Week of Money: Where I finally get settled into work (a bit)

DAY ONE

??:?? — I wake up tired, he didn’t sleep last night. I suspect he will nap today, but he’s in a good mood, so maybe not.

6:00 a.m. — We are cuddling in the kitchen, I love these quiet morning moments with him even though I am exhausted because I love him so much and it’s nice. to have him lean against me, still sleepy, and chitter-chatter on about things like a chipmunk.

6:25 a.m. — He asks me the silliest questions like: Can you think of two letters in the alphabet that sound the same? .. I tell him B, T, C, G… and he tells me NO NO! Not to RHYME, they have to SOUND the same. I told him if that’s the case, then they’re the same letters. The only ones close to this would be W and U. He nods, but asks me for a third letter. I tell him I cannot think of a third, and if he could tell me the third one, that’d be great.  No answer. HAH!

7:23 a.m. — My partner is up, I put away the dried dishes that laid on the counter over night, and Little Bun gets breakfast. My partner heads out for groceries and errands.

8:09 a.m. — I log in and start working while Little Bun does activity book. He seems to be confusing Behind/In Front when it is on paper, but in person he gets it. I think it’s the idea of thinking about the face / orientation of the object. Like the cat is facing the house, so the cat is IN FRONT of the house and the house is also IN FRONT of the cat, but for him, it’s in front of or behind of like opposites, but that they for some reason cannot be the same.

8:53 a.m. — He wants to go upcycle but he has to finish his pages, and I am working so I tell him not until after work is done.

9:25 a.m. — Also, direct messages like this infuriate me. The original post was: “It is disrespectful to use #SayHerName as a tag when referring to a female terrorist shot and killed at yesterday’s capitol riots. Breonna Taylor was asleep in her bed in her home, not following the ignorant words of an idiot too egotistical to accept his loss.”

BLOCKED. I have a zero tolerance this year.

10:25 a.m. — I take a break and hang out with Little Bun, cuddling him as he plays “Tag” with the Stuffies.

10:51 a.m. — Back to work. I have a call.

12:55 p.m. — My partner home, I gleefully make my missing cup of matcha tea. OH HOW I HAVE MISSED THEE.

3:29 p.m. — Little Bun is definitely napping. I knew he would. He talked SO MUCH last night, and slept late, but woke up crazy early.

3:49 p.m. — He’s up!

4:58 p.m. — I log off for the day.

5:39 p.m. — I have been loving this Netflix series – Becoming You – explaining how children develop up to the age of 5. It’s explaining so much!!!!! The way his cries pierced my heart (even now..) is because I am biologically tuned to hear his specific frequency of pain so I don’t ignore him, and it is MEANT to pierce my heart. Also, this making a mess thing is absolutely a way for them to learn (which I knew). I also found it interesting that kids can learn languages very easily up until the age of 7, then the window seems to close and it makes it difficult.

6:46 p.m. — Before we go and play tag with the Stuffies in the bedroom (his current favourite game), I tell him we need to work and finish doing the dishes. He squeals happily and then runs to the counter and wipes all the cutlery very carefully as I finish the pots. This was NOT his attitude a few days ago, we had a bit of a hard conversation.

Little Bun: I don’t want to fold the towels *a bit whiny*

Me: *stares at him for a few uncomfortable seconds*… and very calmly says: “Mommy has been doing your share of the work the past few days, wiping the cutlery for you. You aren’t doing your work.”

Little Bun: *looks away*

Me: Why don’t we play some music and this will make the folding more fun for you?

Little Bun: *perks up* *starts folding as I select his favourite Christmas playlist* His favourite song is: Sia – Candy Cane Lane

8:41 p.m. — For night time, instead of a story Little Bun makes me quiz him on weights like: “Is a giraffe bigger than an elephant?” or.. “Is a stove bigger than a washing machine?”

He also pauses at each question and says: “Let me check and look at some pictures!” then he makes robot/computer noises *pshh shhhhh shhhhhh* as if his brain is processing all the photos he knows of a giraffe for instance, and sometimes he makes commentary like: “No not that picture, Brain! That’s not a REAL elephant, that’s a costumed elephant!“… in regards to what he has seen and watched, as this particular scene he has in his mind is an elephant costume worn by Pig in the show If you give a mouse a cookie.

Sometimes he informs me he doesn’t have a picture of what I am asking for (e.g. alligator versus crocodile, or Canada goose), and I have to explain the sizing with my hands.

We eventually migrate to the bed and with lights off, we keep playing the game. I finally fall asleep but he wakes me up with: “Mommy are you thinking about the next question?“… I give him one more weights question and then shush him to sleep.

