Week of Money: Where I sign a contract

DAY ONE

??:?? — Little Bun squeals softly: “Mommyy!!!!”… and I wake up, roll over and kiss him with a “Shhh”

??:?? — More rolling and squealing.

??:?? — I wake up before the alarm because Little Bun kept crying out all night. I guess I had warned him I wouldn’t be here when I woke up, so he forced himself to wake up periodically to check to see I was there, and making sure he didn’t “miss” me leaving in the morning.

5:50 a.m. — I make tea, I grab my things to go, I get organized. Little Bun does his activity pages, and I leave him doing the last ones as I hug and kiss him and say: Bye bye, I love you baby! and he responds back (makes my heart leap every time) with: “I love you too Mommy!”

6:37 a.m. — SHOOT. I FORGOT SUNSCREEN. Should I buy some? As a spare? Should I go back? Should I just wear a hat? Do I have a hat in the car? DAMN IT. I should have kept some spare sunscreen in the car. I make a note to leave my old bottle in here – better an old bottle than none at all, and I will open a new one for the bathroom.

7:08 a.m. — At the appointment, I am nervous. People don’t seem very nervous, but I am. I am super careful with a mask, I have goggles on (these safety goggles that look like glasses, are the nicest ones I could find). WE ARE IN A RED ZONE LOCKDOWN PEOPLE. Why are we not more nervous!?!? … I try not to breathe deeply when people pass by.

7:30 a.m. — As I go to leave, there are people streaming in without masks on (WTF) so I try to hold my breath as I find space in between them. Also, people smoking right by the door is horrible because not only can I smell it, if I can smell your smoke, it means you can pass COVID to me, that’s how far your breath can spread with COVID particles.

8:36 a.m. — I go and mail a secret surprise package to my friend. An early Christmas one. $13.16

9:27 a.m. — I am waiting for the doors to open so I can return this XS dress that is far too tight, as I kept the Medium one.

10:05 a.m. — As I go up to the doors I see their times are now ELEVEN? NOT TEN? WTF. Why so late? I’d mail it back but they dock a $8 return fee which I am NOT WILLING TO PAY. I will just have to come back next week, return it in person, and be done with ever shopping with them again during COVID. Frustrated, I get back in the car and go home – I could have been home sooner, if not for this. Their websites are so unreliable.

10:37 a.m. — I am home, having lunch after a long shower (and I also do laundry on our clothes immediately).

11:05 a.m. — We have some more banana bread

1:01 p.m. — Time for his nap, after he plays a bit on Escape Room (he SOLVED ANOTHER PUZZLE that was truly.. well.. puzzling me with these rotating circles moving in strange ways).

3:30 p.m. — He’s still napping while I work on the blog – I am scheduling posts, updating ones like this one, and trying to stay on top of the To Do list.

3:48 p.m. — He’s up! And he marvels at how long he slept. He sits on my lap as we watch another video on how these children go to school, this time the Philippines:

4:57 p.m. — After the video, it’s dinnertime. He plays Escape Room as I feed him and help him.

5:34 p.m. — I go and do all the dishes, and make dinner for myself by warming up food.

6:59 p.m. — Dishes done, laundry washing, I throw it in the dryer. I have to do laundry again tomorrow.

7:20 p.m. — He sits on my lap and plays more Escape Room as I help him through some levels.

8:31 p.m. — We play Stuffie Hide and Seek (he’s giggling like mad), and that occupies him for a while before I beg for a break to read my book (if I am going to be working soon, I need to finish these books!), while he plays with two origami frogs I folded for him and asks me who I think will win the races as he makes them hop.

8:45 p.m. — I get him ready for bed, we read more pages of the History Book (he really loves it, but how much he understands is another story), and we go to sleep. I am drifting off to sleep as he asks me: “What shall we talk about? … ” He asks me about an animal (I think), and I respond sleepily, and drop off to sleep.

Spent: $13.16

DAY TWO

??:?? — I wake up to the neighbour getting ready in the morning, stomping like an elephant. She takes at least 7 tries back and forth from the bathroom to her closet (?) to get ready. We can hear the stomps. Then it ends with her stomping in high heels.

6:38 a.m. — Tired, but awake.. Little Bun says grumpily: Now I want to make her unhappy for making all this noise!

7:18 a.m. — I spend the morning reviewing contracts.

7:53 a.m. — I email back with 5 changes and am texting, only to discover my friend is also working on the same project. At least I’ll know someone. She says it’s hellish but she’s in another area, so… their section is usually swamped with a lot of work. There are ALWAYS changes to be made to these contracts because they always put things that are favourable for their company (obviously) and not for yours. My philosophy is if it is good for the gander, it’s good for the goose as well. I don’t ask for ridiculous changes, just fair ones.

