Week of Money: Where I wonder where Little Bun got his cleaning gene (hint: it’s not from me)

DAY ONE

??:?? — I wake up to Little Bun snuggling me.

7:30 a.m. — I log in and start working. This has been one of the toughest months to transition to another team entirely. I don’t even know where to begin. But this week should start to ease off as now I am less green.

8:08 a.m. — Meetings all morning. Little Bun comes out periodically to hug me, say hello, and just hang.

12:22 p.m. — Lunch time.

1:07 p.m. — Down for his Quiet Time / Nap.

2:51 p.m. — Up from his nap, he bounces out of the bedroom.

3:40 p.m. — We were talking about being food for some reason, and I thought about people being cakes

Little Bun: Mommy, would you consider me to be a vegan almond butter cake with rum?

Me: Well.. yes, considering it is your favourite cake right now!!

Little Bun: *beams* And you would be a Japanese cheesecake, because that’s your favourite!

5:12 p.m. — I log off. Dinner of trying pita bread with beans and rice and we conclude that the burritos were better as they were softer and chewier. It was still yummy and filling.

6:25 p.m. — We play Wordle after I do the dishes.

8:54 p.m. — Bedtime routine, and then we go to bed.

Spent: $0

DAY TWO

??:?? — I wake up earlier and head out to the living room.

6:25 a.m. — Little Bun wakes up a few minutes after me and comes out, rubbing his eyes in the hallway. I grab him, we sit down and cuddle in the hallway, like when he was little, and woke me up at 4 a.m. or 5 a.m. He leans into me, closes his eyes, and I just hold him, and smell his head. One day he will be way too tall and big for me to do this!!

7:30 a.m. — I log in and start working.

8:08 a.m. — Little Bun as he drinks his milk, tells me: Mommy, I wish it were the weekend so we could do chores and clean the bathroom again, together.

Me: Whose.. child… are you..? LOL

12:22 p.m. — Lunch time, a small one, I am not quite that hungry from last night’s pita fest.

1:00 p.m. — Down for his Quiet Time / Nap.

2:18 p.m. — A lot of these meetings could have been a simple email. It actually flabbergasts me that people would rather be in a half an hour meeting than to simply say: No, because …… I am taking deep breaths.

2:51 p.m. — Up from his nap, he bounces out of the bedroom.

4:30 p.m. — I am in calls all afternoon and then I log off.

5:12 p.m. — Laundry, and I forgot to do a load of towels for the kitchen. I make a note to do it today. Little Bun is wiping down cutlery after I do all the dishes. We just let them air dry on the counter.

6:25 p.m. — Little Bun grabs a storybook – The Little Engine that could – and hides it behind his back. He is so cute, he tells the Stuffies about his day, and also likes to surprise them with treats and things.

Little Bun: STUFFIES!! I have a surprise for you!!!

Stuffies: What? What is it? A book!?

Little Bun: Yes, can you guess which one?

Stuffies: Is it about cookies? Is it about muffins?

Little Bun: NO!!! It’s a TRAIN!

Stuffies: YAYYY!!!!!

Little Bun grabs them up in his arms, and sits down in my lap (he still does this, to this day, for story time, to lean back against me and snuggle while we read), and we go through the story, with the Stuffies inserting cheeky commentary.

8:54 p.m. — Bedtime routine of Wordle with Daddy, and then we go to bed.

Spent: $0

DAY THREE

7:30 a.m. — I log in and start working after waking up. Little Bun wakes up a few minutes later, so we cuddle in the hallway together while he gets used to the light. Then he has his glass of milk and I make a tea.

8:08 a.m. — MEETINGS.

8:33 a.m. — I am really struggling. The pressure is intense.

12:22 p.m. — Lunch time. I stuff myself with brown rice and brussel sprouts.

1:01 p.m. — Down for his Quiet Time / Nap.

2:51 p.m. — Up from his nap, he bounces out of the bedroom and goes right for his snack on the counter. He doesn’t knock any more, he just comes out and does his own thing.

6:25 p.m. — I finally log off and we have a light dinner together. I think I ate yoghurt. I had a recent check with a dermatologist, and he told me my skin was 100% free of bacteria. I credit this 100% to using the Dennis Gross LED mask, which I guess helps people who have acne from bacteria, but alas, mine are likely hormonal which is why I am still getting acne.

He suggested I cut out dairy and see how it goes. Good bye milk, after I finish the last of the bottles in the fridge. I will try it for 2 weeks to see if it helps. I REALLY love milk in my matcha lattes in the morning, and finding a replacement is going to be very hard for me, as I will not buy the supermarket plant milks as they are all packaged in cartons or plastic.

If I could find it made in glass, I would buy it instead of making it, and my concern is with the microplastics leeching out of these cartons, as they, and disposable coffee cups, and anything that holds liquid, are ALL lined in plastic. The alternative is lining them in beeswax to make them impermeable, but no one wants to pay for this (imagine the cost!), so it’s plastic, and it’s leeching into our bodies. I wonder if plant plastic would be better… probably. At any rate, for all liquid products we ingest, we avoid buying them in plastic.

Long story short – unless I can make plant milk at home to substitute that tastes good, I have to either give this tea up completely or stick to cow’s milk in a glass bottle.

8:54 p.m. — Bedtime routine, and then we go to bed.

Spent: $0

DAY FOUR

7:30 a.m. — I log in and start working. Calls all morning, ENDLESS. I haven’t even really felt the urge to read, or do any beading whatsoever, which shows my exhaustion / fatigue level.