Spent: $0

DAY TWO

??:?? — I can’t sleep. I had taken some vitamin pills the night before, and now all of them are very uncomfortably sliding down my throat because I clearly did not drink enough water and they must have gotten stuck/caught… I finally get up and drink water to try and wash them down.

??:?? — He’s waking up and I ask: Are you awake or are you going back to sleep? He says: SHHHHHHHHH…. He’s waking up!! (Daddy). Sleeping.

??:?? — Liar. He’s awake. I could have used another hour or so.

7:21 a.m. — I can still feel the effects of the vitamin pills, maybe they also dissolved, and now the pills themselves are coating my throat, it feels very uncomfortable. I make some tea. I am slowly but forcefully sipping it, hoping it clears my throat.

7:34 a.m. — I go through my morning blog / social media routine (1 hour, minimum).

7:55 a.m. — I find this gem of a story to cheer everyone up:

8:07 a.m. — I am really happy about these kinds of messages:

9:15 a.m. — I set to work compiling a net worth post / list.

10:04 a.m. — I take a break and play with Little Bun in the closet.

11:15 a.m. — I get up, stiff from the floor. I decided to add more paint to a piece and I am liking the way it turned out. I also love the way the paints mix together – they give me colour combination ideas. Like this one:

Made me think to pair this green and lavender together: The Jewel Box Look

11:50 a.m. — We break for lunch.

12:15 p.m. — We work on a Paint by Sticker picture together.

12:55 p.m. — I work on the net worth survey, and finish it – took about 4 hours to compile in total. Man it took a long time. Here are the net worth survey results if you’re interested, more details in the post itself of course.

4:05 p.m. — Little Bun is so shriek-y. He’s playing loudly with his father, and I am tolerating it because he’s having so much fun but wow, his shrieks are PIERCING.

5:19 p.m. — I finally finish my cross-checking and my notes for banking to come up with the capital I have invested ($360K) to yield $13K in dividend income (all notes here in my 2020 net worth post)

5:30 p.m. — We work on sticker picture together, we are doing the Cairo vintage travel poster.

5:55 p.m. — Time for dinner!

6:26 p.m. — I tell him I have to do all the dishes before we can play and he runs to his spot on the counter, waiting to wipe the cutlery. As he sees me finish the pots he asks: Do I have to wipe the pots as well? … I look at him, and say: If you’d like. He beams and tells me he would like to wipe them very much. I am very strong! I mentally add it to his chore list.

7:19 p.m. — We spend time in the bedroom playing a game with Stuffies – Teaching Babiest Stuffie how to swim, playing “Game Master” with the Stuffies (hide and seek, etc), and he’s shrieking happily like a maniac.

7:50 p.m. — He brushes his teeth with Daddy and I settle in with my book. After a while, we do a last puzzle together on Patterned (I pay for Apple Arcade for this reason), and he chose one of the hardest patterns ever – the kind that repeats geometrically, so I have to guess for the first few tiles where the pattern would go just based on colour, it takes us twice as long to finish.

9:22 p.m. — Bedtime.

Spent: $0

DAY THREE

??:?? — Night terrors.

??:?? — More screaming.

7:22 a.m. — I am spent. I am drained of all energy, and will likely have to sit under the light therapy lamp again to see if it helps, as I don’t want to nap – it really screws up my night sleep.

7:56 a.m. — I log in and do blog admin work on social media and the blog.

8:40 a.m. — I have a headache and I think I need to relax and stress less. We also REALLY slept in, and I feel well rested but with a headache for some reason. I think I need light therapy.

9:00 a.m. — I log in and work. He does workbook beside me, and he asks me if Grade 2 will be more work – I tell him yes, 5 pages instead of 3. He nods and says he thinks it’s fair.

10:13 a.m. — I take a break for tea.

11:51 a.m. — I eat lunch.

12:14 p.m. — I do some of the dishes (ran out of bowls!), and laundry. Then back to work.

2:08 p.m. — Little Bun wails during quiet time. Sorry, he needs it as much as we do.

3:00 p.m. — He bangs on the door to be let out.

5:38 p.m. — I log off for the day. I tell Little Bun I need to rest, and I go and read a book and eat some chocolate alone while he plays in the living room.

6:22 p.m. — I absolutely love this look Claire Wood (character) on Hollywood is wearing. I want to recreate it from my wardrobe.

6:29 p.m. — Dinner time, and then I do all the dishes.