8:09 a.m. — I’ve also always kept this in mind:

8:24 a.m. — Little Bun turns into an angry baby hippo because he is counting in his activity book but we are talking so he is “distracted”. He gets scolded by both of us because school will NOT be quiet. He has to learn to deal with noise and focus ON HIS WORK.

9:12 a.m. — My partner heads out to buy flour, and I clean the kitchen and do laundry. Little Bun helps by folding all the kitchen towels.

10:40 a.m. — I spend the morning snapping new pictures because I have to ramp up on all of my posting to go well into January so that I can leisurely post things and still keep up this demanding schedule for the blog (twice a day, one outfit shot), and social media (three times on Instagram).

12:05 p.m. — I prep Little Bun before his nap to warn him I will be in a call, in a LOCKED ROOM for about 20 minutes after he wakes up at three. He nods, and I remind him again.

2:49 p.m. — This sums up how I feel.

3:02 p.m. — I do a short interview with a radio show. He blindsided me with new questions I didn’t prep for – what do I want to talk about / not talk about, and I had to come up with something on the fly. Little Bun was a champ. Didn’t knock, didn’t bother me, waited until I came out.

6:49 p.m. — Little Bun wails in the bedroom. My partner goes, alarmed to see what happened. He runs out crying, all pink-faced, and I get out of him that he tried to play a video but the file format was wrong (?) and he tried to fix it by renaming it, and it didn’t work. He thought that it was his fault and he ruined it, so he started crying in frustration. I go and soothe him and tell him it was a bad file, and he did NOTHING WRONG. I tell him that I would have been frustrated as well. He stops crying and I even get him to giggle a little.

7:01 p.m. — I do all the dishes and have dinner.

7:45 p.m. — He plays spinning tops with his father but attacks them with blocks and his father gets upset because it’s too rough like he wants to snap and break things all the time and refuses to play. He starts to cry and I cuddle him. Nothing I can do. His idea of “playing” is to be rough sometimes. He has to learn that not everything has to break to be fun.

8:41 p.m. — We watch a few videos on beavers together that my mother sent him, and then we go and get ready for bed, he is eager to hear more “history facts” from the book.

Spent: $0

DAY THREE

??:?? — I wake up tired. Little Bun was giggling in his sleep last night and it woke me up. And my partner snored for the first time in years, and I had to keep saying: SHHHHHHH because it was so loud.

7:21 a.m. — Tea. I need tea. And I have to prep for my upcoming work.

7:30 a.m. — Little Bun is on my lap, and he is UPSET AT ME for tapping on my phone while he is talking. “I can’t hear! Your tapping noise is distracting me!”…. I scold him and tell him it’s his problem to learn to focus not mine. Not everyone will always give in to him all the time like we do, and I wasn’t even singing or being loud, I was TAPPING ON A PHONE. He should look away if he is distracted!

8:43 a.m. — I finish reviewing and signing the contracts.

8:59 a.m. — He finishes his Activity Pages and we head into the closet to play. I won’t be able to do this with him during the week any more, he will have to stay out in the living room and work on quiet activities, none of which I can think of right now.

10:12 a.m. — I place a huge order for Sticker Painting books, where you peel stickers to complete paintings. $80.71

12:00 p.m. — Pizza time! Little Bun stayed in the kitchen the whole time as my partner was grating the cheese, so he could eat the nub of it at the end. He snatches it out of my partner’s hand like a hungry raccoon.

1:24 p.m. — I read more of this massive book I got. And I basically eat all the Pocky my friend sent me, not sharing a single stick with Little Bun, that monster:

I don’t share because.. I am also a mean Mommy.

5:28 p.m. — We have dinner then he watches Sesame Street.

7:55 p.m. — He asks for an “Easter Egg Stuffie”, so I make one for him and he loves it

8:20 p.m. — The Stuffies also get a home upgrade and are living THEIR BEST LIFE on these block hammock beds I made for them for their home. Wish I were a Stuffie. LOL

Spent: $80.71

DAY FOUR

??:?? — I wake up tired. Little Bun is squee-ing like a baby after trying very hard for 20 minutes to go back to sleep so he could “let me sleep in”.

6:20 a.m. — I cuddle him and he starts on his activity book while sitting on my lap.

6:36 a.m. — My legs are numb. I make some tea.

7:12 a.m. — He finishes two pages, then takes a break and plays with blocks.

7:44 a.m. — He finishes his last page, and then I do dishes.

