Week of Money: My first week of work

Special Note: Government to let farmers in the UK use a bee-killing pesticide, please consider taking three minutes to sign this Change.org petition to stop the UK from allowing EU banned bee-killing pesticides to be reintroduced.

Bees, I hope I do not have to feel like I am womansplaining to you, are CRITICAL TO OUR FOOD SUPPLY. It is truly distressing, without pollinators like bees, we have no food supply. I mean, c’mon. *sob*

DAY ONE

??:?? — Little Bun wakes up and I peripherally feel him but don’t want to get up or stop my slumber.

??:?? — OK fine.. I am up.

7:22 a.m. — I make tea and he looks outside, and asks: NOW is the water ready to skate on? I tell him it may look sturdy with lots of snow and ice, but unless the ice is truly a foot thick or more, it is not safe to skate on it, as it could crack and swallow you up, dragging you under the currents in no time. I don’t know where he is getting this obsession to skate on the river but it is not happening in my lifetime unless it is dead Siberia-cold.

7:47 a.m. — He informs me as he is doing his Activity Book that he hated homework before and had an unhappy/angry face, but now his attitude has changed and he is happy about it. I ask him why, and he ignores me. I suspect all of these videos we are watching about these children trying to get to school to learn, walking 10-20 km in hot desert sun every day, or during dangerous winter/snow conditions in Siberia, has made an impact on him. I will keep ramming this humility and gratitude business down his throat because it is better he learns it now, than to grow up spoiled later. We watched this one lately:

I am THAT mother. And I am now looking into a way I can donate to an organization to adopt a child (I want to pick a good one, there are so many that I heard were scams and I am currently looking at World Vision) with Little Bun together so that he feels a connection with another child across the world and has empathy, and gratitude for all that he has.

I feel just sick hearing that it’s only $11 CAD to send a child to school per month and their family has to sell two goats just to try and get an education for one child. It’s a prohibitive amount of money for them, and so little for us. I spend so much money on clothing without a single thought and $100+ could change a life.

8:30 a.m. — I start my first day of work. It starts ‘well’, as can be, as I am unable to log in to my desktop or anything. WTF. I send multiple emails, I make calls… I guess I just sit here and wait.

8:47 a.m. — Hmm. I may need to buy an adapter for my phone, it only takes wireless headphones but there are some conferences that go on for 3 hours, and wireless won’t cut it. Without this adapter, I cannot use a wired headphone $11.50

9:39 a.m. — I need to learn how to do this fitted sheet folding. I forgot completely and now I found this and want to do it again PROPERLY NOW.

10:15 a.m. — I fall down a rabbit hole of World Vision’s site, and want to do a Most Needed Gifts thing for Christmas with Little Bun choosing. Maybe this will be our new Christmas tradition. It hurts my heart so badly to hear that children need to eat and cannot, and my mother having gone through that, would feel the same. I’ll likely do a gift to them, on her behalf as well.

If you ever want to read a book that has put the plight of women in perspective, this one by Menzel & D’Alusio: Women in the Material World was my first foray into women’s rights, years ago when I bought it when I was a student. It made a real impact on me.

10:00 a.m. — I prep for a call.

10:47 a.m. — Call over, I am back to looking at the World Vision catalogue of what I think I’d like to donate to. My cart is filling up, maybe I’ll do $1000? That sounds like a nice amount.

12:31 p.m. — I do all the dishes and have lunch.

1:00 p.m. — I hop on a call while I order this book Scoff: A history of class and food in Britain in hardcopy because it doesn’t come in any other format, and I really, REALLY want to read it. $59.73

1:50 p.m. — Call over, I take a break to eat some chocolate and go back to training.

2:43 p.m. — All of these stories of COVID survivors is shocking and so incredibly frustrating when people say “mild symptoms”:

 

4:05 p.m. — We watch Princess Monokoe, an anime together as a family, as a stance on environmentalism. We eat dinner while watching it at various times (we aren’t super formal for dinners unless they’re family affairs where my partner cooks).

5:29 p.m. — I love this kind of lovely white drape on this outfit. Wow….

6:13 p.m. — Movie over, I go and play with Little Bun in the bedroom, we come up with a plan to do Collectible images for the Stuffies that go in line with the Starbucks for Life – Basil the Mouse story.