7:20 p.m. — Little Bun is into Doomsday Vault, the game to save Earth’s seeds while I buy an extra long headphone cord, headphone splitters, and an iPhone stand because I am seeing I need these items at home. I have a credit left on my card due to a messed up refund from the store, so I use that and end up paying the difference of $58.11 but paid $1.99

8:24 p.m. — I snuggle him as we read a big pop up book about Cities and Little Bun uses Stuffies to play.

9:02 p.m. — Time for bed.

Spent: $1.99* (used a credit card credit)

DAY FOUR

??:?? — I hear him in the bathroom and I get up, check and I cannot see him sleeping, and stumble to the bathroom tiredly and say: “Baby? Baby?” .. turns out my partner was already in there helping him. I go back to sleep.

8:30 a.m. — WOW. We really slept in!!!! I don’t feel totally refreshed but I feel better… ?

8:53 a.m. — I can’t seem to log in, my virtual machine is black. I call help desk and am on hold.

9:40 a.m. — Apparently they have to restart the computer. Little Bun is listening to my exchange and he squeals: IT IS FAKE NEWS AGAIN!!!! .. He doesn’t understand what it really means, but he thinks it’s funny.

9:51 a.m. — Logged in.

11:12 a.m. — Pizza break.

12:20 p.m. — I like this look a lot.

1:03 p.m. — I think I finally figured out a process but then I message my lead and a 30 minute meeting is suggested (groan.. I hate phone calls).

1:04 p.m. — Little Bun finally finishes his third page, but then grumps about going to the bedroom for Quiet Time, but he spent the WHOLE MORNING playing and interspersing his 3 pages, so really, he is the one who mismanaged his time and didn’t do his pages in time to have some iPad time before Quiet Time (all of which I point out to him).

1:11 p.m. — He finally finishes page ONE. And he doesn’t want to go for Quiet Time, he wants to finish working. Uh huh. I shoo him off after this page. I am on a call, I need quiet brain thinking time.

3:01 p.m. — Nap time while I hop on two calls back to back.

5:01 p.m. — Logged off.

5:10 p.m. — I love these kinds of messages:

5:15 p.m. — He plays with Stuffies and carries one around like a baby in his shirt:

5:34 p.m. — Also, he tells me he took my old post-it and made a note to himself:

5:50 p.m. — He spends the rest of the night reading this book – What’s the point of math? my friend sent <3 all by himself.

6:14 p.m. — I start laundry and then have dinner.

7:03 p.m. — I do all the dishes and Little Bun wipes all the cutlery.

7:22 p.m. — Little Bun plays with Daddy while I check my bank accounts.

7:57 p.m. — Ooo.. I really like this styling trick of a scarf over a coat!

7:57 p.m. — He starts schooling with Daddy

8:23 p.m. — He finishes schooling with Daddy and then with the Stuffies, folds kitchen towels

8:41 p.m. — I start watching The Crown on recommendation of everyone (plus the outfits apparently are incredible).

9:30 p.m. — Time for bed.

Spent: $0

DAY FIVE

8:00 a.m. — We slept in again! Little Bun woke me up earlier however because he was running around and jumping, saying: “We should ALL wake up at the same time!!!!” as Daddy usually wakes up at 8.

8:10 a.m. — I log in and work while he starts on his pages.

11:05 a.m. — He’s DRAGGING on these pages. Hasn’t even done one page yet. He wants to play now and do his pages later, and I firmly tell him the rules are: Work first, play later. However long he wants to drag it out is his problem.

11:27 a.m. — Tiny meltdown. He starts crying. I hold him for about 15 minutes, kiss him, explain the rules again, then pass him off to his father to cuddle, I have to work.

12:01 p.m. — His father takes him to have a shower, which he loves and I hear giggles.

12:33 p.m. —  Still not working on his pages. He’s off in dreamland today. I have a call soon so I am working on documents.

12:08 p.m. —

12:28 p.m. — Can I hug your head?… I bend my head down and let Little Bun hug it, and mess up my hair, making loving noises like “awww.. whee whee…”

5:15 p.m. — I LOVE Instagram exactly for this reason – a community that can open my brain and world view to something different. I posted about food banks here:

..and then I get these great messages:

 

6:16 p.m. — I do dishes, laundry, and then have some yoghurt to eat.

6:50 p.m. — Little Bun eagerly plays with me, doing Brain Quest Grade 2– a gift from his favourite aunt, and it is interesting to see how easy the math questions are, but the other ones we are slacking on are science. Also, it’s very American, which makes it difficult for me to wonder if I should care about questions about the capitals etc.

8:17 p.m. — Time for bed!

