Week of Money: Where it implodes at work for me

DAY ONE

??:?? — I wake up a little tired. I could use another hour or so. We cuddle in the hallway like we used to when he was a tiny little toddler and boy, and snuggle, as he gets used to the light.

6:21 a.m. — I log in and start blogging. I have been putting it off because I was doing my taxes in the morning instead, but now I am back.

6:55 a.m. — Lately in Canada, there has been a protest from 10% of the unvaccinated truckers who don’t want restrictions and/or have lost their jobs as a result. Honestly, they’re (in my mind) terrorists (you know, people who TERRORIZE OTHER PEOPLE). They’re holding the city hostage with noise, causing residents to stay inside, and be harassed.. just look:

“Weird” would not be the word I would describe it. The flags are racist, homophobic, and sexist, among other things.

7:50 a.m. — I log off and start working for the day. I have to mail my taxes in and run some errands so I block off some time in the morning and inform everyone as a courtesy. They do the same as well, which is the nice thing about working from home as people can run personal errands during the day.

8:08 a.m. — I have meetings back to back all morning. Little Bun is working on his workbook in the bedroom, singing a made up song off key as he is flipping through the pages (it’s actually kind of cute), and only asks me to explain the word “clause”, which I redirect him to looking up in the dictionary, and it turns out to mean “section”.

12:22 p.m. — Lunch time, as I watch an extremely interesting documentary (free on CBC for Canadians here but you can watch it on Netflix I believe). The whole documentary is about gig workers – the ones who deliver food, run errands, do small tasks, and how their lives are affected by this way of working or being treated. A really great watch.

1:01 p.m. — Down for his Quiet Time / Nap and I go out for errands and quickly drop mail off. $5.21

1:32 p.m. — I am back and working. I get this massive tome in an email with 30 questions to respond to. I mean, I am in CC, so I squish the urge to respond back.

5:40 p.m. — I log off for the day.

6:27 p.m. — Dinner, dishes and laundry. Little Bun runs by, sees I am working on dishes, checks the sink for how many pieces of cutlery he has to wipe, grabs a towel and waits patiently for the cutlery to arrive on the counter to be wiped. He does a pretty great job.

7:49 p.m. — I go to lie down in the bedroom. My partner is playing some math game with Little Bun with dominoes, and at the end of it all, it ends in tears because the game no longer was fun as he got frustrated with Little Bun not adding up the numbers slowly and properly, and Little Bun no longer found the game fun as he was being yelled at.

In the bedroom, I listen to both of them, and then I try the parenting technique in this book – How to talk so kids will listen – and the book suggests three main steps, if you will:

1. Validate their feelings – “I see that you are angry and frustrated because the game was no longer fun”
2. Don’t give advice, state what you think happened or what the problem was – “I see that the counting of 50 squares became tricky.” (The response: I lost my place as I was counting)
3. Offer to brainstorm solutions together – “How do you think we could count SO MANY squares?” ….and out of that, we tried funny solutions like putting our face VERY CLOSE to the 50 squares (we crossed that off the list), and boiling down to using a tracker or a paper to “bookmark” where we were in our counting. We also decided counting slowly helped, and adding groups of numbers as we went along, instead of 50 numbers all at once, helped.
4. You also need to match the emotions of the child – if they are angry, you can’t use a falsely calm voice, it feels fake, you need to speak louder and match their emotions back so they hear they are validated in their angrier, louder response.

9:22 p.m. — Bedtime routine, and then we go to bed. It ended up being late, due to this minor meltdown. For me it is a little tough because I am trying newer parenting techniques (and he is somewhat, but not yet convinced), and we were both brought up being yelled at in the household or scolded, shamed, and so on. It is hard to break the cycle, AND AS PARENTS to not lose it when your patience is running so low even after you are being as nice and as calm as possible. You can have the best intentions but when you are also hangry (angry + hungry), tired, stressed, it does not help. We are only human.

Spent: $5.21

DAY TWO

??:?? — I wake up to Little Bun peering at me in the dark, I sit up a little and open my arms, and he flings himself on top.

6:17 a.m. — I log in and blog after I wake up a little.

6:30 a.m. — I log off and start working, my meetings are getting super early now because of time zone differences. I do feel for people who aren’t working a “normal” 9-5 because of us however, as we are still within regular time zones, but they are not and have to work very early or very late at night, which I find rough.