8:25 a.m. — I get him in the second bedroom and test out a campsite underneath the desk for him. This would be great if I am on a call and need him to be quiet, he can sit underneath while I work.

8:58 a.m. — I set up and start taking photos of my outfits for future posts while my partner attends school. I have to do a lot of these things ahead of time to be sure I am organized and on top of things in case weeks get out of control and I can slack a week or two.

9:39 a.m. — He breaks my necklace, comes up to me nervously and says: “Mommy? I broke your necklace. I’m sorry I did it, can I hug you please?” … and I respond with shock (HOW!?!).. and then I breathe in deep, hug and kiss him, and then just stand there, keeping it together, not screaming. At least it wasn’t expensive. I tell him to go back under the table to finish his shows.

11:10 a.m. — I finish up, and then I tell him to come to me. I hug him and tell him it’s okay. He broke my necklace but it’s okay, I still love him and he’s still a good boy even if he did that.

He says: I KNOW MOMMY. I can break ANYTHING and you’ll still love me. *hearts in eyes*

Me: … Um.. this is not.. something you should test please. LOL

This is why I have this huge backpack:

Because it is stuffed full with chocolate:

11:10 a.m. — I then get hungry, we head out to eat lunch (my partner’s schooling is over), and then I do all the dishes while we get annoyed at paediatricians saying that closing schools won’t help people much, and it’s going to hurt the kids more. These comments say EXACTLY HOW I FEEL:

1:02 p.m. — He goes down for his nap, while I do some administrative work.

2:30 p.m. — Then I head into the bedroom and chomp off 1/3 of my chocolate bar while I scroll on Instagram

3:28 p.m. — This is incredibly funny.

4:40 p.m. — I do all the dishes, then laundry.

5:26 p.m. — I organize my desk, make notes to myself. I have to prep for working coming up.

7:40 p.m. — Time for bed after we play Stuffie games with Treasure Hunt, I fold a few origami animals for him..

8:12 p.m. — We read books before bedtime.

Spent: $0

DAY FIVE

??:?? — I wake up tired, but I haul myself up, and start a tea after Little Bun is up.

7:25 a.m. — Me marveling at him in the light: “You look different today!” (He does, he looks more like a little boy… less baby.) Little Bun: “I am growing up”, he tells me authoritatively.

7:36 a.m. — Love this library inspiration. This one is very ornate but it spoke to me with the colours and the general shabby yet elegant feel.

I just like the books as like an art piece:

A book nook!

8:45 a.m. — I go with Little Bun into the bedroom and start cleaning up. He asks me very hopefully: Mommy is there ANYTHING I can do to help you today? Anything you need my help with? Maybe with documents for Grandma? (He knows I have been working on things for her). I pause, and tell him I don’t need anything right now but will go through my list and see.

9:30 a.m. — We finish vacuuming and cleaning – I think we will do the bathroom tomorrow – and then we break for eating.

9:51 a.m. — THIS IS SO NICE!!!!! Thank you <3

10:11 a.m. — In my closet, Little Bun redecorates my display section for me and says: I put a heart ring there for you to remind you of love because this ring reminds you of love and of me…. (true) … and I put the earth style ring there because EVERY DAY IS EARTH DAY and we should always take care of the Earth that we have.

12:01 p.m. — After lunch we answer emails from grandma (I made his own email address for him so she can receive emails and write to him directly), and she sends him video links of things to watch. He’s so incredibly loved.

1:03 p.m. — He goes down for his nap.

1:14 p.m. — I log on and am enamoured! I FOUND THE HOLY GRAIL OF WHITE COATS! I have wanted a coat like this for such a long time, white wrap, stunning. And it’s brand new. I end up paying for this lovely Max Mara Rapallo coat. $851.94

1:26 p.m. — I power through a chocolate bar and finish a good chunk of this insufferably long book, with interesting snippets/excerpts. I plan on compiling a post of interesting snippets later on after I finish the book with thoughts.

3:50 p.m. — He runs around the apartment hollering: SOUP SOUP SOUP TIME! *jumps like a kangaroo*

4:05 p.m. — I feed him as he plays Escape Room (it’s our thing, he hates eating alone, so I just feed him like a baby. I know. I am soft. He is perfectly fine to feed himself with trickier foods and so on, but he just likes it when I do it as we also spend time together.)

5:41 p.m. — He practices with spinning tops. He was so frustrated yesterday he couldn’t do it and I scolded him because he thinks he should be perfect on the first try, and I tell him HARD WORK PAYS OFF. Practice, and observe, and try again. He finally gets 6 of them to twist and spin, and he lights up. I take the opportunity to remind him: Remember how frustrated you were yesterday? Now you’ve got it. See? Your hard work paid off. Be patient. Keep trying. Practice. Don’t give up.

