Week of Money: Where Little Bun learns a hard lesson in time management

DAY ONE

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

8:08 a.m. — Little Bun tells me to pick which crayon colours I want, and tells me if I pick 3, I get a discount. WHERE IS HE LEARNING THIS? LOL .. and even shows me the sticker he pasted around one of the pencils of how you can save if you buy more:

12:22 p.m. — Meetings while I am having lunch.

3:25 p.m. — He slept in, and comes out really tired.

5:12 p.m. — Dinner, dishes. Constant dishes. I like to try and keep the sink clean. It is tough though.

8:54 p.m. — We just sat there and read in bed together, then played a game of Clue before the bedtime routine, and then we go to bed after teeth brushing and Wordle.

Spent: $0

DAY TWO

??:?? — Little Bun is sleeping on top of me, and then he snuggles, taps my chest and gives me a kiss. I get up.. after stretching. I feel fatigued.

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

8:25 a.m. — Little Bun is expanding his business some more, apparently these blocks are for sale in a bundle. Here are your choices:

 

He sold me on the $10.50 bundle because he said it was the BEST DEAL and you got the MOST Blocks with COOL block structures and colours.

12:22 p.m. — Lunch time.

1:00 p.m. — Down for his Quiet Time / Nap. I take a break and have a tea, then read a book.

2:51 p.m. — He comes out and I snuggle him. He is more alert today, and works on his math right away.

5:46 p.m. — After dinner, I do laundry, and then watch more of Unexpected. This show on teenage parents is really tough to watch as a parent. I am watching the parents struggle through the thought process and stress for their children. I find the parents of the father to be less involved.. which seems very .. I guess, not shocking? But on point with what I know of the situation. They don’t seem as involved but then again, it is a reality TV show and maybe they didn’t want to be on it with a camera either.

I can see the teenage fathers are not involved – they don’t want to be in the birthing classes, involved in the planning, the clothing planning, and all this other stuff. It’s like “Oh this doesn’t affect me, I don’t care. I’ll just keep playing sports and live my life…” UGH. Makes me want to scream. I swear to goodness.. I will not have a son like some of these boys. WILL NOT. I refuse to.

7:25 p.m. — I take the NY Times inflation rate quiz, and get this. For us we have found food has gone up 50% or more, for basic vegetables, not even meat (we don’t eat much if at all), and the prices have all gone.. through the roof.

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

Spent: $0

DAY THREE

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

8:08 a.m. — I drop in Polident tabs into the bathroom toilets to help clean them – apparently they work as well as the more expensive tablets that are “eco-friendly”, and so on. These are made of the same ingredients………. and much cheaper.

8:08 a.m. —

12:22 p.m. — Lunch time.

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

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

3:56 p.m. — I find it so funny that they translate the NAMES of people abroad. I mean.. I get it, but I also don’t get it. A name is a name, you can’t misspell it… Then it isn’t the same name.

5:12 p.m. — Dinner and Little Bun goes out on the balcony to help his father plant new seeds:

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.

9:15 a.m. — I make a tea. I need one. Another one.

12:22 p.m. — Lunch time. Mashed potatoes and peppers. Delicious.

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

2:51 p.m. — Up from his nap, he bounces out of the bedroom and I snuggle him, then he goes and does math.

5:12 p.m. — I log off for the day, and we have dinner.

6:25 p.m. — Last week I assigned Little Bun a project to do. He chose the topic Endangered Animals.

I told him I expected:

• Cover Page
• Introduction
• 3 content pages
• Ending

He had 6 full days to get it done before presenting to me and the Stuffies. (I page a day) and I even lifted 4 pages of work from him for those 6 days to give him a reprieve as it’s his first project.

Today, is his last and sixth day. He had to do 3 pages because he procrastinated until today.

We know where this is going right?

Little Bun: *near tears* Mommy I feel glum today.

(“GLUM”… Have you ever… 😆)

Me: Oh no! Why!???

Little Bun: I had to do so many pages today.

Me: Well. Let’s talk about that.

*proceeds to gently point out he had 6 days plus 2 day of the weekend to work on this, and maybe he didn’t plan his time well*

I told him this was exactly what I wanted to teach him – time management. I told him sometimes you have multiple things due from teachers in real school and you can’t succeed if you don’t plan so you have a good balance of fun + work.

It sounds harsh to me, teaching him these kinds of truths at his age (8), but I really believe that planning and organizing your time is key to success.

You have to know what needs to get done, prioritize, and then plan your days out – one page a day, 6 days, maybe I do a bit more than one page a day so that I have some buffer…

These are skills that aren’t explicitly taught but REALLY help us in life.

I told him this was the first project. And it would get harder bc I’d help him less and guide him less so he is autonomous and self sufficient.

I also set standards. I didn’t accept pages with just plain writing on there. I wanted colour, block letters, drawings. Interesting facts.. no shoddy work here.

Hopefully he will take this as a good learning lesson.

We will have yummy pasta tonight, have a fun movie night with Mommy Time, and tomorrow he has to present to me and the Stuffies who will of course, ask questions about said animals.

We already gently warned him all week to not procrastinate but … 👀

Life lessons! Better to learn it now rather than later.

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

Spent: $0

DAY FIVE

7:30 a.m. — I decide to take the morning off and I take Little Bun out to the park.

8:47 a.m. — He also makes me take pictures of all the minerals he finds in the sand, sifting through them. They’re so tiny, and he wants a whole collection.

He goes back to his work, trying to find more minerals and cataloging them. He digs and digs with his toy truck in the park.

12:22 p.m. — We are home, washed, sand out of the shoes (ugh… I hate sand), and we clean up, and have lunch. He didn’t do his work book all morning but he will do it later, he promised he would.

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

2:51 p.m. — Up from his nap, he bounces out of the bedroom, starts on his pages, then does math with his father, and goes back to his pages.

5:12 p.m. — I decide on pasta for dinner, and Little Bun loves it too. It’s so easy to eat for dinner, you can make it in 13 minutes, with fresh garlic, add in whatever is leftover for vegetables in the fridge, some oil, and then chili sauce or curry.

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. — Oh this is useful for removing yellow stains on white, or stains in general:12:22 p.m. — Lunch time. We have tacos. I love the colours on these meals!

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

2:51 p.m. — Up from his nap, he realizes he forgot a English page, and then he finishes the page, and writes this hilarious line:

5:12 p.m. — Dishes and laundry. Little Bun is wiping down cutlery. I put away laundry, check what else needs to be washed…

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

Spent: $0

DAY SEVEN

5:48 a.m. — I log in and start blogging. Tomorrow it’s back to work.

7:50 a.m. — Out of the blue I get this:

Little Bun: Mommy if we have another child can we name it Vinnie

Me: … why Vinnie?and also I’m never ever going to have a second child.

Little Bun: I don’t know. I’ve only heard it twice.

Me: What if it’s a girl!

Little Bun: We’d find another name then.

Me: Well Vinnie is short for Vincent

Little Bun: Oh NO then, I don’t want them to be confused for Vincent Van Gogh then

Me: Okay. Sounds fair.

12:22 p.m. — Lunch time. He presents me with what he was working on, a 3D frog. Tongue, little feet… it was kind of cute.

1:05 p.m. — Down for his Quiet Time / Nap. I am taking a break, reading books and having a tea.

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

5:12 p.m. — We have a family feast, where his father BBQs vegetables and we hang out. We like to also watch Tournament of Champions where chefs battle each other, and their dishes are so interesting and fun. I am glad I subscribed to the Discovery Plus Channel now. Well worth the money as I love Food, Home and Lifestyle shows.

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.