7:25 p.m. — I do all the dishes, and then we eat our snacks.

8:16 p.m. — My partner Googles what the movie was about because we’re all a little lost and he explains it to me.

8:28 p.m. — Little Bun starts his schooling with Daddy.

8:36 p.m. — What taxes pay for, as part of another ‘freedom’ we give up when we live in a community under a government:

9:44 p.m. — Time for bed after we read a bunch of Christmas books and he spies these amazing Sticker Books that came in the mail the other day, and is VERY EXCITED to play with them while I am on my long conference calls. FYI – buy the ones with Glitter Stickers. The minute he saw the Christmas one with Glitter Stickers, the other books didn’t exist. *face palm*… but he will finish the Christmas one and then start on the others, though I will admit that I bought that vintage Travel Paint by Sticker Posters book for myself…..

Spent: $71.23

DAY TWO

??:?? — I wake up a little tired, but I can tell Little Bun is trying to stay quiet and go back to sleep to let me rest more, as per doctor’s orders. He’s trying so hard. I finally get up and take him to the bathroom because he’s wiggling, and then I whisper: Are you awake? … and he says: Yes I think so Mommy... and I get his milk.

7:09 a.m. — I am logged in and working. Lots of stuff to watch and read, and I get an early start so I can take breaks during the day to do other things.

9:15 a.m. — While I am listening to a presentation, I do the dishes, then laundry.

10:40 a.m. — I take a quick break for an early lunch, then back to work. My partner is out running errands, and while this happens, I bake the pieces I made:

12:08 p.m. — Little Bun has his snack and lunch (he has started requested snacks before nap time, as I am sure he uses up the energy “napping” which really means jumping around in the bedroom and being a wild animal; then when he hears footsteps approach, he flees for the bedcovers and pretends he NEVER MOVED AN INCH… LOL .. We are all wise to his tricks but it’s fine, it’s more quiet time than anything, and he has learned well, how to entertain himself.

1:05 p.m. — “Nap” time. I think he comes up with games, ideas and has a wild imagination when he is “napping”.

2:47 p.m. — I finish another presentation and call.

4:50 p.m. — DAY IS OVER. I have dinner, and then start on my obsession with this show Bollywood Wives on Netflix. I like watching it because it’s less dramatic than the American Housewives kinds of reality TV, but also that I am learning a bit more about the culture there, even if it’s quite one-sided, white-centric and racist, as per the comments/feedback on the show. They’re all extremely privileged, rich, and ‘washed up’ as Bollywood actors/actresses as per the comments (I wouldn’t know, I am not up on Bollywood anything), and in spite of all that, I enjoy watching the show to see a glimpse into a life that isn’t American, even if it’s staged to the hilt.

5:17 p.m. — I think it says a lot about me that I am able to recognize sweaters in shows like Bollywood Wives, and know what she is wearing because I own the exact same Lorna sweater from Reiss in red and white, and the dress in green!

6:55 p.m. — My partner and I are discussing the themes in the movie we watched, and honestly, that movie Princess Monoke has feminist views, and we’ve come to the conclusion it is more a Taoist-centric film than an eco-centric or bio-centric one. These are the things that are fun to discuss and we spend the night contemplating and picking apart the film for different points.

7:12 p.m. — Dinner, laundry, and my partner is prepping for his twice-monthly leave of the home for groceries and errands.

7:33 p.m. — I ask him some words in French I heard today and want to know the nuance. He’s also listening in to my calls and correcting me (I have some bad habits in French I picked up), and I am working on breaking it, especially since I have to get back into speaking it properly. Helps to have a Frenchman nearby, eavesdropping.

8:15 p.m. — School is in session with Daddy, and I take a break to finish Bollywood Wives which ends with them in quarantine, like the rest of us.

8:47 p.m. — Aren’t these doors pretty? Okay, so they’re not insulated, they’re sliding, and I’d never put them in my home as-is but I love the look of them… maybe as closet doors!

9:04 p.m. — Time for bed after we read a few books, and snuggle, then I check to see if he’s a Stuffie (I recorded it so I could remember this), and we go to sleep. He tells me sleepily things that he wanted to do today, and says: “We didn’t get to play in the closet..” and I told him that we would, tomorrow if he wanted.

