Save. Spend. Splurge.

Week of Money: Where I spend $1200 on skincare devices

DAY ONE

??:?? — I don’t feel tired but I don’t feel rested. If I wake up after Little Bun, I haven’t slept enough.

8:08 a.m. — This made me laugh:

Little Bun: Mommy! Come wipe my bum!

Me: You should do this yourself you know.

Little Bun: I think I’m still a little grossed out by having to do it.

Me: Oh so it’s okay for me!!??

Little Bun: YOU ARE MY MOMMY. Of course!!!!

Mmmm hmm… I told him he would learn this once he turns 8, final answer, as he will have enough leg length and body mass to sit and balance on the toilet without falling in if he does so.

10:15 a.m. — The Grade 3 workbook sure glosses over the real Canadian history of what happened. I get that they’re only 8-9 years old, but honestly, this really shows how much we learn as kids and accept as ‘normal’.

Take for instance – Easter – “Jesus died and rose again for you”, is religion masked as education. Or the pilgrims saying “Your traditional uses of plants are amazing!” to the Indigenous that they then tried to eradicate through horrific means of genocide.

It’s a lot, and I will be amending these statements as he gets older, and asking him to read books on various topics to get a full view of what happened, not just what he is reading in his books.

12:08 p.m. — Lunch.

1:01 p.m. — He naps. I am working. It’s meetings all day, nonstop.

4:56 p.m. — Little Bun gets excited about magic squares and we work out the puzzlers given in the book. He spends the whole night working on them, and saying things like: I WILL BET YOU DID NOT KNOW HOW TO SOLVE THIS ONE!… I should get him more of these to do.

7:24 p.m. — We have dinner, we harvest a few basil leaves for his meal, and then we snuggle as we read a few more books.

8:45 p.m. — Time for bed.

Spent: $0

DAY TWO

??:?? — I woke up after him. I am tired.

6:30 a.m. — I log in and work, begging for the first meeting to wait until  7 at least so I can have some tea.

7:00 a.m. — OK first meeting. Little Bun plays on the floor with his Stuffies, setting up an art exhibition of sculptures for them, and telling them what each one is:

He also creates a seating area for them to enjoy it.

12:08 p.m. — Wow. The day flew by, it was just meetings, Little Bun doing his Grade 3 pages, and me explaining in between meetings what things meant, asking him to think critically about what they meant. Then lunch. Then more meetings as he goes down for his nap.

4:09 p.m. — Done for the day, dinner, dishes, laundry, all the usual stuff.

7:56 p.m. — Time for bed after he does cutlery “Mommy, I saw you had done dishes so I checked for cutlery like you asked, and I wiped them all by myself!“… he really enjoys responsibility and I have been asking him to also check on the plants. Only once the top soil is dry, should he fill up the watering can and water them gently at the roots, not on the leaves.

Spent: $0

DAY THREE

??:?? — Still tired. Goodness.. I wouldn’t give up sleeping in the same bed with Little Bun (he is much better at not kicking me in the face now), but he sure wakes up early. If he would sleep in, we would be fine.

I enjoy cuddling with him in the mornings, waking up before him and seeing his angelic face slowly breathing in and out, totally zen, and I do love talking to him until we both drift off to sleep at night. We bond the most at night I think. I ask him what he thinks about his day, his life, if he wants to talk about anything that is bothering him, and I try to give thoughtful answers that explain both sides of what he might be feeling.

We also do this ‘one really great thing and one not so great thing’, recap of the day. He tells me what he thought went well, what didn’t go well, how he saw it, how he could improve it, and I encourage him to take personal agency in figuring out why he didn’t finish his pages before noon, and what he could do to change it for the next time. I really do not want to be telling him what to do for the rest of his life, but I do need to give him structure and tools to handle it, and then let him figure it out on his own as he gets older, refraining from giving unsolicited advice.

It’s not one-sided either. I also tell him at night, what didn’t go well for me at work, or whatever that happened that way (maybe we or his father and I fought), and I explain what I think went wrong and what I could do to be better the next time, so that he can see my mistakes as an adult Mommy and understand that we all make them and we can only do better.

7:59 a.m. — Start of meeting number one.

8:08 a.m. — As part of their exhibition with sculptures, the Stuffies also go on a boat ride (the two green blocks in front are their tickets to go to each exhibition on the cruise)….

12:08 p.m. — Time for lunch. He finished all of his pages!

3:20 p.m. — Dishes, cutlery, laundry, cleaning. I have him take the vacuum and spot wipe and remove dust everywhere on the edges of the wall, in the corners and so on.

7846 p.m. — Time for bed. We read a little and that’s it.

Spent: $0

DAY FOUR

??:?? — I wake up actually rested!

7:30 a.m. — Meeting time. We are messaging back and forth before I just call him.

8:16 a.m. — Answering emails while in meetings. I cancel other meetings I do not need to hold – I hate unnecessary ones but companies seem to love recurring meetings, and I think we should have them when they go off the rails.

