Week of Money: Where I don’t understand why children hate daycare. I’d LOVE to be in daycare.

DAY ONE

??:?? — I wake up tired. Little Bun is in a good mood even after sobbing himself to sleep last night from not being allowed an iPad in the bedroom while his exhausted Mommy was trying to sleep.

6:26 a.m. — Little Bun squeals when I tell him he has daycare today. “But I hate daycare! I don’t want to go! They’re so wild and I don’t want to be wild.” I take him aside and explain to him he doesn’t have to be wild. He can tell the educator he wants to opt out and sit in a corner with a book. He can choose to NOT participate in their wild shenanigans.

6:40 a.m. — He repeats he doesn’t want to go, and I finally dangle the ultimate daycare bait I will use all spring: “Okay fine. Let’s email grandma and tell her you don’t want to go to Toronto this summer to hang out with her and bake things and read stories, or make muffins for the moose, because you have to be in daycare for this to happen – that is YOUR JOB. Daddy goes to school, Mommy is at work, YOU ARE IN DAYCARE. THEN we can take a break” He clams up.

7:12 a.m. — He helps me put away the dishes, and fold all the kitchen laundry. I tell him it is a Busy Worker Mission (he likes this game), and he does it, slowly, but he does it.

7:59 a.m. — I am having a huge fight with my partner. Screaming, I AM ANGRY. We are fighting over what happened last night, with all the drama of Little Bun. He doesn’t get why it is such a big deal for me when Little Bun does things and doesn’t have compassion and the ability to control what I call the “LALALALALALA I CANNOT HEAR YOU MOMMY STOP TALKING I AM NOT IN TROUBLE”… attitude. He just thinks screaming over me saying: ENOUGH ENOUGH .. is going to be what makes me stop being angry. He tells me he wanted me to be Happy while he was Sad. WHAT!? … CHILDREN. CHILDREN.

8:27 a.m. — I get him packed off to daycare and I head into work after dropping packages off at Canada Post – I sold a dress last night. YAY! He high fives me and waves goodbye, a little sad (he hates daycare), but dealing with it. He asks me: “What time are you coming to get me?” I tell him: 16:30. He tells me that they’re all asking what he did on vacation but he didn’t go on vacation! I tell him not being in daycare equals “vacation”. He looks confused. He is imagining Toronto as the vacation.

11:25 a.m. — I leave work early after my meetings and pick up some vegetarian meatballs to add to the pasta and cheese my partner made. That is not enough food. I eat protein, beans, SOMETHING. I pick up vegetarian meatballs that have beans in them, and add to to each dish after cooking them, and have lunch at home. $14.79

12:19 p.m. — I work through lunch, administrative stuff, sort of send a rather pointed email to a provider we are working with. This vendor is driving me insane, but  I am going to handle it. I bring it up to my lead that I am sensing reluctance and it isn’t critical yet, but it’s going to be if they don’t shape up. .. I have some rum and vanilla macarons to make myself feel better.

7:59 a.m. — I have been debating these heels from Banana Republic. They are truly amazing, and I have sort of felt a wardrobe hole of a suede pump. I find suede very elegant, not as flashy, and more comfortable than actual leather.

4:28 p.m. — I log off work and go grab Little Bun.

5:56 p.m. — At home, I do dishes, we play Hide and Seek, and then we do some Long Division with estimations while he eats (he asked for it, not me!). I teach him the Number Line to help him estimate how to round up the number and then do division. He seems to get it but we’ll need more practice.

7:45 p.m. — I do more dishes, put things away, including the laundry and then Little Bun watches videos, eager to properly name every single episode of Looney Tunes because he likes things indexed and clear. While he is doing that, I am blogging and scheduling Instagram posts.

8:40 p.m. — I finally take a break, drink some cashew milk, brush my teeth, and then I take my book and lie down to read a bit before bed.

8:43 p.m. — NOPE. Little Bun is not having it. He bothers me every 5 minutes. I have a headache.

9:34 p.m. — Time for bed.

Spent: $14.79

DAY TWO

??:?? — He wakes up and tells me he is awake, so I get his milk. I come back, he drinks his milk, I take the bottle and then… he rolls over and goes right back to sleep after a little snuffling.

6:09 a.m. — I am so pleased I got an extra hour, I am not complaining. I make tea, I scroll through IG and I organize my day.

