Week of Money: Little Bun and I work on a surprise jewellery collab!

DAY ONE

??:?? — I wake up with Little Bun cuddling into my side like a koala making baby noises (noises he thinks babies make like “Wee wee”)…

6:00 a.m. — I make a cup of tea and check my bank accounts.

9:08 a.m. — I am napping pretty solidly. Little Bun comes in every half hour and says :Mommy? Are you up?

11:08 a.m. — By this time, he’s anxious. He comes back in and says: Mommy? Mommy?…

I groan and roll over, I am so tired I want to keep sleeping. I tell him that (mumbling):

Little Bun: “Okayyyyyy Mommy.. *worried look*… But you know, when **I** sleep two hours, I am SO wide awake at night that I cannot sleep any more!!”

Me: …. Okay I am getting up. You’re right.

It’s kind of rewarding to hear your child use your own technique against you, by empathizing and coaxing rather than demanding or getting angry. I feel so vindicated as a parent.

11:40 a.m. — I have lunch.

1:05 p.m. — He goes down for his nap and I make a tea.

3:41 p.m. — I read more of my book, then I realize it is getting kind of late. What’s going on? Normally he squeals at 3 p.m. so I know exactly what time it is, but I haven’t heard a peep.

4:59 p.m. — I hover outside the bedroom wanting to wake him up but my partner insists we leave him alone to nap because he needs it.

5:03 p.m. — Finally, he’s up in the middle of my worrying.

6:33 p.m. — We have dinner, read a few books, and check on the plants.

9:45 p.m. — Little Bun slept way too much today. He’s wiggling, he’s causing trouble.. in the end I turn and tell him crossly: GET OUT, and he bursts into tears (fake crocodile tears) and I kick him out of the bedroom. He runs into his father’s arms and spends the night there being cuddled and comforted until they both come to bed. I’m tired. I want to sleep. It’s my partner’s insistence that he let him over nap (2 hours) that caused this, and here we go he can deal with it.

Spent: $0

DAY TWO

??:?? — I wake up to Little Bun in my side. I cuddle him. All is forgotten from last night.

6:20 a.m. — I make a cup of tea and get bombarded with a message for a call. Do people have no respect for the start of the morning. I ask him to wait until 7 so I can have the tea, check a few emails in the quiet of the morning while Little Bun plays.

7:00 a.m. — We have a call. I sort of hate these calls because they’re working calls, where they work on the screen while I watch them.

7:33 a.m. — We check on the plants. OOO! They grew just a tiny bit more!!! THIS IS SO EXCITING.

8:08 a.m. — First meeting of the day,

8:33 a.m. — I take a break and call my friend who is going through a distressing personal situation and I try my best to help her. I end up going late to my next morning meeting (it’s not important), to talk to her.

9:15 a.m. — I log into the meeting late.

9:55 a.m. — I head out for an appointment with the ENT (ear nose throat) doctor, and my hearing is not only perfect 10/10, I have zero issues. Good to know. I am going to cancel my appointment with the neurologist.

12:51 p.m. — Back home, I eat pizza that’s left and log into a call, working through lunch.

1:08 p.m. — Little Bun down for his “nap”. His father is getting irritated with him not trying to sleep (Daddy himself, is trying to sleep), and I have to go in and mediate, to explain why Daddy is irritated with him not wanting to try to nap at the start. Little Bun is so sweet, smart and understanding, he nods, and stops his tearful crying. I tell him it is Quiet Time for all of us, to recharge, to clean out our brain “garbage”, and to relax for the whole family.

3:16 p.m. — Up from his Quiet Time, Little Bun is finishing his pages after his snack.

4:25 p.m. — He takes a break and plays Uno with his father.

5:06 p.m. — Back to work.

6:17 p.m. — Time for dinner.

6:17 p.m. — I do dishes and laundry.

7:39 p.m. — I put away laundry, he dries all the cutlery.

8:02 p.m. — I write more blog posts. I really have to step up.

9:24 p.m. — Time for bed after some Upcycling in the closet.

Spent: $0

DAY THREE

??:?? — I wake up to Little Bun beside me snuggling and cuddling.

6:21 a.m. — I log in to answer emails. There’s a power struggle going on. Too many managers trying to decide on something and everyone has their own opinions. I just do Powerpoints all day to discuss points across the teams.