Spent: $0

DAY THREE

7:15 a.m. — I wake up, a little tired, but at least full of energy and happy.

7:59 a.m. — I love Lily Tomlin of Grace & Frankie fame.. that show is SO GOOD.

8:08 a.m. — Meetings, and then lots of onboarding stuff.

11:11 a.m. — I break for lunch. Little Bun has been really good, playing on his own, only coming to me minimally with questions, and he is being really good because he knows Mommy has to work, and his job is to go to Daddy or be quiet when there are calls. In between them, I am playing with him, and interacting, so he doesn’t feel like it is HOURS without Mommy.

1:15 p.m. — Time for his nap. I snuggle him before he goes down.

2:20 p.m. — They’re doing some sort of inspections in the apartment but … ZERO NOTIFICATION which is against the building rules for one thing. We had no notice, and they were about to just open the door and walk in. I mean.. in a pandemic? In the middle of COVID? Can’t we do this virtually? I don’t even know how this is even legal and I am sure it isn’t.

2:23 p.m. — Little Bun is a Grumpy Bun because the lights, the annoying knocking.. it’s a lot of excitement, and he squeals back at the noise which is right now triggering my aura migraine and giving me such a headache.

3:49 p.m. — My partner tells me ruefully he forgot the potatoes for French fries tomorrow. I gasp. It’s Little Bun’s favourite food, and the thing he pegs his whole week on, as he looks forward to it. I tell him: Are you going out for them? You have to tell him! … and he says: Well he isn’t going to die without them!… and I look worried. He has so little in quarantine to love, that I feel a tiny bit sad he won’t get his French fries this week. So I resolve to tell him later, and to see how he reacts. When he was a baby up until even now, he didn’t take to change lightly at all, and while this is definitely a treat for him every week, I also acknowledge it is also something he depends on as he looks forward to it all week.

4:59 p.m. — Little Bun is up, and I snuggle him, then we play together a little, before we have dinner.

5:18 p.m. — My partner is still ruminating over how they tried to just enter without any prior notice or memo. He’s also working on a final paper (?) or something, and I am trying to be supportive, so I hustle Little Bun into the closet when he keeps bothering his father to play “When? Now? Daddy when? In 10 minutes? You said 10 minutes, it’s been 15 now!“… and I tell him I’ll play with him instead because Daddy is working.

5:50 p.m. — Dinner, dishes, laundry, and then Little Bun and I spend time in the closet upcycling and painting. I’ve recruited him to help me paint over the big areas of the clay, and I’ll do the detail spots. He’s VERY keen on helping.

6:23 p.m. — I take a minute and pause to tell him that Daddy made a mistake and forgot the potatoes today, so we won’t have any French fries this week, is that okay? .. He looks at me with such a good natured heart and says: That’s okay! … and I told him: I wanted to tell you so you wouldn’t be upset, because I know how much you love them. He smiles and says: It’s okay.

Phew. I expected a little bit more drama but I feel (hope) bubbling inside of me that he is finally learning to be resilient and accept change, because he WAS NOT LIKE THIS BEFORE. Every little thing set him off. Nowadays, he seems to just be very easy-going and “okay sounds good”, which is a good thing, but also not good if it veers too far off into the “I don’t care about anything” realm. A balance is what I am hoping to strike.

6:49 p.m. — He folds all the kitchen towels and gives me a TINY BIT OF A WHINE about them and I remind him that this is his job to help. Mommy helps by working, cleaning, teaching, and so on, and Daddy helps by getting groceries and errands and cooking, and Little Bun helps with towels, cutlery, and doing well in his studies. He pouts a little but then finishes and tells me: But I wanted them to be PERFECTLY FOLDED, and I have to try and find a way to tell him that we have to consider what we are doing – towels don’t need to be exactly, perfectly folder, it isn’t like origami, but if you study or do other things, that may be considered more important, and perfection is required there. I tell him not to waste his perfection on these things, but to consider each task.

Again – I don’t want him to become a worrywart, anxious perfectionist like I was, but I also don’t want him to slack and to consider where working hard matters versus just trying your best and having it simply be good enough. This parenting thing is making me really judge my own life!

7:14 p.m. — I am this bear.

8:11 p.m. — Body stiff, we get up off the floor as he runs off unhampered by old almost-40 bones, and does schooling with Daddy, but not before he looks up and says indignantly to him: BUT WE HAVEN’T EVEN PLAYED YET TODAY.

