Week of Money: Where Life Goes On

DAY ONE

??:?? — I wake up, starting a new week. I can’t believe this month is almost over. I truly feel like time flew this month. Little Bun and I chat nightly before sleeping, talking about our day, whether out of 10 stars it was a 3-star or a 7-star day (the days he goes out to play in the park all morning are 10-star days), and even he said it felt like the month flew by.

6:46 a.m. — WE “SLEPT” IN. And I felt great because when I woke up, I was still tired, but it was like my body didn’t need any more sleep. I at least felt somewhat rested. I am also starting to take some time in the morning before or after I eat lunch to head out and just drive, or go for a walk because I need it.

7:09 a.m. — I log in to work. Little Bun immediately gets to work on his pages. He has been on the receiving side of lectures in the past few weeks because of his complaints that he never gets to play with me, or he has to nap and then wake up and do his pages after his nap. (Not a nap, it’s more quiet time for the whole family).

My response was: You are the one controlling your schedule, Little Bun. Not me. YOU are the one in charge of when you do your pages, how fast you concentrate, focus and do them, and what comes after. I am not going to chase after you for anything.

I get frustrated but I am working on not telling you to do your pages because YOU need to figure out your time management and planning skills of how you want things done. You want to play all morning and then have to do your pages after your nap? Your problem.

This is me trying to make him fly on his own. I am and was a planner since I was a little kid, and he has to learn how to do it if he isn’t typically a Planner like I was. I consider these life skills, as understanding what time you have, what you want to get done, seeing what else is to come, and planning for all of it, is half the battle.

8:29 a.m. — And this happens:

Little Bun: MOMMY LOOK! I am doing almost all of my pages and Daddy isn’t even awake yet!

Me: Yes, you’re working very hard. Good work planning your time.

Actually to be honest, some of the pages he is doing, eludes my level of comprehension. “Energy source” can be “Input” or “Output”, which confuses me because an energy source to me in my head is Food, Fuel, Wind.. everything he had written. But to say a generic word like “input” is also considered an energy source, seems like a stretch.

8:57 a.m. — First meeting of the day. We have holidays coming up that are confusing because some companies have the same days, but the client does not, so it’s always a mess to coordinate and make sure you leave enough work for people to do in your absence.

10:15 a.m. — Lunch break.

12:08 p.m. — We are in the bedroom playing before his nap time. We read the Flip Flap book on Airports (he has a new thing now where he insists on reading all the books we haven’t read in weeks). We did cars yesterday, now it’s Airports.

1:10 p.m. — Down for his nap, his father is handling that, and I am on calls all afternoon.

2:10 p.m. — I head out after a frustrating morning for a walk. I end up getting caught in a rainstorm.

2:44 p.m. — I pick up some haircutting scissors (I have been using regular ones and I feel like I should try “professional” ones just for hair) and small scissors just to prune the herb plants – I don’t want them contaminated by our fingers or other scissors, so I have a pair just for them. $18.75

3:00 p.m. — I come back, surprised. He is still sleeping. Guess I could have stayed out longer. I regret not doing so. I log in and work, answering all the messages and emails.

3:26 p.m. — He’s finally up. My partner says that he actually sleeps about 50% of the time, and considering how he wakes up at 5:30 – 6 a.m. these days, I can see why. I need a nap too sometimes.

4:10 p.m. — He’s watching Dr. Binocs and immediately starts drawing out what the atoms looked like before and after. We have touched lightly on what neutrons are, electrons and so on in his other science books (like in the Elements one we got). He may not understand it all, but it doesn’t hurt if he is interested in learning about elements and these things, to have him be exposed to it if he wants. I don’t force him to learn or do anything – he’s still a baby to me, and these are very advanced concepts.

5:11 p.m. — I log off for the day. I got a lot done. It’s a lot of little things that add up and you’re waiting on people.. it’s hard to juggle everything.

8:00 p.m. — Time for bed, after a huge round of dishes, laundry, and cleaning up. It’s hard to unwind and just play with Little Bun because I see things that have to get done, like vacuuming.

Spent: $18.75

DAY TWO

??:?? — Sure enough because of his nap yesterday, he’s up at 5:30 a.m. FML.

6:30 a.m. — I make a cup of tea, then log in for a call. YES. AT SIX THIRTY A.M. When people see you online, they immediately want meetings.

7:29 a.m. — On Poshmark (use code SHERRYISH for $15 CAD, $10 USD or $10 AUD), I manage to snag a Scrabble Travel Edition for Little Bun and I to play with. It’s normally $30 plus taxes. I tried to find Scrabble online but it’s boring and it is much harder to play things like card games, or Scrabble online than in-person. He loves spelling and making words, so this will be fun. Alongside the purchase (it was an add-on), I pick up a trench coat as well that was more $300 (I wouldn’t have gotten the Scrabble set without the coat, it was a whimsical purchase). $115

8:08 a.m. — Little Bun spends the morning working on his Uno card tower skills. He actually built this, and another one with THREE layers. All on his own. I am amazed because I have zero patience for this. He also took the photo and then added the words you see here.

10:15 a.m. — Meeting break before another meeting. It’s been so humid here lately we have had the A/C on but then I am an ice cube in the corner.

11:30 a.m. — Last meeting before I can have lunch, and I watch Nursery University. It’s a movie from 2008 but honestly, this is the same stuff parents are going through today. Perhaps even worse.

1:03 p.m. — Down for his nap.