7:19 a.m. — I go through my work To Do list and make notes on what I have left to complete. It just keeps growing.

9:40 a.m. — We are talking about vegetables and food for the week and I clearly need to repeat second grade!!

Me to my partner: No more squash please. Make cauliflower instead.

Little Bun: Mommy, give me an adjective for what you’d use for Daddy’s squash.

Me: What’s an adjective?

Little Bun: *long look* Describe it!

Me: Oh. BLAND.

Little Bun: Bland means terrible!

Me: Well no, it means tasteless… but in this case, yes. Tasteless for me is terrible.

(I didn’t know what an adjective was.. lol)

9:55 a.m. — Little Bun and I head into the closet to upcycle together. He loves creating new things and playing with clay. We are starting a new collaborative collection out of clay, with organic shapes. I am excited, it could really be something cute to give away as a gift or sell in the future.

11:25 a.m. — Time for lunch. YUM!

1:05 p.m. — Time for his nap after we do dishes and he wipes cutlery.

3:15 p.m. — Up from his nap.

5:25 p.m. — We take a break for dinner.

7:16 p.m. — Little Bun starts a book called: Mommy’s Special Projects. I have no idea what I should put in there, and Little Bun sort of hassles me every day because he wants me to write something but I don’t know what to write! Apparently he has a deadline to meet…. LOL

8:24 p.m. — Time to get ready for bed – We upcycle for a bit before bedtime and I am in there thinking about clothing in my closet.

I leave you with Little Bun gems as we were cleaning out my closet and he was making me try on things

“Mommy you don’t look fat at all. It looks like all muscle on your back!”(Nobody asked him 🤣🤣🤣)

“It’s okay Mommy if you don’t fit in this skirt any more. Maybe you just need to lose weight.” (Was struggling to zip one up from when I was a size 0 years ago;  I’m never going back.)

“Can we get rid of this? I don’t like the colour or look.” (He’s a stylist now.)

Spent: $0

DAY FOUR

??:?? — I wake up needing another hour.

6:56 a.m. — We “slept” in, but really I just need another hour. Maybe I need sleep until 8 a.m. every day.. that’s what my body craves.

7:00 a.m. — I make a cup of tea and then get bombarded with calls but I tell everyone – in 40 minutes. I need a break.

8:25 a.m. — More meetings.

9:07 a.m. — Little Bun finishes all of his pages early, shows his father he is DONE and waits patiently like a little squirrel for his father to take him out to play soccer. I can’t go – I have meetings all morning, but I make a note to take the time off next week.

9:25 a.m. — He is SO EXCITED. He heads out to play soccer and waves to me.

10:57 a.m. — I manage to squeeze in a meal in between my calls, and I polish off all the strawberry marshmallows.

11:00 a.m. — I log into my next call.

11:15 a.m. — Back from soccer! Apparently he vomited all over the car again because he wasn’t used to being in a car and was so excited by rubbernecking left and right, he made himself sick. But he still played. And he had a change of clothes in the car because I am super organized. My partner made a note to make him hold the trash can up to his snout the next time, just in case.

12:00 p.m. — FINALLY A BREAK. I want to hear all about it while I eat.

2:27 p.m. — I watch part of “To all the boys I’ve loved before” as a break…it’s based off these three books

Thoughts:

1. Do not give up your dreams for any person – follow through on what you want
2. This conversation made my blood boil, when she has decided to go to NYU instead of going to Berkeley to be only an hour away from him in Stanford and then to transfer to Stanford later after the first year:

Her: I love you, Peter.

Him: Well not enough apparently.

SOMEONE explain to me WHY it is on the girl to give up on her dreams, her wants, her wishes and it is her problem because she doesn’t love him enough? What does her love have to do with anything here? Why is his decision firm and the foregone conclusion? Has she no say in any of this?

She chose to go to NYU for her dreams. He chose to go to Stanford for his dreams. He could also have considered to not go to Stanford or transferred to NYU. Maybe he doesn’t love HER enough to give up on his dreams.

(Such toxicity.)

3:56 p.m. — We head into the bedroom to upcycle some more.

5:20 p.m. — Dinner time then laundry.

6:15 p.m. — We secretly work on a Daddy’s Day Collage for Father’s Day, and he quietly makes a special card, decorates it with their favourite things (UNO, soccer…)

9:13 p.m. — Time for bed.