11:25 a.m. — Little Bun: ” OH MAN I wish today was the weekend so we could do a cleaning chore together! ”

Me: … Who.. whose child are you? LOL I mean… who says this?

We end up doing a little cleaning during a break because he was really in the mood.

12:22 p.m. — Lunch time. We have mashed potatoes, red peppers and onions. This is a surprisingly delicious combination.

12:57 p.m. — Down for his Quiet Time / Nap.

2:51 p.m. — Up from his nap, he drinks his milk, then goes through the drills with his father for math and goes on “adventures”. His father is taking a more active role in his schooling ever since I sort of complained that I was doing all of it, which did not seem fair. So every afternoon, they do an hour of active schooling together.

3:30 p.m. — I shush them as I go into another call. They’re giggling to the side, and I have to shush them again, to the amusement of my colleague.

5:45 p.m. — Dinner, dishes and laundry. Little Bun is wiping down cutlery, and then I tell him to go fold the towels and do the rest of the laundry.

8:54 p.m. — Bedtime routine, and then we go to bed.

Spent: $0

DAY FIVE

7:30 a.m. — I log in and start working. LAST DAY!

9:45 a.m. — I sometimes browse on Instagram or Pinterest when I am on calls that I don’t need to be on, but have to half pay attention to. I wonder if this feeds into attention deficit disorder. I feel like I may be developing one out of habit, though I will say when I need to concentrate, I can, and for long periods of time if needed, as long as I am interested in the subject (or feeling forced to be interested), like doing my taxes, or working on documents for work.

12:22 p.m. — Lunch time, I take a break and realize Anne Bishop has a new book out – CROWBONES – her work is just spectacular for the genre of thriller / fantasy. I have liked every single one of her books, some more than others, but she is just such a superlative author.

12:55 p.m. — Down for his Quiet Time / Nap.

2:51 p.m. — Up from his nap, he comes out of the bedroom quietly, drinks his milk, and goes into schooling with his father while I work.

5:07 p.m. — I log off.

5:50 p.m. — For dinner, Little Bun is so spoiled by us, that he only really likes the tips of the asparagus – soft, tender, delicious – and always makes a face when he is chewing the stalks near the ends, as they are a bit more fibrous and he hates feeling them caught in between his teeth (guess he would also hate popcorn, like I do).

So I end up being The Mommy, and I give him my asparagus tips and take his stalks.

We really did hope he would like the stuff we did not, but alas, he is truly our baby.

8:54 p.m. — Bedtime routine, and then we go to bed.

Spent: $0

DAY SIX

5:48 a.m. — I log in and just sit there, watching videos and blog. IT IS THE WEEKEND

7:50 a.m. — I try to catch up on blog work but I have just been so drained lately, now I have Posts to Write piling up.

8:47 a.m. — I start in on Bishop’s book. Once I start, I won’t stop, this is why I need a block of time.

12:22 p.m. — Lunch time. I am still reading while eating (it’s a bad habit we all picked up as kids in my family).

12:55 p.m. — Down for his Quiet Time / Nap.

2:51 p.m. — Up from his nap, he comes out of the bedroom. His father tells him to pull up a chair for school and Little Bun, horrified says: BUT PAPA, IT IS THE WEEKEND…!!!

His father laughs, as he forgot. We are all getting our days mixed up now, in a big panini blur.

5:50 p.m. — Dinner ends up being a “feast” of burritos and yumminess. THIS IS OUR FAVOURITE MEAL NOW! My partner has gone 99.99999% vegan because of his gastrointestinal issues. Going vegan doesn’t trigger them, so he just gave it up for himself, but will continue to cook meat for us if we want (and we do just not all the time). This is one of the main meals we can eat together, and love as a family.

I get this message about the burritos, and actually, I think they’re the best vegetarian/vegan wrap you can make and stuff FULL OF VEGETABLES. And it’s yummy. Throw on the salsa, add cilantro (we cannot, my partner is in that 10% of people who vomit at the smell of it, let alone the taste), and avocado, with beans and rice, and it is truly a delicious meal.

(Pickled shallots are what make the whole burrito for me by the way)

8:54 p.m. — Bedtime routine, and then we go to bed.

Spent: $0

DAY SEVEN

6:48 a.m. — I log in and start blogging. Tomorrow it’s back to work. Why do I feel like I am behind. It is because I am. I have not been spending my breaks writing, or evenings (exhausted).

8:08 a.m. — Little Bun asks me – WHAT ARE WE CLEANING TODAY? We end up spending the next 3 hours scrubbing the toilets, the floors, the sides of the bathroom and the sides of the vanities. We will rotate every other week doing this. I still have to spend some time deep cleaning the cabinets in the kitchen as well, but we will do this on a weekday instead of a weekend. I am trying to preserve my weekends for resting.

12:22 p.m. — Lunch time.

1:05 p.m. — Down for his Quiet Time / Nap.

2:51 p.m. — Up from his nap, he bounces out of the bedroom and we watch videos together – we are currently in love with the Hotel Transylvania movies, so we watch those. Papa Drac is such a PARENT! I really enjoy these films.

5:12 p.m. — Dinner, dishes and laundry. Little Bun is wiping down cutlery.

6:25 p.m. — These are great questions to ask anyone, really. They’re thoughtful and interesting. Little Bun and I take turns answering them and asking each other about our answers.

8:54 p.m. — Bedtime routine, and then we go to bed.

Spent: $0

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