Save. Spend. Splurge.

Week of Money: Where I am so happy I bought this Travel Scrabble Board

DAY ONE

??:?? — Little Bun crawls on top of me and gives me a massive hug to wake me.

6:20 a.m. — It looks like it might not rain today, so if that’s the case we can go out for a walk.

8:59 a.m. — My partner starts cooking for the week, and we head into the bedroom to do art. We make a few of these paint swipe/card pieces and I love the way they turn out, so we spend the morning excitedly making more, they look like this. You do not need anything fancy, we squeezed some blobs of paint on some paper and then swiped an old gift card across to make the blobs smear.

11:25 a.m. — I look up more art ideas and this one looks cool too though I am not loving the ziploc bag thing. For one thing, we do not own plastic ziploc bags, for another, it seems wasteful. Maybe we can just do it with our fingers?

12:08 p.m. — LUNCH! Fries and eggs. Perfect Sunday combo and one of Little Bun’s favourite meals.

1:05 p.m. — Down for his nap.

5:06 p.m. — I do all the dishes and then suggest we go out for a walk. Little Bun’s eyes light up and he immediately starts stripping in the living room. We find some pants for him to wear (he’s so tall now), and we end up moving onto the next pair of pants we have stored as the next size up. They happen to be navy blue chinos and he has only worn sweatpants his entire little life. He puts them on and keeps having to adjust the pants, tugging them down, to the side, walking like a crab because they feel so restrictive and tight. It’s kind of comical, watching him wear chinos for the first time.

8:12 p.m. — We get home and place an order for 4 more joggers – organic cotton, cotton and recycled polyester. At this age, it is so hard to find anything secondhand, his clothes are in RAGS. I will have to use them to clean the house after we are done, there will be no donation pile here. He definitely needs new ones anyway, these ones have turned into shorts, they’re so worn. $49.53

8:45 p.m. — We conk out early… early for us anyway.

Spent: $49.53

DAY TWO

??:?? — I wake up to Little Bun snuggling his bum into my side. I lean over and drape an arm over him.

8:00 a.m. — WOW WE SLEPT IN SO MUCH. It was because we walked 4 kilometers yesterday. He was kind of dragging the last kilometer and I told him that he could make it because if we walked, the last time, 6 kilometers with him running and racing me, he can do 4 walking calmly. And I reminded him when he was a tiny toddler in cloth diapers, this big diapered bum, that we walked 5 kilometers and the last one I carried him in my arms all the way home. So if he could do it at 3 years old, he was fine at 7. He piped down, but when he got home, he was ready for a bath, dinner and a good snuggle.

8:15 a.m. — I miss all my meetings but I do not care. Sleep is so crucial and I have not slept like this in such a long time.

11:47 a.m. — I head out for a short little break, and come back for lunch, just in time for Little Bun to nap, knowing I am home. He likes to know that I am at home while he is at home and sleeping. I am sort of like his Comfort Snuggie.

1:19 p.m. — Lunch, quietly, while on a call.

3:08 p.m. — Nap done, we check on our art with the cards, and I am ecstatic. I will create a whole series, I start with the obvious Seasons – so I make 4, one for each season with colours that remind me of each. I will definitely frame these in my new office. I can also start making cards out of this paper too, that would be much better than spending $6 on impersonal greeting cards. Little Bun wants to make art for everyone for Christmas, so we make a list of who gets a Little Bun Artwork.

5:46 p.m. — We stop for the day, and have a break to eat dinner.

6:37 p.m. — Dishes. Then chaos.

6:48 p.m. — Little Bun shirked his folding duties all day, and I lose it at night after I am done the dishes. I opened the kitchen towel drawer and said: Little Bun. Come here. Look at this. What do I see?

Little Bun: *uh oh*…

Me: NO TOWELS. That is what I see. I SEE NO CLEAN TOWELS FOLDED IN HERE.

I remind him that I asked him six times today (and twice last night) to fold the kitchen laundry and he kept flying off to play the piano, snack, roll around on the floor, read… and I got very frustrated and lost my temper.

My partner yells at me because he says he’s just a child who is not thinking about laundry or house tasks all day (good point but I still think he doesn’t get off the hook just because he’s 7 – he can be responsible at 7 I have seen it), but I am still angry / frustrated that I am taking on the emotional burden of constantly reminding him.

This is not my destiny, and not how I want to raise him. I can see reminding him once, or twice, but six times is excessive and I do not want this to be the pattern for life.

He runs to me saying: BUT MOMMY!!!!... and gives me some lame excuse about how the kitchen towels went into another basket on top of my clothes so he was then ‘lost’ and unable to take them to fold them. I call him on his BS and tell him – are you kidding me? You couldn’t take the towels out of the basket, separate them from laundry and then fold them? You could have said something. You didn’t. Why am I spending the whole day reminding you and then at the end of the day, I STILL DO NOT HAVE CLEAN TOWELS IN THE DRAWER AFTER TWELVE HOURS.