Spent: $0

DAY FIVE

??:?? — I wake up sort of tired. I mean, not totally, I could have used another hour.

6:00 a.m. — I start working. I have to power out this Powerpoint presentation for a meeting.

10:00 a.m. — Meeting started, I am doing the presentation and apparently am the only one who came prepared. When you tell me to do something, I’ll do it….!

12:08 p.m. — Lunch time. I am tired. I quickly scarf down a meal and then we head into the bedroom to upcycle.

12:51 p.m. — Time for his nap and I make a tea to call a friend and chit-chat for 15 minutes.

1:11 p.m. — Back to work.

2:34 p.m. — I take a break to watch more of the movie. This child still hasn’t folded the kitchen towels. I have to make him do it right after his nap.

3:05 p.m. — Up from his nap, I direct him to do his towels.

4:26 p.m. — Dinner time.

5:15 p.m. — Upcycling time. We are working on a collaboration that I will reveal once it’s done. Little Bun helped me make all the pieces, and it is loosely based on organic shapes and this vegetable I grew up with called karela:

I hated it as a kid when my mother would add it to dishes, but I have since grown to love SMALL doses of it. It’s very bitter.

8:49 p.m. — We get ready for bed, and we read a few stories together.

Spent: $0

DAY SIX

??:?? — I wake up and remember – I have to order lollypops for my mother!

6:45 a.m. — I wait until a decent hour to call and order from See’s Candies in California:

7:15 a.m. — I make a cup of tea and log in to work.

8:08 a.m. — I log in and work.

12:10 p.m. — Time for lunch, working on more upcycling! This one is taking a long time as we have to make sure it’s perfect.

1:00 p.m. — He goes down for his nap.

2:59 p.m. — He wakes up from his nap.

4:50 p.m. — We have dinner after his nap.

5:30 p.m. — I am watching a new movie – The Namesake (which is EXCELLENT) and so relatable being an immigrant who knows nothing. I remember feeling like that as a child, the only one of colour in my school… everyone else was white.

7:13 p.m. — He tells me about his app that makes him does speed addition (he’s quite fast!) and then you can “shoot” soccer balls into the net (super fun)…

8:20 p.m. — He does schooling with Daddy, then bedtime routine, and then we read books together and talk about life – anything he wants.

9:21 p.m. — Time for bed.

Spent: $0

DAY SEVEN

??:?? — I wake up.. NOT TIRED! It’s a fluke. I expect to be tired tomorrow.

6:20 a.m. — Time for tea.

8:45 a.m. — I keep forgetting to do yoga. I do a little bit before I head into the bedroom to upcycle with Little Bun (HIS FAVE).

10:25 a.m. — Laundry time.

1:05 p.m. — He goes down for his nap. I attack some gummy bears.

3:28 p.m. — He slept in, and he wakes up from his nap.

4:26 p.m. — I head out for my appointment. I get fully checked for my eyes.

5:45 p.m. — Dinner.

6:22 p.m. — Little Bun starts giving me his marketing ideas for our new collection. He tells me I need to take nice photos, set up a nice price, make sure I get people interested to buy my items and to make the pieces look cute.

Maybe you could advertise on the radio, he tells me. I stifle my laughter, he’s so earnest and cute. I tell him it’s a great idea. Maybe on Instagram too, and set up a website. His eyes sparkle with excitement.

He also wants to make a flyer (?) or newsletter to inform everyone about the new collection. This is too adorable. I want to snuggle him in all of his entrepreneurial cuteness. He reminds me of when I was his age.

Maybe as he gets older, he can be an entrepreneur and make pieces to sell. WHO KNOWS. I’d love for him to do this as a side hobby and learn how to run a business.

7:30 p.m. — We are working on our pieces. My latest ones have made me the happiest, they’re ALSO my favourites (I have a lot…). I really am excited. I could even see these as something I could potentially sell… or gift.

I am not too into money, it’s more to have Little Bun learn what it’s like to sell, package, market, answer emails, pay fees, plan supplies, work on pieces like it’s a real job. We won’t do any of it until the pandemic is over/under control/we have yearly vaccines and we have it in hand.

9:12 p.m. — Time for bed.

Spent: $0

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Want more? Read all of my previous Week of Money Diaries.