Spent: $0

DAY SIX

8:00 a.m. — I woke up a bit before 8, before Little Bun, and just watched him sleep. Last night I told him I was feeling really sad because he couldn’t go to school. He looked at me and said: I am okay, Mommy! School is at home with you and Daddy. I am okay being at home. .. It made me feel a tiny bit better but I also know what he’s missing by not being at school, yet.. I cannot send him. It’s a no-win situation in my heart.

8:09 a.m. — Logged in and working, I don’t even make a tea, I have to prep this stuff for a call.

10:01 a.m. — I kick him out of the living room (his father goes to him in the bedroom and closes the door), because I REALLY need to concentrate on what I am doing.

11:15 a.m. — After the call my partner gives me notes on pronunciation “Ohhhhhhn not en”, for “on” otherwise it is confusing and sounds like “en”, and then explaining why I should say “il faut” instead of “on”, which goes over my head but I change it mentally to il faut, and he tells me it is LA clé not LE. This is all very helpful but also overwhelming for my Anglo brain sometimes. I tell him just that is enough for today, and then I will fix my speaking later.

12:00 p.m. — Lunch. I have half an hour then another call.

12:28 p.m. — On the call, I chat with a former now again-colleague briefly before the meeting starts.

1:07 p.m. — Little Bun squeals down for his nap “YAYYYYYYY“…. but really he just goes to play with Daddy and the Stuffies (I hear that Daddy does get a bit annoyed as HE would like to nap even if Little Bun doesn’t).

1:41 p.m. — Meeting over, I have 20 minutes before my next one.

2:01 p.m. — Meeting on, another barrage of information thrown at me.

5:19 p.m. — I log off for the day and head into the shower.

5:57 p.m. — Feeling refreshed, I braid my hair so that I don’t tie it up and break it while it’s drying.

6:51 p.m. — I eat a quick dinner this time with fettucine instead -I am sort of loving the bigger noodle.

7:18 p.m. — Then MORE Brain Quest. I may need to buy higher Grade work books for him soon. He’s almost done Grade 1, but I want to finish the other books I have before deciding what Grade he has to repeat. For some reason, the clock eludes him.

8:45 p.m. — Time for Bed!

Spent: $0

DAY SEVEN

??:?? — I wake up tired. I didn’t sleep well last night. Anxiety, stress… this whole COVID thing is making me stressed.

7:30 a.m. — Little Bun asks questions about carbon and cars, so I make him read his Usborne Cars book, where he uses the Stuffies to teach them about cars (he reads out loud to them), and has them play the ‘games’ like “find the red spanner (wrench)” in the book.

7:59 a.m. — I start my tea, distracted. And then I will chat with my friend this morning.

8:55 a.m. — After my chat with her, I start my day.

9:12 a.m. — I have meetings set for today *groan*…. I kind of want to cancel it and say: Yeah I didn’t realize.… but I think I’ll take it so that it makes her feel better, as she seems to have booked AN HOUR.

9:34 a.m. — I try to keep Little Bun hushed because Daddy is in school and I am working. I give him the math book to read, I try colouring…

10:30 a.m. — Finally, he eats his lunch early and runs off to the bedroom on the iPad. Fine.

11:30 a.m. — I take an early break – my meeting is right after lunch.

12:30 p.m. — My meeting starts.

2:14 p.m. — A short break before my next meeting – everyone is telling me to watch Younger for the necklaces + fashion, and watching this video, I think I own some of them already…

2:30 p.m. — Tea break over, meeting.

3:53 p.m. — I log off early. I am tired.

4:25 p.m. — For laughs, I recommend watching and subscribing to Sheena Melwani. Her voice (and she) is a beauty, and her husband The Real Indian Dad (TRID) is truly hilarious. We have cried laughing, watching their videos.

4:25 p.m. — The network goes down.

Me: ARG It’s down!

Little Bun: Why is it down? *crouches down* Should it be up? *jumps like a frog*

I burst out laughing because he’s adorable. I tell him “down” means it isn’t working, or off, and “up” means it’s on and working. I love his fresh innocence.

5:22 p.m. — We have dinner, and he gloms onto Daniel Tiger – a fun show with a cute tiger, the kind of thing he likes to watch.

6:20 p.m. — I feel strange, like I have so much to do and yet.. don’t want to do any of it but watch TV series and get ideas, and just to float in my mind and think while I watch something. So I decide to let myself go and do that. I’ve been busting hard this week for work and for my blog, so sometimes I need to relax. I am guilty of constantly multi-tasking.

7:18 p.m. — I do all the dishes, and then eat some yoghurt.

9:05 p.m. — Time for bed after 10 rounds of Brain Quest – he asks me questions too, to test my age 8 knowledge! I manage to pass for a second grader, so it’s not so bad. 🙂

Spent: $0

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