6:20 p.m. — My partner starts making dough for a “cake” (a bread, a real bread tomorrow), and Little Bun squeals: DADDY IS MAKING CAKE! And it’s YOUR FAVOURITE!!!!! (Banana).

7:30 p.m. — I do all the dishes.

8:45 p.m. — We get ready for bed.

Spent: $851.94

DAY SIX

??:?? — I wake up tired. Little Bun is just squealing at night and interrupting my sleep, so that doesn’t help.

6:23 a.m. — We cuddle and I try to log in and do work. I am spreading out all of my outfit shots over to every other day now, in an attempt to give myself breathing room/space, and will likely only do Youtube videos once a month for my hauls.

7:09 a.m. — I make a matcha latte then do blog administrative work.

8:48 a.m. — I try to read my book, but Little Bun wants to play, so we play Patterned together and he makes a pretty diamond + galaxy pattern for his Aunty.

9:20 a.m. — We take a break after we do a few patterns and then he runs out on a whim and says: I want to make a pretty picture for you!… and spends the next 20 minutes trying to create the PERFECT picture (he stopped and started many times, I heard a lot of paper crumpling and grunting, and even a bit of crying because he couldn’t get it right).

He comes back with this: It’s a Mommy & Daddy Love picture.

11:05 a.m. — We stop for lunch and then he runs back into the bedroom and I set him up with some books and we finish reading A Visual Hug 2.

12:58 p.m. — He gets ready for his nap after playing on Snapchat while I try to read my book Distinction (it’s 600 pages and crazy long…).

3:05 p.m. — I start and cannot stop, I finish another book (light chicklit) during my break.

5:21 p.m. —  Some fashion inspiration for being a little over the top. Fringe, tasseled skirt thing looks good…

And I really like this sequined jacket!

5:21 p.m. — I do all the dishes and Little Bun wipes the cutlery down.

5:40 p.m. — I start on laundry.

6:59 p.m. —  We vacuum together.

6:37 p.m. — I set him up with Sesame Street and try to get some work done – emails, blog admin, etc.

8:28 p.m. — He goes and brushes his teeth.

8:53 p.m. —  We put laundry away and then get ready for bed.

Spent: $0

DAY SEVEN

??:?? — I wake up tired. Little Bun was having nightmares all night. Squealing, and I had to cuddle him back to sleep each time.

7:58 a.m. — He wakes up grumpy and tells me: “BUT I SLEPT IN SOOOOOO LATE“… and I tell him he woke up a lot so it doesn’t really even out.

8:13 a.m. — I make tea, we cuddle, we chat about things, he asks me questions and says: Pizzeria but for some reason I heard “Pizza Area”… and I got very confused, which made him get angry at me for misunderstanding. He says angrily: YOU SHOULD UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING I SAY TO YOU… and I snap back: I don’t! That’s why I asked you nicely to repeat it or spell it because I do not understand!

8:47 a.m. — My partner starts on the banana bread (a real bread, not even CLOSE to a cake… there is no butter, eggs or much sugar).

10:11 a.m. — I get ready to go out to return some things.

11:45 a.m. — I finish my returns and then head home.

12:58 p.m. — I get home and realize they SHORT CHANGED ME $60 in the return and I spend the morning calling them. All the reps are more than useless and I get so angry, I stop calling and take a breather.

2:31 p.m. — I watch more shows, and then decide I will read my book. I break into the maple syrup candies:

3:03 p.m. — Little Bun up, he knocks and screams: YAYYYYYYYY!

7:56 p.m. — We finish the book on History, and he insists on messaging Auntie to tell her: Dear Auntie, I finished your 100 Things to Know about History Moments book. I loved it. I will read the Emotions book next. Love, Little Bun.

I am teaching him manners in responding back in kind to gifts, to thank them, to send them thank you notes, holiday notes, cards, etc.

6:54 p.m. — I read the book throughout the day and make it almost to the end. This reading is purely powered by chocolate and sugar.. and I am now telling Little Bun that WTF is “Why The Face” from Modern Family’s Phil Dunphy.

7:56 p.m. — Together, we go through the Emotions book my friend sent, and we discuss points in there like what Anxiety is, How to recognize it, How to deal with it. It’s SUCH a good book with cartoons for both adults, young adults, and children alike. We talk about what makes him sad, or angry, or nervous, and I give him examples of my own too.

8:54 p.m. — Time for bed. We really talked a LOT about emotions.

Spent: $0

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