2:55 p.m. — Up from his nap, he finishes his workbook and runs off with the mini iPad to play Tint. He really enjoys the colour puzzles.

5:47 p.m. — Laundry, dishes, bedtime routine.

Spent: $115

DAY THREE

??:?? — This morning is turning out badly. Little Bun tells me it is a “ONE STAR DAY”, and I am frustrated. He tells me he wants me to cry (it was a misunderstanding, I said “cry’ in half jest to my partner), but in hearing him say that, I got annoyed. Then he starts sucking on his fingers (no idea why) and spraying saliva everywhere, on me… and it just grosses me TF out, so I get annoyed again. I have to constantly repeat to him to NOT DO THAT and/or wipe his fingers and wash them because saliva carries bacteria… and if you are sucking on dirty fingers, you could pick up something as well; not that it’s applicable here as we are at home but STILL.

7:14 a.m. — Frustrated, I kick him out of the living room and tell him: Go to your father. I can’t handle you right now, I cannot be the only parent dealing with this all the time.

7:59 a.m. — His father up, I log in to work.

8:08 a.m. — Calls all morning. I have a call with my manager and basically unload my frustration. It’s not me, she tells me.. it’s everyone and everything that is happening right now. But honestly, I don’t see what they can do to help me because you can’t have a 9 women get together to make a baby in 1 month, it takes time.

12:08 p.m. — Lunch break and Little Bun is working on his workbook. He hasn’t done many pages and it is already noon. He isn’t planning his time well, and for certain, he will squeal about it later.

1:10 p.m. — Down for his nap.

4:44 p.m. — He slept REALLY LONG. I mean REALLY napped. And I think he needed it, based on our one-star recommendation.

5:40 p.m. — He finishes his workbook. FINALLY.

6:16 p.m. — I do laundry, dishes, and Little Bun complains about wiping all the cutlery. Today is just a grumpy day. I take him into the bedroom and pretend to “De-Grump” him by “checking” by tapping on his body for a status update of how grumpy he is. It works. I use his feet as a telephone, pretending to talk to a doctor about how to de-grump Little Bun. He gets such a kick out of it and always asks me to answer his foot as a telephone, as a game.

7:40 p.m. — Laundry done.

8:41 p.m. — Time for bed. I am beat. We are reading through the Flip Flap books for how things work, and he bursts out: You PROMISED we would do a pulley and a lever system today! WE DIDN’T DO IT. I give him the hard side eyeball and tell him: And do you know why we didn’t?..

.. and he falls silent, remembering he didn’t finish his pages until almost 6 p.m. and frittered away the morning playing and not focusing. He just gives me a silent look underneath his eyelashes and doesn’t reply.

I am definitely not that mother who will let him slide. I am hoping I am having a balance between being tough but fair and loving. I want him to be the best he can be without overpraising him.

Spent: $0

DAY FOUR

??:?? — I wake up with my Cute Little Bun snuggling into my side. I wake up and get milk for him.

??:?? — He tells me his tooth is wiggly and it hurts to eat or drink anything with the front part, so I tell him to tell his father and we will adjust his eating so he doesn’t hurt his tooth any more.

6:55 a.m. — I go through my list of things to do today.

7:09 a.m. — We head out for a field trip day as he calls it, and it begins to get too hot, so we head back in for lunch.

11:15 a.m. — Little Bun does his workbook pages and draws me little pictures throughout the day, asking me questions like: Do spiders eat strawberries?… and other nonsensical questions. He’s quite cute actually. When we come to “do flowers eat spiders?”.. I tell him no, but my partner interjects with the Venus Flytrap, and I foist Little Bun off on him to research.

12:08 p.m. — Lunch time, then a nap. I am going through cleaning my emails – I leave them for days and then get overwhelmed with how many there are.

3:40 p.m. — He slept in quite a bit! When he’s up, we set to work making a pulley. He is reading a book on simple machines, and I promised him we’d do one, so we find string, a box, and after he sees it “work” (it was a bit wonky I admit), it was like it clicked in his head about how a pulley works and why not (I made a few mistakes along the way and the pulley didn’t work).

5:40 p.m. — Nonsense until bedtime. By that, I mean we are reading, doing laundry, colouring, he is running around, watching Abby Hatcher (a new show), reading books…

9:44 p.m. — Fireworks start. I feel extremely sad for the animals hearing that noise and possibly abandoning their little babies in the forest, or whatever else. They’re pretty to look at, but I wish they had no sound, and it is possible to make them without the sound, it’s a chemical that is added to create that cracking noise, as we discovered in our books.

10:15 p.m. — Exhausted, I beg him to go to sleep. He wants to stay up and read more books but I am tired and tomorrow’s a work day.

Spent: $0

DAY FIVE

??:?? — I consciously don’t let myself log in until later. Today’s a half day and I am working less. Just the morning.

6:00 a.m. — Cleaning up emails. I get so many of them, and a lot of them are fine, I just need to read and reply.

7:00 a.m. — Still not logging in. I’ll do it at 8 because I have a presentation at 9.

7:45 a.m. — Little Bun made this ADORABLE little yellow house on his own. It’s so creative, and fun with an attic that opens up to say I LOVE YOU, and a door that reveals a heart.

See? Super cute. I love these little paper designs he makes for me, they’re interesting and interactive, like a pop-up.

10:30 a.m. — Meetings over, I log off for the day.

8:15 p.m. — Time for bed.

Spent: $0

I received some pretty terrible news. I will post about it next week. Processing it.

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