8:51 p.m. — I lie down in bed and whisper to Little Bun that I need to really sleep. I feel very sick right now (started with the stupid alarm). Little Bun peers up into my face and then snuggles on top of me and asks me if it’s better. Then he proceeds to pat and rub my belly when I tell him my stomach hurts a little, and asks if I am okay. It does help a little, I tell him. But what I really need is sleep.

9:00 p.m. — He whispers one last time: I love painting and upcycling! I think everything will be dry tomorrow.

Spent: $0

DAY FOUR

??:?? — I wake up in the middle of the night, and I toss and turn. I can’t go back to sleep.

??:?? — Still awake.

??:?? — I eventually fell back asleep, but now Little Bun is waking me. It’s like I can’t get into sync.

??:?? — He asks me: Mommy is today a day I have to do 3 pages of Activity Book? … I tell him he can do them if he’d like, but today is not a school day, so he doesn’t have to.

??:?? — As I get his milk he rolls over and snuggles his father and pats him, saying: “Mommy told me yesterday that you didn’t buy the potatoes, so there won’t be any French fries tomorrow, right?” .. and his father says: “Yes“. I guess he was confirming my story with the chef .. smart boy. LOL

7:21 a.m. — Tea time. I go through my notes and things, and then my partner, who is on edge these days because of his paper thing, rants to let off steam about the whole course, to which I listen patiently, make “mm hmm” noises, and then hustle Little Bun into the closet for upcycling and painting to keep him busy and out of his hair so he can work.

7:46 a.m. — My partner starts the bread, and Little Bun asks what’s he’s doing. My partner replies that we are having a feast tonight with bread and sausage which for Little Bun, MORE than makes up having French fries this week. He loves sausage and bread. He excitedly runs to tell me and I love it too! Now it’s all he can think about. He’s in love with food and eating and often parrots back to me: Mommy, it’s okay if I don’t like to eat something now. I may like it later. And I have to try it THREE TIMES before I may like it. We should ALWAYS try everything at least ONCE before deciding if we like it or not.

… and sometimes when I tell him: I don’t like this food, he asks me: Mommy, did you try it at least three times? ….He also asks me what he liked as a baby, what changed for him (he hated tomatoes as a baby and likes them now), what I liked as a baby, and what changed. I tell him I hated spicy food as a child but now I enjoy it, as an example. We try to lead by example – I want him to try all the foods and I suspect he will be an adventurous eater like we are, as he already likes sushi and raw fish (another thing I refused to eat as a child and love now).

8:08 a.m. — My friend texts me to ask if we can chat, and we chat while I direct Little Bun into painting things. We can only work on 4 items at a time due to the nature of the drying box being a limited space, and sometimes we have to go back and redo some areas we missed. We do that while I’m on the phone.

12:08 p.m. — My friend and I chat for hours. Literal HOURS. It’s like we’re making up for the mornings we missed chatting. Lunch time, we hang up (her phone died, that’s how long we talked), and then I eat lunch. Then Little Bun gets in some playing time with Daddy while I do the dishes.

1:03 p.m. —Nap time, they go down together, and I get the apartment alone to myself for an hour. Bliss. It’s this time that I use to fill in my Week of Money posts.

1:44 p.m. — I think I need some light therapy, it is too cloudy outside, so I finish my post, and then head into the second bedroom where I turn on the light and just sit there, reading under it. I laughed when I saw this on the packaging of my item. Finger pulp 🙂

3:10 p.m. — After my light therapy, Little Bun is up, comes in, and sits on my lap underneath the lamp and says “Ahhhhhh” like he is basking in the glow with me…. We cuddle together and then he wiggles off and asks me to come to him in the bedroom.

4:15 p.m. — Little Bun is just.. MONSTROUS. He doesn’t listen to us and insists on trying to go headfirst into the sink from the chair, no matter how nicely we tell him, each day, for X number of times a day. Finally his father scolds him and says he’s not allowed up on the chair to eat any more, and he screws up his face and starts to cry. I am just FRUSTRATED. I am trying to limit stress but this doesn’t help, and my migraine starts. I tell him I don’t understand why he doesn’t JUST BLOODY LISTEN. We can keep telling you and telling you but it’s like you don’t listen unless I SCREAM IT. Why do I have to scream it!?!!!!!

