Week of Money: Where Little Bun is now shifting wake-up calls to 6 a.m…. WHY!?!?!

DAY ONE

??:?? — What.. what time is it? WHY IS LITTLE BUN WAKING ME AT SIX A.M.?

6:12 a.m. — We have a long day trip today, so I forego my usual cup of matcha tea as I don’t want to stop for a bathroom break. Little Bun folds all the kitchen towels from the night before, and is a smidge grumpy about it, but then finishes the job happily and tells me – It was a bit tough at the start but then it got easier!

9:45 a.m. — In the car:

Little Bun: Mommy. What’s a servant?

Me: Someone who literally serves you. Does your work, dishes, laundry, etc. Whatever you ask within reason these days, I suppose

Little Bun: Do they get paid a lot for all that work?

Me: LOL NO.

Little Bun: What!???? I would NOT like to be a servant!

(Imagine a very indignant little boy voice)

Me: Well. Sometimes ppl have no choice. Luckily, you do, so be glad for that. You’re unlikely to become one, as it stands. So listen to your Mommy 😂😂😂

1:45 p.m. — Back at home, he conked out in the car, so we just wait there, chatting until he wakes up.

2:05 p.m. — I make myself a luxurious pasta (I have been cutting back in recent weeks in an attempt to shed some pounds, but without doing much to my eating habits except eating a bit less than usual, and walking more; lifestyle changes, and to not go on any actual diets). I enjoy every bite.

4:10 p.m. — We watch some Architectural Digest videos – I am really in love with these “Architect breaks down..” videos, as I find them fascinating to see the changes pointed out, and to learn about the history of it. Makes me want to become an architect.

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

Spent: $0

DAY TWO

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

8:50 a.m. — I head out for my appointment. I make it a point to walk around a good hour and a half beforehand, so I get some exercise in, instead of sitting in my car, scrolling on my phone, eating a pastry. As I have done many times before.

10:25 a.m. — Home, I log in for a call. If I sometimes have an appointment too close to a call, I just forward the call to myself and take it in the car.

4:58 p.m. — Logging off for the day, I feel tired. It is like there is so much to do and I can’t get it all done at once because.. it’s just waiting. Waiting for things to happen, making a note to call places during business hours during the weekday –  I just wish I could clear my entire list in one go.

8:25 p.m. — We do WORDLE and this time I get the word. FINALLY. Or rather, it was teamwork. I found most of the letters with a word I chose, and Little Bun finished it.

Spent: $0

DAY THREE

7:30 a.m. — I log in and start working, answering emails. Everyone is on vacation on and off so it is hard to get coordinated.

8:08 a.m. — My skin has been so red and sensitive lately. Wonder what I did to anger it. It has gone from oily to sensitive in recent years.

1:01 p.m. — I can hear Little Bun in the bedroom chatting to his father as they go down for the short mid-day rest. It is the only time of the day I feel relaxed because he has been napping a lot lately (stands to reason, he wakes me up SO EARLY IN THE MORNING), and I need the mental break.

2:51 p.m. — Oh. I forgot to go to the post office before they return the packages to sender. I head out quickly for an errand. Home, I feel tired but accomplished.

5:20 p.m. — Little Bun had a meltdown while doing some math today

(Context: He is 8. We homeschool him, and recently every day at 15:00 he has to do a few pages of 4-digit multiplication)

So he’s doing the pages and I see his face turn pink and tears leak out.

I tell him to take a break, thinking the questions were getting to him.

Nope. Turns out he left his Periodic Elements project too late and now has 2 full pages to go, and only 4 days to do them. What he hates is the pressure (?) to get it done.

Now. I can be soft and tell him I’ll give him an extension but I won’t bc of 3 reasons

1) I wanted him to learn time management. This was better than project Endangered Animals that he left until the day before. So .. progress. I’m not doing him favours by coddling him.

2) Real life doesn’t always give you extensions. This is a gentle way to learn, before you do it for real.

3) He had ALL OF the month and only really started hustling last week on it. 2 pages a week or half a page a day, and he’d have been done.

So I launch into a mini lecture…

And basically tell him I’ll never ever be the parent who will do their kid’s work (I literally know parents who have written their kid’s essays). If he fails he fails.

And I’ll never be the parent who will micromanage him. It’s not my destiny, not my job and if he fails, he fails. Ain’t nobody got time for this.

He has to learn how to be organized and disciplined on his own, with guidance (hence these low-investment projects to teach him said skills.)

I also remind him he has plenty of time to hand it in, end of June. So if he feels stress it’s all on him bc he mismanaged his time.

We will guide and help him, but won’t do the work or planning for him. Nor “save” him from his educational consequences.

I will not be the parent of a child, who goes with them to their first job interview (true story), or who does any of their work for them.

It is not my thing, not my problem but also doing him a disservice as he will not learn how to do it himself. My goal is AUTONOMY. SELF sufficiency. PLANNING. Grit / Determination and Hard Work.

And you can tackle pretty much anything that comes your way.

Back home, I put the packages aside in ‘quarantine’. It seems like the whole world has decided one day, that this is over, but in the background, cases are rising by a third.

Yet everyone I encounter, almost everyone is maskless everywhere. I see about 10% of people or less, wearing masks of any kind, let alone the medical ones – N95, KN95, etc…

I am not taking chances, so we are still masking indoors and being very cautious. Maybe we will have to be masked forever.. which makes me sad, but if it is what keeps us safe, it is what keeps us safe.

7:20 p.m. — Unpopular opinion maybe, but I like this sort of sunken area. I like feeling like I am in a cosy little oasis, and this looks very comfortable.