7:02 a.m. — At least he slept in! He wakes up calling for me with squeals. He tells me he has been calling FOREVER… (so dramatic.

7:59 a.m. — I dangle the vacation to Toronto in front of his face to get him to go to daycare without a fuss. He waves good bye to me through the glass window. Sort of makes me feel bad, but he needs it as much as I need a break.

8:08 a.m. — I circle back home because I have no time, and dial into my first call in the lobby. I am going to leave right after to go to my massage appointment for my twisted back.

9:33 a.m. — Calls over.

10:05 a.m. — OMG. SO LATE. I get there, I am late, I couldn’t find the place.. O_o.. I hate being late and out of sorts.

11:33 a.m. — Time for some smoked meat and liver sandwiches. They make them so well at this deli in Montreal, and you have to order it off the menu. It is a combo sandwich with fatty smoked meat, and liver. The sweetness of the liver and onions with the salty smoked meat is PERFECTION with a healthy dollop of mustard. I buy two because I am a pig. $25

12:08 p.m. — I am currently obsessed with white oversized shirts. I feel like I can find it secondhand but I may go to the men’s section to see if I can just wear a Medium in men’s and find that as an option as well. I just want a thick, bigger white shirt as a cool oversized look, so I go and try on a few shirts to see if I can get an idea of what I want.

4:20 p.m. — I head back home, log in and work until it is time to grab Little Bun.

5:12 p.m. — I make some oat milk using this recipe: How to make oat milk … And the leftover oat pulp, I plan on making these yummy cookies with it as a treat! No chocolate chips though. I also don’t have baking powder so I make it from some vinegar and baking soda. I don’t like buying items I will only use rarely and then toss, so I’ve always used substitutes for baking powder.

5:40 p.m. — Well that didn’t go well. The oat milk I tried to strain in a cloth, got all over me, didn’t strain… I really need another cloth of some sort. No cookies.

6:05 p.m. — He helps me start laundry and put away the towels after folding them. That is his new chore.

6:39 p.m. — I feed Little Bun half a sandwich as a treat, and he is beyond the moon excited about it. He LOVES the salty smoked meat with the chopped sweet liver and onions.

7:10 p.m. — My partner is home, and we are putting everything away, he helps me do laundry and then we play Hide and Seek.

9:10 p.m. — Time for bed.

Spent: $25

DAY THREE

??:?? — I wake up a little tired. But still rested at least. Little Bun was not so terrible last night with the moving and the squealing.

7:01 a.m. — Oh good, he slept in. I start getting ready after we do our Busy Work Mission: Put Dishes away, and have many calls this morning.

8:11 a.m. — I drop Little Bun at daycare. He goes happily today, knowing that he is done for the week. He asks me when I am picking him up and I respond: 16:30. He squeals happily: EVERY DAY AT THE SAME TIME!

9:05 a.m. — Double Star day! I don’t really have any trick to getting stars – it is just to go during Double Star days, and participate in the annual Christmas Starbucks For Life games/challenges. I have accumulated quite a bit, and find them difficult to use because a Venti drink now is far too much for me. I don’t know if my stomach shrank in the past year, but I used to pound back Venti drinks like no tomorrow and now it is the equivalent of 3 drinks for me.

9:31 a.m. — I take a call in the car before I go into Starbucks which can get loud and crazy. I use my card and it auto-reloads. $25

9:59 a.m. — People are PIGS. I see a guy spill coffee and not even ATTEMPT to sop it up and help clean it so that no one else steps into it, or informs someone to come by to mop it. WTF

10:29 a.m. — Home, I log in and start working until lunch. Few panicked calls, project managers telling me  – DO NOT TAKE ON OTHER PROJECTS – because it is out of my scope and they don’t want me to miss my deadlines.

11:42 a.m. — Lunch.

2:08 p.m. — I take a break and have a tea. Then back to work. Crisis averted, they were trying to pull me on a project without realizing I am booked and it is not in scope nor a priority. Managers freaked out when they heard, and I am now back to working on my stuff again.

4:28 p.m. — I rush to get Little Bun. Only in Canada do we really see snow mountains. LOL.. Or as per what Americans have told me…

5:45 p.m. — I like to rewatch episodes of The Rachel Zoe Project on and off because what she says and what I see, I feel are totally relevant for today. I like looking at style ideas and pieces to see what I can do with layers, etc.