4:30 p.m. — He’s calm now. I tell him: We are very patient. There are so many things we could get mad at you for, but some things are IMPORTANT if we keep repeating them and we expect you to LISTEN. We sit there in silence, cuddling, while he sobs.

5:30 p.m. — We watch about a Mennonite dentist together. I can appreciate them trying to live like in biblical times, but you have to change a little or be left behind. I feel for them and their community trying to stay the way they think is the proper way of living.

5:43 p.m. — Little Bun looks at me, and starts to cry (real tears, I can tell with his screwed up face, pink cheeks and real pain on his face), and starts to sob that Daddy turned a good thing into a bad thing. I finally parse out from his wracking sobs that he thought Daddy cancelled the ‘holiday feast’ because he was being naughty. He was looking forward to the meal and sausage, and he cries against my shoulder. I didn’t think my partner cancelled anything, I can see him cooking but Little Bun has been eying the clock and expecting dinner at 5, not realizing my partner would START cooking at 5 p.m.

6:45 p.m. — Holiday feast NOT cancelled, we have dinner. A FEAST. Sausage, grilled asparagus and endives, homemade bread, and my partner polishes off an entire bottle of wine I gave him.

8:12 p.m. — My mother is sending my partner videos on sourdough bread making (I think she’s trying to influence him to make one), and my partner suggests that he may try one but it’s SO MUCH WORK. I slyly eye him and tell him it’s LOVE. He tells me: WORK.. and you think it’s love because you eat it.. and I tell him: Yes, I eat the love! That goes in the bread! Food is love. He goes down a sourdough rabbit hole for the entire night as I take a WELL FED Little Bun into the closet to play Upcycle.

8:58 p.m. — Back out in the living room, I am scheduling a credit card payment, taking a break. He looks at me despondently (?) and then says: I am just looking at you. I laugh.. it’s so weird! What a weird thing to say. I pull him close and snuggle him.

9:11 p.m. — Then back into the bedroom, we get ready for bed, and sleep. It’s late.

Spent: $0

DAY FIVE

??:?? — I wake up to Little Bun crying. Another nightmare. I snuggle him, rub his back, and “shhhh” him back to sleep.

??:?? — OK he’s not sleeping. He’s up, his nose is running and he has to go to the bathroom. I get up.

4:53 a.m. — I checked the clock, no way, we are going back to sleep, it’s too early even for him. I whisper to him: Baby, it’s too early, back to sleep please.

??:?? — He’s wiggling around, making noise, singing.. he starts SINGING… and I tell him: You need to be quiet and go to sleep please. If you cannot sleep, Mommy will get up with you. He pauses, and then says: “What would we do then?” .. I told him we’d stay VERY QUIET in the living room, read, watch videos, and not make noise. He wiggles and whispers: “I want to go back to sleep“. Okay. Fine.

??:?? — He’s still wiggling around, flipping blankets. I ask him what’s wrong, and he whispers: “DADDY IS SNORING“… when in fact, he is just breathing really loudly because he had a whole bottle of wine last night and that’s how he breathes after wine. I finally invite him over to my side when he gets up for a handkerchief for his nose. I tell him: Baby, do you want to sleep on my side? I pull him close to me, wrap my blankets around him, and curl up around him. He slowly drops off to sleep, and so do I.

7:41 a.m. — He wiggles out from my blankets and warmth, and runs back to his side. Then he looks up and says in a sad voice: Mommy, when are you going to not need so much sleep so that your headaches go away?… I internally laugh, and just tell him: I don’t know. The doctor told me I have to sleep more. Did you go back to sleep because you wanted Mommy to sleep more and get better? … He nods and says “Yeah….“. I pull him in and kiss/hug him. Then I get up, get his milk and start my tea.

8:45 a.m. — In the bedroom, we finish painting our other set of necklaces we were upcycling, we take shots (he helps me take a photo of myself with each one), and helps handing me tools and other things I need to finish, plus painting the backs. He’s doing so well!

10:51 a.m. — We pick out names for each piece we finished (still have another set to go through), and then he SnapChats where we go through filters and take selfies together with funny ears, hats, and he even has a fake camel in the background in his shot.