8:15 p.m. — Bedtime routine, and then we go to bed. His mood has disappeared, as we managed to squeeze in a new Paw Patrol episode.

Spent: $0

DAY FOUR

7:30 a.m. — I log in and start working. On the side, I realize I forgot to look for a garbage picker of some sort. And gloves. I want to get some of these items so that we can go and clean up parks together as an activity. He loves cleaning, and wants to help the environment, so he is very VERY keen on picking up garbage around.

2:15 p.m. — On a call, and feeling really tired. This morning has been long. The meetings have been endless and useless.

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

5:25 p.m. — I use a hair mask to moisturize my hair, and I SHOULD HAVE STOPPED when I smelled the heavy perfume, but as I paid $15 for it, I didn’t want to waste it.

Bad mistake.

Big.

HUGE.

The effects at the end were GREAT (so soft and slick, from the hyaluronic acid)… but.. the SMELL. The perfume was just … nauseating.

5:47 p.m. — I washed my hair 5 times already. I am running out of shampoo.

6:25 p.m. — I switch to bar soap, and wash my hair TWICE, stripping everything I can from it.

8:44 p.m. — I am soaking my hair in a slurry of baking soda and water. I am desperate at this point.

Spent: $0

DAY FIVE

??:?? — I wake up STILL SMELLING this perfume in my hair,

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

8:08 a.m. — I head out to the store and pick up activated charcoal powder, to make a slurry out of for my hair because I CANNOT. I cannot cannot live with this stink. $25.87

9:37 a.m. — At home, I leave it in my hair for a good half an hour then wash it out. FINALLY. The smell is gone. THANK GOD.

12:22 p.m. — Lunch time.

12:55 p.m. — Down for his Quiet Time / Nap, and I am soaking my hair again in activated charcoal.

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

3:40 p.m. —

Little Bun: Mommy, may you please come and sit in the bedroom with me while I do my work book

Me: Okay

*Little Bun chatters*

Me: Am I being too distracting just by sitting here? I don’t want to be a Distracting Mommy

Little Bun: *goes and firmly closes the door* I like you being in here, now I’m not as stressed

Me: Okay.. *why the door close.. 🧐* This is mildly alarming lol… my child wants to be with me 24/7. He has actually started getting sad when I go out without him, so I have to tell him I have appointments (which I do), otherwise he expects to come along as well.

5:12 p.m. — Dinner, dishes and laundry. Little Bun is wiping down cutlery. I wonder if I should do one last charcoal rinse.

6:25 p.m. — I receive a letter from the Justice minister. Apparently the camera caught us speeding.. for some reason, I did not think they would be so strict on speeding a little over 100 km/h, and to give leeway up to at least 115 km/h, but the law is the law. I pay the ticket online. Some people might argue it, but we most definitely were speeding in that zone, and got caught by the robocam, so … what’s the point? $104

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

Spent: $129.87

DAY SIX

5:48 a.m. — WHY IS HE WAKING ME UP SO EARLY… I tell him – this is killing me. It’s so early, Little Bun. Mommy is SO TIRED…

8:30 a.m. — We head out for the morning to play. Actually, it is more to run errands. We drop by the post office, pick up a gift, order a new pillow, and then go to the park to hang out. He called theses “SNAUSAGES”..(truly “snaw-sausages” was the way he pronounced it) from something he saw online. I think they look like sausages now too.

12:12 p.m. — Home, lunch. I don’t feel particularly hungry. When it gets hot, my appetite goes down.

6:25 p.m. — Little Bun is being rude to me. He is just.. ornery today. I ask him – why are you being so rude to Mommy? If you aren’t feeling well, just tell me you don’t feel happy or you feel SOMETHING, because it is making me feel very hurt, with the way you’re treating me. 

He comes up and hugs me, and says he’s sorry. I rub his back and thank him for telling me he’s sorry about his treatment. I tell him it’s okay to feel bad, or grumpy, but it is not okay to treat other people rudely because of it. Maybe just say – I feel super grumpy today – and then I can help by being aware of it while you are grumpy.

8:01 p.m. — After dinner and dishes, We watch Hotel Transylvania together again. He loves these movies so much because of Papa Drac and Dennis.

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

Spent: $0

DAY SEVEN

6:12 a.m. — This early wakeup is killing me.

7:50 a.m. — I lay down on the living room floor and doze, half-awake.

9:40 a.m. — I order a floor chair. They call it a gaming chair, but really I just want something I can lean back in, and use on the patio as well. $187.15

12:22 p.m. — I check all my bank accounts, organize my week, and plan it out. I only do one “thing” a day. So if I have an appointment, I try not to load it with errands, or I group them together where I would have to go. I also make notes to bring things like my laptop if I have to log in to meetings when I am out, so I don’t forget as I head out the door.

2:51 p.m. — I finally stop blogging. I am cleaning up things, and writing posts. I take a break and binge watch No Reno Demo, I ADORE Jen Todryk because she herself is FUN, interesting, witty, kind, and she is just so great in making sure she redesigns a space without demolition. It’s just paint, removing or changing furniture, items, chopping down walls into half so it opens up the space…

5:12 p.m. — Dinner, dishes and laundry. Little Bun is wiping down cutlery. I am watching more of these shows. I will likely rewatch them again, I like absorbing how a designer looks at a space to redesign it.

6:40 p.m. — We play on the balcony, drawing and hanging out together. I need a better pillow / chair for outside.

This was what I was actually aiming for:

8:54 p.m. — Bedtime routine, and then we go to bed, and I conk out almost immediately. I am so tired.

Spent: $187.15

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