5:45 p.m. — We do some laundry, I leave the dishes. I can’t deal with them. I’ll do them late tomorrow maybe.

6:17 p.m. — Little Bun does math and english on his own, and then he gets interested in the Greek alphabet and my partner starts teaching him letters from it. He likes how the symbols look, why not.

7:20 p.m. — After dinner, I log in and start going through my bank accounts, organizing my notes, and spending time on my business to clean up my entries. I realize that my computer date was set to 2002 so every entry in my accounting book is ALL F*CKED UP NOW because it took the computer date. O_o … I spend the rest of the night restoring an old backup and redoing all of my entries. I hope I did them right.

8:58 p.m. — I watch videos with Little Bun while I flip through a style book – The Cool Factor – which I got secondhand and love getting inspiration from. I plan on using one of the outfits for tomorrow.

9:13 p.m. — Bedtime.

Spent: $25

DAY FOUR

6:00 a.m. — I wake up to Little Bun sitting on me announcing he is awake. Happens every morning. He sits on my stomach or rolls across my body and announces loudly: I AM AWAKE!

7:59 a.m. — I head out to run errands in between calls after I give him milk (he is staying home today). This is my fashion inspiration from yesterday and what I ended up with:

8:08 a.m. — I love this Dyson faucet! People have written in angry about because the soap suds in the sink blew all over them when they used the dryer, and they spend more time at the sink to wash and dry, but I wonder how much soap these people are using (A).. and (B), how long it takes for them to dry their hands!! LOL

10:25 a.m. — I head into a store just to browse, but obviously suck at it because I see these cute heels from Nine West (uncomfortable), and this labradorite ‘crown’ ring, and end up getting the ring. $34.49

10:36 a.m. — I also liked these flat shoes but they were labeled as a size 7 but are a size 8. Sigh. Great leather, beautiful colour, but…. not my size 🙁

10:38 a.m. — I also love these pink suede heels. They’re going on my list for secondhand items if I can find them:

11:15 a.m. — Oh the IRONY of seeing this greenwashing in a fast fashion store:

11:21 a.m. — Oh and this is my amazing $10 thrifted Tavan and Mitto jacket I scored in Goodwill. I love the draping, the way it looks, I love how the sleeves peeking out underneath:

11:48 a.m. — I try on an oversized white shirt in Large and XL, and end up loving the look to replicate that previous Olivia Palermo look and I love it. I’ll look for it secondhand now.

 

12:28 p.m. — My partner transfers over $3000 and uses it as a balance because I tend to pay more than he does over the months when we reconcile (I cover condo fees and daycare), and he pays me in advance, like a bank account. We never fight about money at all because we do shared expenses in the household, and then I get to do what I want with my money, and he with his. This is why he retired – because AS LONG AS HE BRINGS HIS HALF, I don’t care what he does with his time, or spend or not spend.

12:56 p.m. — Lunch!

4:40 p.m. — I head home, Little Bun snuggles me at the door and my partner heads out to do errands.

6:17 p.m. — I feed Little Bun dinner, feed myself dinner while watching videos, and he happily does long division with me. He has really started to pick up a lot of it, and is learning how to estimate multiplication or division.

7:30 p.m. — By the way, I love this tote from Australian label Paterson and Salisbury. I paid $380 CAD years ago, but now they’ve gone up to $680 CAD… This bag however has lasted and looks almost as new as the day I got it, with beautiful copper rivets. This bag WILL NOT BREAK APART ON YOU, unlike those ubiquitous Madewell Totes everyone loves but I think look like crap.

8:20 p.m. — I read my book as Little Bun watches video and then time for bed.

9:17 p.m. — Time for bed.

Spent: $34.49

DAY FIVE

6:00 a.m. — I wake up, get ready for work.

7:59 a.m. — Time for work. I wear heels today and I missed this badass feeling of being in stilettos:

8:15 a.m. — At work, nonstop work, meetings, lots of work.

12:10 p.m. — I take a break for lunch and have to work through it because a vendor I am working with is driving me insane.

1:37 p.m. — They’re delaying the project, or something. I don’t know what is going on, but they are not doing (A) what I want, (B) listening to me and (C) delivering when they’ve promised. How am I supposed to trust you for other things?

4:30 p.m. — I head home. I can’t take this. I end up getting dragged into a meeting twice.