12:55 p.m. — Lunchtime. Omelette with leftover sausage from yesterday, brown rice, and vegetables.

1:11 p.m. — Down for his nap, I go through and transfer all the photos and start the post on Upcycling: Round 3.

3:10 p.m. — I am not even done the post but he’s up from his nap. He plays on his iPad for Escape room but he just treats me so TERRIBLY. He’s rude to me, he’s yelling at me.. I don’t know what’s happening but after an hour of this whining, I am starting to lose my patience. I finally take him to the bedroom and ask him what’s wrong. We work it out through giggling and playing, and he feels better. I don’t know what happened. He woke up on the wrong side of his bed or something.

4:20 p.m. — We play in the closet, painting and upcycling.

5:12 p.m. — I tell him I am getting a migraine, and he looks at me with alarmed concern: Maybe we better take a break and clean up Mommy, we can eat my dinner now.

5:16 p.m. — My partner tells him there’s a treat – we have leftover sausage, rice and vegetables from yesterday’s feast, and he gobbles it down. He then tells him: Go ahead, have your dessert now! … and Little Bun looks at him and says: No Daddy, I want to eat my vegetable stew beforehand (he normally has it every day before the dessert).

I am amazed. What a GOOD child he is, to want to eat his vegetables before dessert even though HE ALREADY ATE SOME with his dinner. As a kid I definitely would have eaten my dessert and skipped another bowl of vegetables. I think he thrives on rules where: Vegetable Stew before Dessert, and if we try to let him circumvent it, he feels awkward and wants to stick to his process. My partner also muses that it’s because he knows he needs lots of vegetables for his health, to grow big and strong, etc, and he does it to be healthier. I tell him: EVEN BETTER. He’s aware of actions and consequences!

6:30 p.m. — He watches Sesame Street while I eat some asparagus, endives, brown rice and some chicken from the day before. Just a small bowl.

7:08 p.m. — Sesame Street over (he shuts it down and everything), he runs into the living room and asks what we should play. I tell him I feel a bit better (I popped pain medication), and that we can upcycle again if he wants! He nods happily. We spend the night in my closet doing more pieces, finishing them… he’s really into this. I am looking at what I have left and I know I can combine them but I need to think about what I want. I do have a few ideas!

8:45 p.m. — Time to get ready for bed. He brushes his teeth, I brush mine, and we snuggle in bed as I make up a story about a rabbit and cakes after we snuggle into bed and I have my Magic Bag on my chest (it really helps me sleep).

Spent: $0

DAY SIX

??:?? — I wake up to Little Bun screaming. I try to shush him back to sleep.

??:?? — OK he’s awake. I get him up, and I give him milk, then make a tea.

8:04 a.m. — WHAT? I HAVE A CALL!? I panic and quickly join. I got the invite literally half an hour before, and I hadn’t planned on such an early call, I knew I had a few more today but not this impromptu one.

9:10 a.m. — Call over, I wait 20 minutes for my next one.

9:28 a.m. — I dial in early this time and wait. In the meantime today, I have to read a lot of documents because this is a new client and there’s usually a billion things to do just to ramp up. Little Bun is beside me doing Activity Book and

12:02 p.m. — That.. was brutal. I log off the call. How does my manager do it all day, every day, booked solid from 7:30 to 6? I DEFINITELY DO NOT WANT TO BE A MANAGER. I am happy I flubbed that interview and they thought I’d be bored babysitting (managing) people on a project, even though it was for $500K, I am not sure I can do it and work 60-80 hours a week or more for that money. I am relieved.

12:27 p.m. — I am playing with Little Bun to give him some Mommy time, and then I go and have lunch because I am truly hungry. They are also using words I have never encountered before, so I am leaning heavily on my partner to explain and translate.

1:02 p.m. — Down for his nap, I continue with work.

3:18 p.m. — Oh more training. This is now data security stuff like “don’t leave your workstation unattended!”, I guess they haven’t realized this is a work from home (WFH) situation…

4:11 p.m. — I see the plan for Canada is full vaccination for everyone by September 2021, thereabouts. This means.. Little Bun could technically attend school, even if he starts later. I mean, if they stay on schedule that is, and I see that the cases have gone down to zero for the past month or longer. I don’t want to take chances, and if we reach herd immunity before then with the help of vaccines, I will feel a lot better about it. He could even start school halfway through the year, which would be better than zero.