I am pretty frustrated and angry. I go and read my book on my own to calm down. I start on the new book series by Orson Scott Card called the Mither Series, which has hooked me. His original series with Ender (I only read up to book 3), was also excellent but very sci-fi. I think I am more of the fantasy genre with witches and fairies. This one is magic and more my style.

8:58 p.m. — Time for bed. We talk it out, because Little Bun bursts into tears, saying that I called him lazy, and I told him his ACTIONS were lazy, and a lazy behaviour but HE himself, is not a bad child, he is good, he is kind, hardworking.

I just thought he wasn’t his best self today and it was frustrating and disappointing because I have high standards for him, as I should. I expect a lot out of him, in term of being responsible and raising a conscientious child, teenager, then adult.

I ask him if he takes responsibility for not listening and frittering his time away instead of doing his House Tasks. I remind him again that we all have this – Daddy buys food and cooks, I clean and do laundry and work, and he has school, cutlery wiping and folding kitchen towels so that I have fresh ones to use to clean the plates and pans.

He nods, and calms down. I tell him it is okay to be angry at me, to be frustrated, but I will not accept excuses, nor shirking of responsibility for his House Tasks. If I didn’t do laundry, or dishes, we wouldn’t be able to eat and do things. You can have an off day, but this was really going too far.

9:26 p.m. — We snuggle and go to sleep after he sleepily remarks to me that this was at least an HOUR LONG LECTURE/TALK. I tell him it is more 30 minutes.

Spent: $0

DAY THREE

??:?? — I wake up with Little Bun snuggling into me.

7:25 a.m. — Another good sleep in. Ugh so happy.

8:25 a.m. — Little Bun has a meltdown and I am just tired. It was a bit of miscommunication which he then took to mean something else, and then he couldn’t let it go. Again. I am frustrated, it has been a long day… We finally go to different rooms to calm down, and the night is a blur of household tasks.

9:20 a.m. — I drink my tea and eat my lunch early.

9:45 a.m. — I leave for my appointment at the dentist, and it is… horrific. I mean. 2 years without a cleaning, no matter how good you are… you need maintenance. It was a bloodbath. I need to come back in 6 months, so it doesn’t build up like this.

11:25 a.m. — Back home, I can’t even think about eating, my teeth hurt. I log in and just work.

3:01 p.m. — Up from his nap, I still have a meeting today until 5 p.m. so I need to stay alert and work until then.

4:22 p.m. — Someone messages me this:

And then this one:

8:30 p.m. — At night, we talk about it, and then he tells me he feels better because we talked it out and resolved it rather than letting it go on.

Spent: $0

DAY FOUR

??:?? — I wake up to him whispering: And now to snuggle The Mommy to wake her up! and he squeals, throws himself ontop of me, and I hug him tight.

6:20 a.m. — I log in and start working. I like the early mornings when no one is on so I can get things done, documents, etc. Otherwise, the whole day is short calls, meetings, you only get 5-10 minutes break in between if that.

7:04 a.m. — First meeting of the day.

8:08 a.m. — I bought, and am now using my new neck and shoulder massager. I charged it up and I am not planning on going to the masseuse any time soon, so this will have to be it for the foreseeable future. My neck and shoulders have really been knotted up, and as I am using it, I can feel the knots crunch underneath the massager. This (I was told a long time ago), was good because it means my muscles are trying to get back to their original state of jelly, rather than staying as decades worth of knots. $84.99

So far, I like it. It is super bulky, and the leather is of course, cheap crap, but it is hands-free and not something I have to hold that will need to then be pressed into my shoulders or back somehow, to make the massage work. I needed something that could do this hands free as much as possible. I slide my arms into the straps you see hanging there, and let gravity pull the massager down on my neck and shoulders.

For me, it does not work as well on the upper back unless I were to lie face down and try to position it on top, but then I would need a weight on top of some kind, gently pushing the device down onto my muscles.

Nevertheless, for the neck and shoulders – fantastic. I let it run for 15 minutes, and it does an auto-shut off. My muscles are all sore afterwards which is what SHOULD happen after a deep massage, as I felt like this too when I had sessions. So far, it is not as good as hands obviously, but it is good enough.

12:08 p.m. — Break for lunch.

1:00 p.m. — Little Bun goes down for his nap slash quiet time for the family.

1:05 p.m. — I head out for a walk, to relax.

1:45 p.m. — Back home, I am logged back in for my next meeting and it’s like this until the end of the day.

6:40 p.m. — Laundry, dishes, reading. I am laying in bed, talking to Little Bun as he makes up games in the blankets with his Stuffies and sock babies (yes, he has created sock balls that he now calls babies), and we come up with stories as he eagerly spouts out facts about things he learned today in his workbook, or just in general, or recounting funny things he read to me.

Spent: $84.99

DAY FIVE

??:?? — Today’s a day off, so I try to sleep in but it doesn’t work out.

