Week of Money: Where we all refused to go to the office

DAY ONE

??:?? — I wake up tired.

6:00 a.m. — Little Bun works on making a calendar because he will get to go out and play soccer with his father and he is very excited, so he creates his own for the month of May and June.

6:19 a.m. — I make a cup of tea and offer advice on his calendar design.

6:48 a.m. — He works on his chart.

8:04 a.m. — Some fast talking from management, and there’s a company-wide announcement that they’re retracting their “request” (wasn’t a request to me), to not force people back to the office after the first shot. Wünderbar. I am staying on until they ask me to go back again. They’re amending it to: End of the year, back in the office.

11:01 a.m. — I take a break and have lunch.

11:04 a.m. — Little Bun creates a new diary page about eating, based on a discussion we had about eating more vegetables than meat:

That’s a battery bar by the way, and you reach RED if you eat too much meat. He also showed us the proper ratio of meat to veggies.

12:28 p.m. — Back to work.

3:00 p.m. — I log off for the day as he wakes up.

3:16 p.m. —  After his nap, he created a calendar because we have a Field Trip day coming up next week and he is very excited.

4:26 p.m. — He can’t stop talking about Field Trip Day.

6:17 p.m. — We have dinner, I do dishes, laundry, he helps wipe things, and puts away the Kitchen Towels.

7:04 p.m. — He reads a new series called: Diary of a Wimpy Kid which he is loving because it’s like a cartoon book!

8:40 p.m. — We head into the bedroom to upcycle, and then time to sleep.

Spent: $0

DAY TWO

??:?? — We wake up, tired. Again.

6:00 a.m. — I make tea, he watches some Dr. Binocs and learns new things. He has started on questions about the reproductive system and how babies are made, so I objectively try to explain to him what happens.

6:30 a.m. — He tells me: It is FRIDAY MOMMY!... I get confused because it isn’t. Then I realize he was playing with the words as FRY DAY as in today, we get to eat FRIES. I laugh. He’s learning how to do and make puns.

8:20 a.m. — I am reading my book and Little Bun is writing out new diary pages.

9:12 a.m. — I get on the phone with my friend and chat.

11:01 a.m. — I pick up a new subscription to Highlights for Kids. $59.88

11:40 a.m. — I do the dishes and then cutlery.

12:05 p.m. — Time for lunch. Fries. As he knew.

1:13 p.m. — I conk out for 2 hours.

3:05 p.m. — Little Bun wakes me up, “MOMMYY.. MOMMYYYYYYY.. MOMMY MAAA MAA!!!!!” I am super grumpy at being woken up but it is good so I can still sleep at night.

3:56 p.m. — After his nap, Little Bun creates a racing game with the Babiest Stuffie to “shoot” blocks at a target by tapping on them. I got 3 blue ones, Babiest got 3 green ones to hit the target he set up on the table.

4:15 p.m. — We play in the closet again, and come up with ideas. I still need to organize the room and maybe get rid of more things.

6:28 p.m. — OMG. I FORGOT TO ORDER MORE CONTACT LENS SOLUTION! Shoot. I thought I had a plan. My process is broken, I forgot to make a note to order more. $78.50

8:11 p.m. — Time to wind down for bed. Bedtime routine, and then we play “Where is Mommy!?“… where he closes his eyes and feels around the bedroom for me, as I call out: “NO MOMMY HERE!“… like Marco Polo.

8:50 p.m. — I pretend his foot is a telephone, and I say: RING RING!!!… and I pick up his foot as my phone, and pretend to talk to the doctor on it saying things like: Oh so Little Bun needs to be tickled? It’s twice a day right? Got it, thank you. … and I’ll tickle him.

Spent: $59.88

DAY THREE

??:?? — I woke up, then fell back asleep again, and then wake up cranky because I was in the middle of an REM sleep.

6:50 a.m. — I make a tea.

7:20 a.m. — He looks at me and says in panic: THIS IS NOT HOW I PLANNED MY MORNING!!!… I wanted to do my Activity Book early and then we’d have more time to play!! .. He immediately starts working on his pages. Thank goodness. He’s learning how to plan his day, his morning and not waste time if he wants to play. He has to check times, know he has to nap at 13:00, etc. I am glad he is learning how to organize his time early on in life.

8:08 a.m. — His activity book pages have improved immensely with this new chart I created, where he can track and colour in his subjects as he completes them, PLUS do bonus pages for extra stars.