5:45 p.m. — I do all the dishes — there was a ton from cooking yesterday, and then laundry. Little Bun plays with his father.

6:19 p.m. — I am lying down, trying to read my book but I can’t concentrate. My brain is tired. Little Bun eats dinner and then I go and try to finish the blog posts I have on upcycled items. I am pleased with this new round of necklaces and rings! My friend asked if I would sell any and I was hesitant to agree because obviously I have named them, so they’re all like my little jewellery children now, and I am not sure I can let any go……

8:31 p.m. — We get ready for bed after I read this hilarious article that the PQ (Parti Québecois) wants everyone to greet people with “Bonjour-Ho” instead of “Bonjour-Hi“, in stores. If they had a bloody Anglo to consult on this, everyone would have told them immediately how rude it is to call someone a whore (Ho being slang for whore in English)….  Why are we so threatened by two languages? I am currently struggling to ramp up my French after a year and a half of not speaking it at the office (conversationally, I am fine more or less)….

With the “2021: We touch wood!” Campaign, we offer you our best wishes in our own way so that the coming year is better than 2020. Montreal will also benefit from the “Bonjour – HO!” Campaign. which promotes the use of French. Happy Holidays!

FYI – “We touch wood” is like “Knock on wood” in English.

LOL!!!!!!!!

8:58 p.m. — Time for bed. I make up a a story about a Frog and Three Princesses for Little Bun.

Spent: $0

DAY SEVEN

??:?? — Little Bun wakes up screaming. Nightmares AGAIN. I wonder what is plaguing him. I tried to ask him last night but he couldn’t remember.

??:?? — Up, I get his milk.

7:21 a.m. — He helps me whisk matcha for my tea (I mean “helps” .. is a broad definition here but he’s trying at least).

8:08 a.m. — I am logged in and working. Have to complete this document for my manager while Little Bun chatters on like a chipmunk and does his Activity Book pages on the side.

8:16 a.m. — Little Bun makes up a game I have to play with him, where he made the letter C and the number 1 with the shape of his hands, and then we take turns naming things that start with “C” around the apartment – one cup, one cone… and then things that only have “1”, like “one Christmas tree”, “one mouse”, “one column”, etc.

9:05 a.m. — I am on my call now. It’s until noon. My partner handles Little Bun, makes pizza, and gets frustrated he doesn’t understand what Little Bun wants and Little Bun bursts into frustrated tears.

Me: *hissing* SO ASK HIM what he wants to draw! Don’t ask me! Talk to him!!!! How do I do it!?

(!!!!! WHY.)

12:08 p.m. — Call over. That was brutal. I was kicked off 3 times by the system, so I re-log back in. I take a break for pizza, then calls again.

2:10 p.m. — OMG another call. This time they wanted video and I told them my computer has a broken webcam and I didn’t think there was video so I should have used another computer.

3:05 p.m. — And yet another call.

4:45 p.m. — I AM DONE. NO MORE CALLS. This is horrific at the start, all this learning… SWEET BLESSED FREEDOM.

5:11 p.m. — I feed Little Bun as he watches Sesame Street and giggles like a maniac that pasta has different names like cavatelli, macaroni, etc. Some he has not heard before. He thought they were made up names.. I then start a load of laundry.

6:37 p.m. — Laundry drying, I eat a small bowl of yoghurt and am itching to finish my book.

7:05 p.m. — Little Bun is still hungry, so I hand him his dessert, and this happened:

Me: *hands Little Bun a spoon for his dessert*

Little Bun: Mommy, the spoon is wet.

(It literally had one drop of water on the handle)

Me: HOITY TOITY if you please, King Bun can’t eat with a wet spoon! Let me wipe that down for you, my liege….

This child will eat day old CRUMBS off the counter but he won’t eat with a droplet of water on a spoon. Oh the logic of children…

8:17 p.m. — He attends class with Daddy.

8:17 p.m. — I buy a pretty, but large desk calendar for my aunt. $24.15

9:05 p.m. — Time for bed, after he insists on quizzing the two Stuffies who are “learning a new language like him”, to ask them what words they know/don’t know to see which Stuffie wins (knowing the most words).

Spent: $24.15

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