6:40 a.m. — This week has been really rough. A lot of work and they’re sending out contradictory messages about getting things done, but DO NOT FORGET TO TAKE TIME OFF.. Which is it? Time off or to get things done on a tight deadline?

6:43 a.m. — I try to put it out of my head. I don’t want work to come into my weekend relaxing time.

8:50 a.m. — Little Bun and I play in the closet, making art after breakfast. He chose the colours:

And it became this! I love how it turned out.

12:08 p.m. — Lunch! My partner makes a special lunch with prawns and spaghetti. Little Bun tries the prawns but isn’t sold, he sticks to just spaghetti. He doesn’t seem to like much seafood or meat, which is fine by us. I never push him. He does like chicken, salmon, but he finds the taste and texture of prawns odd. Oh well, ALL THE MORE FOR ME. 🙂

1:15 p.m. — Down for his nap, I am powering through the fantastic mystery novels by Sujata Massey. Her work is fantastic, engaging, interesting, and I obviously like reading series / trilogies.

4:15 p.m. — Little Bun sidles up to me after a while, and says: Mommy?.. What can we do together? .. I kiss him and say – why don’t we go make more art in the closet? And he’s very excited for it. He wants to make art for Christmas presents, so why not?

7:45 p.m. — Wow the evening flew by. We eat, then do dishes, laundry, and settle down for nighttime by doing our routine (brushing teeth and so on), then reading some math pages. He really REALLY enjoys math. I am going to try and get him interested in other subjects too, so he can see what’s out there and pick what he likes. History is fun too!

Spent: $0

DAY SIX

??:?? — I wake up with him snuggling against my side like a koala bear. I kiss his head and hug him close.

6:00 a.m. — I have a tea in the bedroom where it is quiet.

6:25 a.m. — He runs up and shows me the art he has been making on his iPad, by taking photos and modifying them:

12:08 p.m. — Lunch, and then I can’t even think of what we did. More laundry I think. Sorting. Playing. We usually spend the morning and afternoons doing nothing but making up stories and playing make-believe.

1:02 p.m. — His nap, and my relaxing time.

3:15 p.m. — He slams his cup down after drinking milk, runs up to me and says: WHAT ARE WE DOING NOW MOMMY?…. he’s so full of energy after quiet time.

3:25 p.m. — We head into the bedroom and I tell him we have to clean out this closet. His junk is everywhere, he’s like a magpie, collecting little bits and pieces of cards, coins, little stones, trinkets, pieces of string….. I haul it all out and tell him we have to sort through it all.

8:00 p.m. — Dinner, then we relax by reading beside each other. I didn’t realize he was waiting to read WITH me, and he bursts into tears when I tell him let’s get ready with lights off to chitchat about our day. He sobs silently in the dark, and through wails, tells me he was waiting SO PATIENTLY and NICELY and he wanted to read WITH ME. I turn the lights back on and we read about Improper Fractions and Mixed Numbers. Red faced, but happy now, he sniffles through the pages, and then we talk about math problems – he makes me give them to him – and he converts them back and forth as we fall asleep.

Spent: $0

DAY SEVEN

??:?? — I wake up feeling okay.

9:06 a.m. — We head out for the morning for a family walk.

11:24 a.m. — Back home, we are having lunch. I make risotto again and I call him out for a bowl of it when it’s ready.

1:36 p.m. — Down for his nap.

2:00 p.m. — I am thinking about buying Hermès scarves as art to frame on the walls. I have never really liked much art I have seen thus far, not enough to pay $1000+ for a piece and to put it up to look at all the time. Like this:

This way, if I get the scarves, and the nice collectible ones, I will easily be able to resell them for their price or more in the future. A lot of the scarves originally sold for $500 CAD are now going for almost $1000 on eBay as they became collectible pieces. I bookmark a few of them and will think about it over the next few days.

12:56 p.m. — I spend the next few hours browsing different scarves, seeing the designs, the prices, deciding I want them not too large but not too tiny, so 90 cm works, and what I think I might like, considering they are going to be pricey purchases.

3:56 p.m. — Up from his nap, we watch some of these videos together of home reviews. He loves Samir because he finds him funny.

4:26 p.m. — We play scrabble together (two games) on this Travel Scrabble Board, and then he plays on his own, creating his own board with letters in order..

When he is done, he writes an informative note for all of us so we cannot forget. He wrote the entire text out by himself typing on his iPad underneath the photo, attached in a Note document:

(And no. refers to “number” or “#” not “no” as the word by the way)

Then he sorts them on the board by letters with only ONE of each, and the ones with the most (E) at the bottom:

I am SO GLAD I picked up this travel scrabble board from Poshmark secondhand – it was brand new, nothing had been opened. It is one of his favourite toys. Also, the travel version lets you snap in the letters so you don’t accidentally ruin your board, which is what I have been fearful of.

6:50 p.m. — Delicious dinner of salad, avocado, grilled zucchini and bread, with homemade fresh lemonade (the fizzy kind!) then time for dishes, laundry, cutlery wiping and bedtime.

 

Spent: $0

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

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