10:15 a.m. — I tell him: I need to wash my hair.. He looks at me in alarm: I don’t want to smell you Mommy! GO SHOWER. … and I cackle because I like to tease him that I stink and he should smell me to be sure. He now tells me: NO. NO SMELLING.

11:08 a.m. — Lunch time. I have quinoa with sweet potatoes.

1:07 p.m. — Time for his nap.

3:37 p.m. — Up from his nap, he slept in! No wonder, we have been waking up early.

6:40 p.m. — I do dishes, laundry, and clean up the home by vacuuming. He tells me I have to vacuum first before I play. LOL.. teaching him the good values.

8:35 p.m. — “Imagine fireworks Mommy. I heard them. Pretend they’re there.”, as he makes me stare out into the sky searching for them.

8:51 p.m. — Time for bed.

Spent: $0

DAY FOUR

??:?? — I wake up tired.

6:30 a.m. — I make a cup of tea, Little Bun works on colouring in something he’s creating as a new Diary Page.

7:20 a.m. — I log into the first meeting of the day.

9:17 a.m. — *trying to explain his uncle/aunt separating*

Me: It would be like if you had me one week and next week you’d be with Daddy.

Little Bun: So Daddy wouldn’t be with us?

Me: Right. There’d be two homes.

Little Bun: *starts to wail* BUT HOW WOULD WE EAT? WHO WOULD FEED US? WHERE WOULD WE GET FOOD!???

Me: OMG CHILD. I know how to cook!  And I cook very well, I just don’t enjoy it. I would take care of us!! I don’t just EAT.

Little Bun: Oh. *sob*… *super suspicious look.* okay then… I see.

I am laughing so hard. My child clearly has zero faith in me as a Food Cooker, Meal Preparer and Food Provider as he has never seen me make a meal in his life. This is actually great, because to him, fathers do groceries, errands and cook at home to feed everyone. It will help him solidify in his head that people do what is best for their skillset, not their gender roles.

For the record, I do actually cook. I can cook, and quite well if I say so myself. I just don’t enjoy it as much as my partner does.

11:30 a.m. — I take a break for lunch.

1:08 p.m. — Down for his nap, I am in another meeting.

3:50 p.m. — I log off for the day, my meeting ended early.

3:57 p.m. — I am still low key browsing different home ideas, and I like this office one but the desk has to be clear because I have a lot of papers and things.

4:08 p.m. — We Upcycle, then have Dinner, then do Laundry, then play together on the bed and he reads more of The Diary of the Wimpy Kid. Our nights are pretty predictable.

5:16 p.m. — I pick up some more deodorant –  I LOVE this natural charcoal one from Kaia in this scent Oak and Bourbon. Staying at home all day, doing yoga, and going through a slight heat wave means I need something. The only thing is it isn’t plastic-free which gives me angst because I tried the plastic free one from Ethique and hated it. It was too waxy and hard to apply. I’d absolutely buy this Kaia one in a glass jar and apply it with my fingertips if they offered this option. I send them a message asking exactly for that. $48.30

8:41 p.m. — We snuggle in bed and play the Telephone game again (where I pretend his foot is ringing, and I have to pick it up to answer). It’s a lot of fun and he laughs so hard, it’s worth it.

9:16 p.m. — Time for bed.

Spent: $48.30

DAY FIVE

??:?? — I wake up tired. Little Bun is waking earlier and earlier I think.

5:30 a.m. — I make a tea, and he starts on his Work book early. Then asks me: How much time do I have to do my workbook? I tell him he’s in charge of his own schedule, so he can do it when he wants but until it’s done, we can’t play. He gets grumpy and says: MOMMYYY!!! You tell me this ALL THE TIME... I snap back: Because you keep ASKING ALL THE TIME!

5:48 a.m. — I log in to try and get some work done in the lull of the morning time.

6:45 a.m. — He thunderstomps to the bedroom to try and get his father awake to feed him and I tell him I will do the breakfast. Which surprises him. LOL!

6:59 a.m. — I feed him some pasta with cheese and he tells me: Mommy I don’t think I want any more cheese. My elbows are all red. We think he may have the same condition as my partner where dairy makes his joints swell, so I promise I won’t give him cheese any more. He asks for balsamic vinegar instead.

7:15 a.m. — First meeting of the day.

12:05 p.m. — I am finally out of meetings and eating cold pizza.

12:28 p.m. — I make a tea and play “dominoes” with Little Bun who made them out of blocks with a machine.

1:07 p.m. — Little Bun down for his nap. He wanted to leave me a note after his snack before his nap time (he likes snacks before and after nap time, and before and after meals, so 8 snacks a day), but he ran out of time and leaves the note blank and runs off with his father.