6:18 p.m. — Home. I spent the last hour or so in the driveway on my phone, while in a meeting.

7:41 p.m. — Time for dinner. They made pizza <3 Little Bun watches me cut the pizza into eighths (and names all the fraction as I do it from half, to quarters to eighths), and then asks me how many I am going to eat. I tell him 3, and he says: THREE EIGHTHS!

8:08 p.m. — I read my book after eating. Screw dishes. Will do them tomorrow morning.

9:49 p.m. — Time for bed.

Spent: $0

DAY SIX

??:?? — I wake up with Little Bun upset that he slept in. I tell him it is fine and I am happy.

6:51 a.m. — I make a cup of tea, and then organize my desk, clean up my documents, and check my budget to see how close I am to going over if I want to stick to a 90% savings rate for the year.

7:34 a.m. — I download a few iPad apps for him – I found this new one Avokiddo and RosiMosi. I get him a few of their apps (they also have bundles). $11.98

8:21 a.m. — I feed Little Bun, and then clean up the apartment, do the dishes, etc.

11:04 a.m. — I head out for the afternoon after our lunch of avocado, cheese, and homemade bread.

12:12 p.m. — I head into a few thrift stores but realize white shirts should be purchased new. Anything secondhand is all stained.. Maybe I can get a brand new with tags shirt off Poshmark instead.

5:15 p.m. — I head home.

5:22 p.m. — Little Bun greets me at the door: Mommy! Are you hungry or hangry?? ..and that is the cutest thing ever because I taught him the word hangry. LOL I tell him I am hungry, not hangry.

(Hangry = So hungry you’re hangry)

6:37 p.m. — I play Hide and Seek with Little Bun after dinner.

6:46 p.m. — I do all the dishes, clean up, snuggle him and then try to clean up my emails, my Instagram DMs (they are getting crazy now and I am only at 6000 followers.. this means if it goes up higher I cannot keep up. I will have to start keeping my messages brief which saddens me).

9:41 p.m. — Time for bed. He watched a few cartoons beforehand.

Spent: $11.98

DAY SEVEN

??:?? — I wake up, tired, but happy. I go and grab his milk.

7:10 a.m. — I don’t even get to make a tea, I head out to yoga after I put away all the dried dishes.

7:32 a.m. — In the car, driving super slowly because it is SO INCREDIBLY SNOWY.

8:08 a.m. — Hmm. I don’t think there is yoga today. I can’t rely on these free Sunday classes any more. I give up and pay for 10 classes at my favourite studio. That’ll take me until March. $166.71

8:36 a.m. — I go to Starbucks and log in, renew my domain name, and work. $56.78

10:04 a.m. — I go and browse stores to get ideas. I am looking for white thrifted shirts, but they’re all yellowed and gross. I need to figure out my size so I can buy it online, maybe unused, brand new with tags. Used but not used you know? A newer shirt that was in someone’s closet but not worn. Or not worn much.

11:57 a.m. — Home, we have a treat to celebrate Little Bun getting his French citizenship papers.

1:00 p.m. — He goes down for a nap.

3:12 p.m. — He wakes up and is knocking on the inside of the door. My partner goes to give him milk.

4:28 p.m. — I do all the dishes and dry them.

5:39 p.m. — Little Bun has a fruit smoothie and then comes out asking if he can play with me. I finish what I am doing while he is on my lap, and then tell him we have to eat dinner first.

6:00 p.m. — I feed him his vegetable stew while we play math games on the iPad. Then we have yoghurt, and he spends his time making sure he swirls his yoghurt like I do, and then takes a bite when I take a bite, almost like a perfect mime. It is VERY cute. I ask what he is doing and he tells me he wanted to finish eating it at the same time as Mommy.

7:45 p.m. — We play Hide and Seek for a break, then we hang out in the bedroom doing math games on the iPad. He gets bored of that, so we end up watching a few videos before bedtime. I am stretching out on the bed while he does this, and sort of responding to emails, direct messages etc.

8:20 p.m. — I go to brush my teeth and wash my face before bedtime and my floss snaps the bond on my permanent retainer off. O_o… Well there goes my 90% savings rate for this month because this is going to cost me. I feel this strange, sharp wire sticking out of my bottom teeth all night.

9:15 p.m. — Bedtime.

Spent: $223.49

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