7:47 a.m. —Little Bun is progressing (and not yet done) with the cast of the Heart and Brain books, which he adores.

8:00 a.m. — Meetings back to back. My headset is on, and sometimes I am tapping on my headphones to show Little Bun that I have to listen and I cannot just take them off to hear what he needs. He sometimes then runs off or gestures what he needs, or writes down what he wants to do like “Can I help?”

12:50 p.m. — Lunch time. A very late lunch time. I am eating, my brain drained and exhausted. Working in a language that is not your own native one, can really take a lot out of you, in addition to the work itself. It is much easier now, but when I am tired in the mornings, the struggle to get words out is real.

12:59 p.m. — Down for his Quiet Time / Nap, and I am still eating.

2:51 p.m. — Up from his nap, he runs out of the bedroom and scares the heck out of me as I am on a call.

4:30 p.m. — I log off early today. I cannot go on.

4:37 p.m. — I end up lying down in bed to get some rest, and he plays with my slippers as if they are boats for the Stuffies. It is ridiculously adorable.

5:12 p.m. — Dinner, dishes and laundry. Little Bun is wiping down cutlery as usual, then he goes and folds all the towels. Then he begs for some Mr. Bean videos with my partner, and they both laugh like hyenas, so I retreat to the bedroom to read.

6:30 p.m. — My partner goes to lie down, he has been getting headaches on and off since the vaccine, so he goes to rest, and Little Bun runs in after him. Turns out, he hasn’t finished all of his pages either!! So he sits there working as my partner is lying down, listening to French radio.

8:54 p.m. — Bedtime routine after I ask him if he wants me to check his pages today (“No, tomorrow”), we play our Wordle round AND LITTLE BUN IS THE ONE WHO GETS THE WORD! It was “MOIST”, and then we go to bed. In bed, he asks me to name vegetables we love. I start with zucchini, but specify it has to be grilled. He tells me he likes cauliflower.

Spent: $0

DAY THREE

??:?? — I wake up to Little Bun snuggling me. I whisper to him the week is going so slow, it has been a lot! He tells me forlornly that he feels the same (it took him forever to do Workbook pages last night). I tell him it will be a new day today!

5:55 a.m. — I log in and just sit there, watching videos and blog.

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

8:08 a.m. — My partner tells me a dream (nightmare?) he had. He told me he was at the office working (strike one, he’s early retired on Lean FIRE lol), and then he was working, but then he looked down and thought he had normal wool grey trousers on, but then looked again and realized he was in SWEATPANTS AT THE OFFICE.

But he hastily clarified that they were sweatpants that were NOT the ratty kind that looked like sweatpants, but the more elegant style that is a work athleisure cross where they look like trousers but they’re secretly very comfortable. I told him this was the French-est dream I have ever heard in my life, as only French people could be horrified wearing elegant sweatpants to the office as they apparently all normally all dress in suits WITH A TIE to the office. A TIE.

12:22 p.m. — Lunch time. Samosas today! How lucky we are!!!

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

2:51 p.m. — Up from his nap, he bounces out of the bedroom, cute and full of energy. I always like giving him an After Nap hug.

3:40 p.m. — We take a break and brainstorm making a pizza. He tells me what he wants on his DREAM pizza:

• Tomato sauce
• Mozzarella
• Blue cheese
• Sausage
• Mushrooms
• Red pepper (not the spicy one)
• Onions
• Garlic
• Basil, Rosemary and Oregano added at the END ONLY so it doesn’t burn (his father taught him this one)

I tell him it sounds pretty darn delicious (it does, except for the blue cheese for me, as I think that should just be the only thing on a pizza if you have a blue cheese pizza as the flavour is so incredibly strong).

5:17 p.m. — Dinner, dishes and laundry. Little Bun is wiping down cutlery. He tells me he forgot to do the laundry folding last night again and I told him – we should brainstorm how Mommy can avoid having to remind you so many times during the day until you do it.

He tells me that he wants to do it THE MINUTE I TELL HIM THERE IS SOMETHING.

I tell him this did not work the past few days, I have been reminding him all the time because he has had other things to do like Workbook, or he was playing a game he wanted to finish and he would do it after but then forgot.

Little Bun: Oh yeah. You know I forget sometimes!

Me: That is okay! Everyone forgets. I just want to figure out how we can get you to hear it once and not forget to do it so Mommy doesn’t keep asking you.