1:15 p.m. — More meetings until 15:30 today. My brain is shot.

3:47 p.m. — I log off for the day.

4:03 p.m. — Babiest Stuffie has mysteriously contracted colourblindness. The red/green one, mind you. So Little Bun gives him a vision test.

Not pictured: Putting on the Enchroma glasses to help him see colours and distinguish between red/green and other shades. 🙂

5:30 p.m. — Little Bun sets up a dominoes section. HE LOVES THIS SO MUCH. He loves seeing them knock down, etc. I am seriously considering a dominoes set for him. He created a checkerboard image at the end of the dominoes:

He even made a paper Stuffie to play:

And it knocks down the dominoes:

Aerial view:

Another dominoes knockdown (I created this one), and he added some “cool art” at the bottom (the text) and saved it to: Little Bun Creations on my phone.

Paper Stuffie also got a Paper Ice Cream Treat.

6:47 p.m. — Dinner done, washing happened, laundry on the go.

7:46 p.m. — OOps. I forgot the dishes. I sort of left them all day, and now I am realizing we are out of cutlery and bowls for tomorrow. I quickly wash a good chunk, make Little Bun clean half the cutlery, and promise to do the rest tomorrow morning.

8:50 p.m. — After his schooling, he spends time on his Diary, journaling ideas and To Do lists (it’s really cute), and then we head to bed.

Spent: $0

DAY SIX

??:?? — I wake up tired. This is my new normal.

5:55 a.m. — Little Bun foregoes his usual Animal Restaurant today in favour of working on his Activity Book FIRST to finish all of his pages so he has “more time to play”. I think our lessons are finally sinking in about: Work first, then you have a free mind and heart to play.

This is the game he loves by the way – he runs his own restaurant. It reminds me of when I was a kid, I loved games like this where I could organize, manage, and handle customers, etc.

10:20 a.m. — Meltdown. I am stuck in a meeting and can’t leave to go handle him so my partner, after we had a chat last week, takes a cue and tells him: Go to the bedroom to calm down then. (but not in a nice sweet way, the way I normally do it…)

So of course, Little Bun is still sobbing looking at me for help so, I put myself on mute and tell him: Baby? Do you want some quiet time? Go to the bedroom. I will set the timer for 15 minutes. Okay? ..

He blubbers and sobs: HALF AN HOUR. I WANT THIRTY MINUTES. *grabs his pencil crayon box and a piece of paper* AND I AM GOING TO WRITE OUT MY DIARY PAGE ABOUT HOW ANGRY I AM AT DADDY.

I have no idea what just happened. I am in a meeting.

So apparently Daddy checked his math work and marked it wrong and used coloured pencil which cannot erase as well.

Little Bun likes being a perfectionist. My partner is trying to toughen him up by marking pages wrong and putting red X’s like a teacher to fix his perfectionist streak.

I don’t know what way is right. Mine where I point out the mistake and let him fix it, or my partner’s where he just marks things red.

At any rate, I remind Little Bun about our Inner Perfectionist Monster, and to tell it: SHOO! GO AWAY!!…. and after a sob fest, I help calm him down, while he is writing a diary page detailing how angry he was (10 star angry at Daddy) for the whole situation, but he gets it now.

Little Bun: *sobs* DADDY RUINED MY CLEAN WHITE PAGE! Why did he use coloured pencil? NOW IT IS SO UGLY.

Me: But that’s what teachers will do. They will mark it with a bright red X if the question is wrong. But that’s okay! That is ONE mistake, baby.

Little Bun: *crying harder* But all the kids are going to laugh at me!!!!!!!! *blubbering* *tears flowing*

Me: OMG. OMG Baby no. BABY. No, this is not going to be happening, I promise you. Everyone is so focused on their own issues, they won’t even think about your math problems. Look at Mommy. I am so focused on my making a mistake when I speak French, I don’t even care other people cannot speak French or make mistakes. So NO ONE will make fun of you for not getting every answer right. Maybe they might think that they need help from you because they got TWO answers wrong and you only got one wrong!

Little Bun: *sobbing* Really? *blubbering*

Me: Yes, I promise you. No one will laugh at you for this. It is all part of learning and making mistakes, and now you know to double check each time right? When Mommy was a baby, Mommy made mistakes all the time and look now – she still makes mistakes and she tries to fix it when she can. But it never goes away okay?

Little Bun: Okay…. *sobbing softly*…. What mistakes did you make?

