps anymore and I figured he wouldn't sleep but he did lay in his bed for an hour. Harper slept for about 45 minutes and I wasted every bit of that 45 minutes catching up on a few blogs. I came across this article and was of course convicted because the timing was perfect for me considering our afternoon. Rick and I are going to one of Paul Tripp's parenting conferences at our church next month and I am really looking forward to it. (And really need it, apparently! Ha!) I loved these takeaways from the article: "We tend to approach parenting with a sense of ownership, that these are our children and their obedience is our right.When they fail to live up to our expectations, we find ourselves not grieving for them and fighting for them, but angry at them, fighting against them, and, in fact, grieving for ourselves and our loss. It’s so easy to lose sight of the fact that these are God’s children. They don’t belong to us. They’re not given to bring us glory, but him. Our kids are from him, they exist through him, and the glory of their lives points to him. We’re only agents to accomplish his plans. We’re only instruments in his hands. Our identity is rooted in him and his call to us, not in our children and their performance." Ouch.
4:00p.m. - The kids wanted to put their swim suits back on and play in the backyard. We played outside for about an hour and then I went inside to fix dinner while they finished playing with the water hose.
5:30p.m. - It was a beautiful day so we ate outside at the picnic table. By this point somehow both kids were wet and naked and covered in grass but I just rolled with it. That's what privacy fences are for, right? :) Harper chowed down but Harrison decided he wasn't done testing boundaries and threw a fit about dinner. We have a rule that everybody has to at least take a bite to try it before I'll consider offering other food options and Harrison despises this rule. But I don't know how many times after a giant battle he'll finally give in and taste a bite and then gobble the rest up because he realizes he actually likes it. Not tonight, though. He threw a fit and I told him that his choice was to either take 1 bite and taste it or we were going to go inside and take a bath and go to bed. After 3 chances (2 too many) and his plate thrown on the ground in protest, it was bath time and he was. not. happy. Like, at all.
6:00p.m. - I put Harrison to bed (screaming and crying and yelling) and I bathed Harper and then we read books and played for a little bit. Harrison came out of his room several times and got a couple of spankings and I absolutely hate this part of parenting. But even in the midst of all the ugly I can see God working in the moment. It gives us an opportunity to talk about what unconditional love means and that no matter how many bad choices he makes or how mad I am, I will always love him. And so will God. And that even though I know he doesn't like getting in trouble and I don't like it either, we discipline him because we love him. And that just because he made bad choices doesn't mean that he isn't still a good boy. He is. He's a stubborn, strong-willed, exhausting little boy sometimes but he is a good boy with a good heart and I pray he hears and believes us when we tell him that.
7:30p.m. - I brushed Harper's teeth and went through our bedtime routine where she (SHE) turns off the light, turns on the fan, and tells me rock now, Mommy. And we rock and I usually sing a song or two (but she usually puts her hand over my mouth and tells me no sing...she's a little young to be criticizing but that's just my opinion) and we say our bedtime prayers. Then I tuck her in and kiss her with her 10 various dolls and stuffed animals and cover her up with her 2 blankets in the right order. She may or may not be a little ocd like her mom. :)
8:00p.m. - And here I am. Rick goes to BSF on Monday nights and then usually back to the shop to work late. Since we don't get to see him, Monday is usually "Harrison and Mommy Night" as he coined it. Harper is always ready for bed but I usually let Harrison stay up and watch a movie with me and we eat popcorn together. But we will have to wait until next Monday for that. Instead, after I finish this post I will be vacuuming and shampooing our carpets because they are beyond overdue since we have been potty training for the last few weeks. Once again, isn't potty training a blast?? ;)
Click here to see what Mondays were like a year and a half ago. Crazy how so much has changed!
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