He suggests that I tell him only once a day. I tell him the objective is to tell him ONCE, not once a day.

I suggest writing it down on a To Do list which is what I do. He doesn’t seem keen on the idea.

Finally, I come to the solution of me reminding him at 19:00 if there is anything to fold in the dryer / to put away.

He tells me: NO! Let’s make it 17:00 that way it is before dinnertime, school with Daddy, and it isn’t night time, but still enough time after my nap that my Workbook should also be finished.

Excellent solution finding. We decide to do it starting the next day (it was already past 17:00).

6:25 p.m. — “MOMMY.” He looks at me very seriously. “MOMMY. Remember when a shark attacks you, go for its EYES AND GILLS because those are the weakest parts. The rest are super strong.” I think that Ocean book has been getting to him, now he is blurting out random Ocean tidbits and facts as we go through our day.

8:54 p.m. — Bedtime routine, and then we go to bed. We always do Wordle before bed, and it’s a great game to do together, once a day.

Spent: $0

DAY FOUR

??:?? — I wake up a little tired. I think my fatigue or lack of sleep, is contributing to caffeine being more sensitive in my body now, and even sugar. If I eat sugar, I can feel a slight headache coming on right after – I will have to slowly wean myself off that now, and restrict sugar. I wonder if it is related to the vaccine as it only just started occurring within the past year or so, and other people have reported the same thing regarding caffeine and sugar sensitivity. Or maybe I just have been noticing it more in my body only because I have been paying attention.

5:48 a.m. — I log in and start blogging as Little Bun goes and starts folding the laundry. My partner does his own laundry, but I always encourage Little Bun to help fold it for him to make things easier. It’s not that my partner needs him to do it, I just think it’s a nice gesture.

7:50 a.m. — I log off and start working. I had a harrowing day yesterday, it was like all these fires popped out of nowhere, and I spent my whole day chasing people.

8:00 a.m. — I go to my first meeting. My microphone doesn’t work. I reset it. I finally get it working and am thankful I go near the end, typically.

9:50 a.m. — I order more concentrate shampoo / conditioner bars. They come in PAPER packaging that is recyclable, and you have to use a refillable bottle you already have at home to reconstitute the shampoo / conditioner. You can use this link for 20% off.

I have tried the GAMUT of solid shampoos/conditioner bars and this brand is the best if you don’t mind the bar option (great for traveling!), but the concentrates + liquefying into water at home is the best option for me, as I don’t need to rub the bar into my scalp any longer.

I had these refillable bottles before that say Shampoo + Conditioner, but you can use ANYTHING you have on hand, not necessarily these. I just haven’t had shampoo or conditioner bottles in such a long time ever since I switched to shampoo / conditioner bars that I decided to splurge on some nice looking ones I could constantly refill (not glass unfortunately, as the shower is not friendly for glass). – $75

12:10 p.m. — Lunch time. I eat some mashed potatoes and Little Bun asks to share them with me. Of course! We crush up rosemary, and sprinkle oregano on, and we eat together. He asks shyly if he can share my own bowl of food. He really likes eating with me, where I feed him a spoonful, eat a spoonful, then feed him another. I think he feels more connected when we share from the same bowl rather than when he gets his own. He also really likes mashed potatoes and I think he gets more of them this way.

12:57 p.m. — Down for his Quiet Time / Nap. I am on a call.

2:51 p.m. — Up from his nap, he bounces out of the bedroom but quietly because he stops and sees my partner is in class and I am on a call. On calls, I like to bead because it lets me do something and still pay attention to what is going on – it keeps me creative and happy, and keeps my hands busy at the same time because on calls, I sometimes can’t work at all as I need to concentrate on the content, so beading is the best option.

3:40 p.m. — Little Bun is coming up with games with his Stuffies (kids really don’t need a lot of toys, this is proof), and with a few blocks and imagination, he creates a whole event and world for them. Sometimes I will even hear him run off to play by himself in the bedroom, with his imagination, coming up with stories and games.

This was the jumping event of how far they jumped:

This was a race as you can see:

5:50 p.m. — I remind Little Bun there is laundry to fold, and he runs and does it immediately. SUCCESS!

5:50 p.m. — Dinner, then we do the dishes. Little Bun is wiping down cutlery. He gets his father to play another Stuffie game with him involving a lot of shrieking. I retreat to the bedroom to avoid the noise. I also pop a Tylenol because my headache is back again, a little. I wonder if this is what Long Covid feels like for some people, or the residual effects of Covid even if you don’t get Long Covid, the slight / constant headache / fatigue. And this is just from a vaccine!!! The third shot for me was not bad at all, I just think on and off I get headaches.