[ Cue lots of mistake talking about when Mommy was a Baby ]

Parenting is hard, but I am realizing to talk to him and understand why he is so upset instead of yelling at him is much better and a greater, kinder approach than getting mad at him because we are frustrated that he’s such a perfectionist (WHICH HE GETS FROM BOTH OF US BY THE WAY).

I also explain to my partner what happened.

11:25 a.m. — He finally finishes all of his pages. He had good intentions to finish earlier but got sidetracked with dominoes and we had a little meltdown. We touch quickly again on mistakes, how teachers will put big red X’s and we should thank Daddy for finding the mistake so that we can do better next time and not make the mistake.

I hand him his Mistake Chart where he colours in a big yellow star that is worth 10+ because he was SUPER ANGRY today.

He hands me the page and says: You need to mark down your mistakes too!…

So I do.

11:58 a.m. — In the closet, he creates a “garden” out of green scraps, a flower to smell, a ramp for the purple rock to slide off on to waterski on another rock (the yellow one) that’s used as a surfboard, the golden chains are to make music… The large white rock is a vacuum cleaner to keep the garden clean.

I also remember an old game we had with fishing poles and magnets, and I recreated it with an old magnetic necklace clasp, and we are “fishing” for gold metal beads:

12:28 p.m. — Exhausted, I conk out beside him as he plays Tint, a game in Apple Arcade that is a logic puzzle using colours. He is on level 97 and he figures out how to mix the colours in a logic/maze puzzle to activate things… it’s truthfully beyond the scope of my brain power, but he really enjoys the logic figuring out and does well.

12:56 p.m. — I wake up from my mini catnap as my partner comes in for the real nap.

1:10 p.m. — I make a tea and have a Stuffed Cookie because it’s that kind of day.

2:00 p.m. — I log into my meeting. I hate that we have meetings over stupid things. Let’s email.

3:26 p.m. — I log off for the day.

4:22 p.m. — Time for laundry! And dishes! I still didn’t do them from yesterday!!! We are now out of cutlery and bowls!!!!!

7:40 p.m. — Little Bun comes up with new domino games after his schooling with Daddy. I start transferring money to pay my bills for next month. As for the rest, I leave a $1000 buffer and transfer the remainder into investing.

8:30 p.m. — Time for bed. We usually chat before sleeping so Little Bun says: Mommy? What shall we talk about tonight?…. and we pick a topic. It can be anything. Whales. How paper is made. Where wind comes from (still have no clue, have to Google this to give an accurate answer).

Spent: $0

DAY SEVEN

??:?? — I wake up tired. Sense a recurring theme?

6:00 a.m. — I make my cup of tea. TODAY IS FIELD TRIP DAY!

6:30 a.m. — First meeting of the day. No joke. People start early too, so we chat in the morning in the quiet lull, and then work during meetings, and life goes a lot smoother. I start handing off tasks to other people, because I have to delegate or go mad.

7:00 a.m. — I inform my team I am out of the office for the morning. I like working from home for precisely this reason.

9:56 a.m. — Back home.

1:10 p.m. — I eat lunch in front of my computer and I log in and work.

3:08 p.m. — The Stuffies are living their best life.  This is after their nap, they’re hanging out in the pillow (I use it for my knees when I side sleep):

4:28 p.m. — I get an email from a former friend, basically telling me to stop reading social media posts on the pandemic and to “live my life”. I send back a matter-of-fact email about my thoughts on the whole thing, and why I will continue to be extra vigilant until the population is 70% or higher vaccinated with BOTH DOSES and on top of that, I want the kids to be vaccinated too so that they have a lower chance of catching the virus and transmitting it. She may want to take chances but I do not want to be THAT ONE person who didn’t, caught it, and now can’t breathe normally any more for the rest of my life.

5:02 p.m. — In the closet, he is making words out of clay, and here are two. Mama because he is really into this word now.. he writes me all sorts of love notes: I love you Mama! .. and so on.

So he made MAMA:

Then he made: SHY and told me sweetly – Sometimes Mommy, I am shy. I am shy around new people I do not know but then after a while I am okay! … and I tell him – Yes, this is fine. Mommy was like this too. And maybe even shyer than you. All of it is okay, it is what you are comfortable with.

7:15 p.m. — Dishes, schooling, laundry.. I even manage to somewhat clean the bathroom and vacuum upon Little Bun’s insistence that “the dust bunnies are getting out of control”.

8:48 p.m. — Time for bed.

Spent: $0

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