9:47 a.m. — I take a break to play with Little Bun, as he breaks in between pages.

12:08 p.m. — Lunch! I take another break, this time with tea after my meal.

1:25 p.m. — Down for his nap, I am sipping my tea and watching American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story. It was what I expected and not at all. An example is that he supported the civil rights movement when no other magazine would say such things or publish an uncensored interview with Malcom X, but he didn’t hire any BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Person of Colour) in management. He donated, but that was the full extent of it. There were no lasting actions in showing that non-white people, men and women, could be in those positions, and it felt like they profited and exploited the movement for readership. Though, a lot of what he did do, surprised me. It’s a very interesting series.

5:30 p.m. — I log off for the day after my last meeting.

5:44 p.m. — Little Bun created a very cute Stuffie Map of the world, and a little compass to go with them:

5:56 p.m. — Time for bed after laundry, dishes, folding. I think I have come to the conclusion that I need to be ruthless with what I plan on getting rid out of my closet, and donating the rest. I have to be someone who can tailor what I want to / can tailor and keep, and get rid of the rest. The problem is I think I went up another clothing size from the pandemic, so I am in between a lot of clothing sizes. What will be my final size? It’s like I have two wardrobes as a result.

Spent: $0

DAY FIVE

??:?? — I wake up and I am not tired. He woke up after me! I just watched him sleep and breathe.

6:00 a.m. — I log in to do emails, documents. It’s nice and quiet, a bit dark, and I can get a lot done.

7:59 a.m. — Meeting one!

8:15 a.m. — Little Bun taps me on my shoulder to ask me to check his work, but I can’t right now, I am doing a presentation, so I nod and tap his hand to show him I heard. This is our new thing when he needs me, he taps me on my shoulder and I show him I heard him, but there is no noise and I can keep working or doing my presentation. Before, he would ask me and I would get frustrated/irritated because I was trying to listen or talk at the same time and it’s so hard with a child.

12:08 p.m. — Lunch. And a tea break for me.

2:50 p.m. — I think I want to make this recipe. Someone posted it and it looks yummy – scallion pancakes

5:30 p.m. — Dishes, laundry, cleaning and more of American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story.

8:56 p.m. — Time for bed. It’s getting late!

Spent: $0

DAY SIX

??:?? — I wake up tired. We water the basils as I lie there on the couch and try to nap off the sleep.

6:30 a.m. — I log in and work. It wakes me up, along with a mug of matcha.

7:59 a.m. — Time for meeting number one.

10:08 a.m. — After a call with my enabling friend, I end up buying LED light masks because quite frankly, I do not see myself going to spas or facials any time in the foreseeable future. I already have anxiety just thinking about booking to see a dentist and I have been doubly vaccinated. I pick up the Dr. Dennis Gross LED mask and the Omnilux neck mask. $1157.72

I am definitely filing these under “MEDICAL” in my budget LOL!!! It will take about 3 – 9 minutes a day for this, and that I can definitely do in the mornings. I will take before and after photos at the same time so that I can track to see if there is any visible progress. Worst case scenario, I am sure these things have a decent resale value.

12:25 p.m. — Lunch time.

3:50 p.m. — I once had a fellow mother express surprise when I brought out a sewing kit and started fixing something. Her words: “You’re just not really the type to be a feminine homemaker, so I’m surprised you know how to sew.” I gritted my teeth but honestly, sewing and mending is a life skill that has no gender or age, and has nothing to do with being “feminine” or a “housemaker”. Pretty insulting actually. These are the 10 Little Bun Life Goals I have as his parent.

8:56 p.m. — Time for bed.

Spent: $1157.72

DAY SEVEN

??:?? — I wake up somewhat rested, we have green tea, and I keep checking to see when the mask will arrive!

6:00 a.m. — I log in and start working.

7:59 a.m. — First meeting. I always have one at 8.

10:15 a.m. — Short break.

12:08 p.m. — We work on a wonderful Sudoku puzzle together. I ask him questions to determine which line could be solved, and other leading questions to see him put the pieces together to figure it out “on his own” (I mean he’s 7!!!!). We solve it together and he puts the date, creates a trophy for us and <3:

12:50 p.m. — Lunch, nap, break for me. Usually it’s books, but I am watching TV.

6:56 p.m. — We clean up before bedtime.

Me: *grumpy and frustrated at Little Bun’s waffling* Just put the bloody book on the shelf!!!

Little Bun: *runs off* *comes back sobbing* Mommy why did you call me bloody!??

Me: *horrified* I didn’t! I would never! *instant hugs and snuggles* I called the book bloody!!! Not you!!!!

(My mom used it a lot growing up, so it’s my go-to swear word along with French ones. I only swear in real English when I’m FURIOUS)

Little Bun: Well I don’t like that word, it makes me very sad.

Me: How about I say “bunny” instead?

Little Bun: *starts giggling* ..…and now I have to censor my own censored swear words.

8:51 p.m. — Time for bed.

Spent: $0

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

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