6:25 p.m. — I review through my budget and transfer money to investing.

7:13 p.m. — We are watching someone on the screen and Little Bun bursts out: HE CAN’T KNOW IT ALL! He can’t tell me what is in ANDROMEDA! NO ONE CAN!! … lol …. I don’t even know what he is talking about but I support Little Bun.

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

Spent: $75

DAY FIVE

??:?? — I wake up extra early today, unable to sleep. There’s a problem at work sort of stressing me, even if it isn’t my fault AT ALL, I hate that it went wrong and people potentially wasted a lot of time.

6:04 a.m. — I log in and start blogging. I try not to let work affect me or my sleep but it is hard when I care so deeply to do a good job. I know other people who can “turn off” at any time, but for me, it’s hard to let it go. I guess it’s the Overachiever in me.

7:50 a.m. — I log off and start working. Meetings and we are discussing what imploded yesterday.

8:08 a.m. — Apparently the Stuffies have gotten into taking photos and videorecording lately, and these are their “tools”, the blocks he made to look like a camera for them, and he also stuffed together a sock camera so it looks like those huge telephoto lens devices that professionals use, to take pictures. They record things of our day, and record us doing things.

The other day, my partner was taking a photo of something, and he run up with his sock “camera” and pretended to take the same shot alongside him. It was quite an adorable photo seeing the two of them together.

12:22 p.m. — Lunch time. We finish the “old” food for the week and make sure that everything is ready for tomorrow for my partner to make a great big dinner which Little Bun calls “feasts”.

1:07 p.m. — Down for his Quiet Time / Nap. I hear him reading magazines in the bedroom, the new ones he got today that have interesting stories and facts.

2:51 p.m. — Up from his nap, he bounces out of the bedroom, and I snuggle him. I am in calls all day…

3:30 p.m. — I am going to be stuck in meetings. I have an early dinner.

6:10 p.m. — I finally log off my meeting where I am completely useless but still invited to for some reason.

6:25 p.m. — We are watching the starting of a great series called The Story of China (free for Canadians on CBC Gem) but it is this documentary if you can find it. It is quite interesting how China started, going all the way back to the Bronze Age, and the discoveries made along the way, seeing as they are basically the oldest, uninterrupted civilization in the world. Even old Chinese characters are easily deciphered as the modern Chinese is based off them. VERY cool.

8:20 p.m. — Little Bun: Mommy? What stops plaque from growing?

Me: Stop eating food. Food is what causes plaque.

Little Bun: *getting visibly frustrated* NO. WHAT. STOPS. PLAQUE. FROM. GROWING.

Me: STOP. EATING. FOOD. FOOD. CAUSES. PLAQUE. TO. FORM.

Little Bun: OH! You should have just said that. In that way!

Me: I DID. I DID SAY IT IN THAT WAY

Now you can see what parents get so frustrated. I take deep breaths. Now he is just irritable because he doesn’t want any plaque ever to form and he is trying to keep his teeth super plaque-free, but you can’t do that, and it’s driving us all nuts.

8:54 p.m. — I ask Little Bun – You seem grumpy grumpkins today.

He tells me: We didn’t get to do what I wanted to do!

Me: What did you want to do?

Little Bun: Play Squishy Mountain! (with my duvet, which he calls Squishy Mountain)

Me: Oh I am sorry, I did not know you wanted to do that tonight. Can we do it tomorrow?

Little Bun: *mouth turns down*

8:30 p.m. — I end up creating a story series about Stuffies. Book One is about how the Stuffies came to live with Little Bun, and I make it a funny storytelling situation with mini mock fights sort of like this:

Babiest Stuffie: Once upon a time, there was the BEST STUFFIE IN THE WORLD name BABIEST STUFFIE

Other Stuffies: WAIT. This doesn’t sound nice at all. How come you’re the best Stuffe in the world? What about us?  You’re making this only about you!

Babiest Stuffie: Oh. Well. It is about me.. AT THE START. I get to start the story. So I get to say what I want about how great I am. You come in later, I will add you and then I will change the story!

Other Stuffies: .. Umm….. I came before you!

Babiest Stuffie: Okay FINE FINE. I will start the story with all of us.

I finish the story and promise Book Two – The Adventures of Squishy Mountain tomorrow.

8:54 p.m. — Bedtime routine, and then we go to bed. Little Bun whispers: “Mommy, tomorrow there’s a feast! Daddy is making it. There’s yummy avocado just like you like, and lemonade“. I whisper back: Excellent, now time for bed.

Spent: $

DAY SIX

??:?? — I wake up tired but still stressed about this implosion.

6:32 a.m. — I log in and blog, I have to keep up on this or I will fall behind and be stressed in blogging, so might as well do it.

7:00 a.m. — I log off earlier today to start working. Little Bun creates a game to cheer me up:

9:47 a.m. — I accidentally shrunk my wax jeans (everything else fits, it isn’t my weight this time), and now I am pondering how I can stretch them back out, if possible. If they were just cotton it would work, but I suspect it might be time to let them go and find another pair…

12:22 p.m. — Lunch time. I forgot that yesterday was not the end of the week and my partner isn’t making the meals of the week until the next day, and I ate everything in advance! So I end up just making a quick pasta.

1:00 p.m. — Down for his Quiet Time / Nap with his father. I’d nap too with them but then it would become a habit and it would disrupt my night sleep. I have to wake up every day at the same time (around 6-ish), or else I get thrown off.

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

3:40 p.m. — A scarf I got has been lost in delivery. I am a little frustrated / stressed about it because it wasn’t either of our faults. It was either stolen or lost. I have no idea.

4:30 p.m. — We play Squishy Mountain, Book TWO of the Stuffie Series, as promised. The adventure is nonsense, and Little Bun is shrieking with laughter from Babiest Stuffie’s antics.

6:45 p.m. — We start our FEAST! Little Bun loves avocado, and he grabs some rosemary to go on top. He loves strong flavours like I do.

7:25 p.m. — Me: Here baby, here’s the iPad (After 1 week of iPad in prison)

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

Spent: $0

DAY SEVEN

??:?? — Little Bun shrieks in the middle of the night waking us all up. He is having a nightmare. My partner is startled and says: What the heck!?… and I lean over and pat Little Bun’s bum to calm him down. He just needs to feel physical security even though he is lost in dreamland, and he will go back to sleep without nary a peep. Sometimes he has more of these nightmares as his brain processes what has been happening in the week, sorting through the events of the day, filtering what happened – fights, or anything stressful increases the nightmare frequency, and he has to subconsciously process and get through it. Two days ago, he didn’t have a great day, and his brain is processing it now.

5:48 a.m. — Up again early, and by myself. I love the quiet. I log in and just watch videos and bead. I am taking a break this week.

7:04 a.m. — Little Bun is up and we play a game together on the iPad.

7:50 a.m. — This definitely made me laugh reading this.

My partner says you can indeed say “C’est quoi ça” instead (It’s what, that?) but it is bad French and you don’t need to write down this entire sentence, you actually only say it but never write it. I give him a look of despair – it’s too much for me!

8:08 a.m. — I am in the bedroom doing clay projects with Little Bun in the closet, listening to music as my partner is cooking for the week.

12:22 p.m. — Lunch time. FRIES! It’s a treat today.

1:01 p.m. — Down for his Quiet Time / Nap, I am reading a book while I take a break and have a tea. I have developed a sensitivity to caffeine and sugar lately, I think it might be related to my lack of sleep, but it is hard to keep sleeping when your brain won’t shut off.

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

4:14 p.m. — We are back in the bedroom this time, reading books and doing the next book in the Stuffie Series. He loves made up stories and fantasies but it can be exhausting as the parent to come up with it all the time, so I encourage him to join in with the creativity.

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

6:25 p.m. — The Stuffies are now having a meal that we are eating, and I pretend that Babiest Stuffie does NOT want to try new vegetables or food. He just wants COOKIES.

Little Bun’s response: BUT STUFFIE! You can’t just eat the same thing all the time! You have to try something new so you can see what’s out there. You can’t eat the same thing all day long. And cookies are not good for you to eat every day. They’re a treat, not a meal.

Me: And how many times does he have to try it before he can say YES or NO to it?

Little Bun: SEVEN TIMES. It might take you SEVEN TIMES, Stuffie.

Me: Just like when you were a baby. Remember? You didn’t like tomatoes and now you like them. I also remember when I was younger I HATED vegetables and now I love eating them.

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.