I ran across
this old blog post where I detailed a summer day with the girls. It was so neat to go back and read it and remember how things used to be. So here is my life 4 years later with a preschooler and first grader....
7:00- Olive comes in our bedroom to wake me up. 7:00 on the dot every morning. We have a rule that they can't come in any earlier than that. Hannah comes in fully dressed a few minutes after that and gets in bed with me to cuddle. Steve is already getting ready for work. I sleep through his alarm every morning. Olive brings in two shirts and says, "Hannah, which one should I wear?" Hannah says, "I don't know. You pick." Olive says, "I can't. You decide. Which one would you wear if it was you." It always amazes me how strong-willed she is with everyone but Hannah. She lets Hannah make so many decisions.
7:10- Steve gives us goodbye kisses and the girls follow him downstairs.
7:12- I get out of bed and get myself ready.
7:25- Olive comes upstairs to tell on Hannah for being on the computer instead of getting breakfast.
7:30- I go downstairs and make breakfast (if they haven't already made something). Hannah is playing a game with gears on the computer. She says she wants eggs, which I don't allow them to make on their own. I fix scrambled eggs, toast, with a side of prunes for breakfast. We are out of juice so they drink water.
7:45- Breakfast is served. I brush and braid hair while they are eating.
7:52- The girls go upstairs to brush teeth and I eat my breakfast (while checking my email). I hear Olive screaming and ask what is going on. Hannah has turned the lights out on her and she's "so scared." Hannah packs a water bottle and snack in her backpack and we are ready to go.
8:03- We leave the house to drive to school. The drop-off line is long today because of construction on the new school and it is also raining so everyone is driving today. After drop-off we go to the bank and deposit a check.
8:23- Back home. I usually sit down at the computer to check email and Facebook while I drink some hot lemon water. This is one of the biggest perks of not working: relaxing mornings. Olive talks to me non-stop until I tell her to do something on her own for a bit. She goes upstairs for about 10 minutes and then comes back down pushing a doll in a stroller. She says, "You're a grandma now! I have a baby!" After looking at celebrity news I decide I should do something more productive and do a blog post about Olive's birthday.
9:00- Usually 9:00 is the time I do something with Olive of her choosing. She starts saying "Come on! Come on!" Today she wants to play with her new hedgehog family she got for her birthday. Then we play her new favorite game of me rocking her and she does a count down. On 0 I am supposed to drop her on my bed. She says we can stop after 8 times. She keeps track on her fingers. After 8 times she pretends she has landed on the moon. She bounces on the bed "because the moon doesn't have much gravity." I end up tickling and cuddling her on the bed.
9:52- I start a load of laundry and fold the load from the dryer while Olive dresses up as "Super Purple." It is a super hero costume she made out of her gymnastics leotard and a purple blanket. She folds all the towels and throws socks and underwear into their drawers (her favorite part).
10:20- I go downstairs to clean up the breakfast dishes. First I need to unload the dishwasher and then load in the dishes from Steve making oreo balls last night. Then I pick up the rest of the kitchen while Olive has a snack and plays with a balloon. I sweep and swiffer the floor. Olive wants to help so she swiffers, too.
10:44- Olive goes in the backyard to splash in puddles. I end up on the internet again. Addiction is hard. I pry myself off the computer to switch the laundry and put in another load.
11:0-3 Olive comes in and wants to change her clothes because they are wet. I ask her about lunch. She requests Life cereal with grapes. I usually eat leftovers. Today is chicken tacos. I really hate fixing lunch. That was a perk of teaching- I ate school lunch and never had to make it.
11:15- Ready to eat. We are in the bad habit of watching a video while we eat lunch. I know. I'm not proud. Olive picks Peg+Cat. At least it is educational.
11;45- Time to make sure Olive is ready for school. Bathroom, shoes, and school bag. She argues that she doesn't need to go to the bathroom. As we are ready to walk out the door, she says she does need to go after all. Now we are late.
12:05- Arrive at preschool. Olive skips inside. I give her a hug and kiss and I'm off.
12:15- Massage appointment. I've had problems with my left leg for years (swelling, plantar fasciitis, and now my knee going out) and the only things that helps is the chiropractor and massage.
1:00- Errands. Return bathmat to Home Goods then go to Target to get supplies for popcorn party at Hannah's school. I can't find the right kind of popcorn. But I do find new shoes for me and a dress for Olive. Win!
2:30- Pick-up Olive from pre-K. She is always in a great mood after school.
2:46- Arrive at Hannah's school for pick-up. We get there super early on preschool days, but there isn't really time to go home or do anything else. So we park in the pick-up lane, Olive gets in the front seat on my lap and we look through her bag from school. She is studying the letter V this week. Today they tasted vegetables (carrots, broccoli, and celery) and she made a little vegetable book. In it she sorted vegetables by how they grow. And she also made a finger painting of violets. Wednesday is her library day, so we read her new book. She picked a non-fiction book about the sun. It still isn't time for Hannah so she plays with SnapChat filters on my phone.
3:09- Hannah's class is first out and she gets in the car.
3:11- Arrive home. Both girls complain about carrying in their backpacks. I look through their backpacks and we get snacks. Steve left a chocolate ball for each girl so they eat those. I make green tea and give them Olive's favorite snack: pastry crisp. Olive tries on the dress I bought her and shows Hannah what she made at school. I check email again.
3:50- Homework. Hannah does her real homework while Olive does a page in her workbook that she calls her homework. Hannah's homework is identifying rhombuses and trapezoids, reading sight words, and writing two sentences with her sight words.
4:10- Free time. Hannah wants to draw on the whiteboard I got out to help her with homework. Olive plays a math app on the iPad. And I start going through the cabinets trying to get ideas for dinner.
4:25- I finally figure out what to make and start defrosting the meat. I put away a load of laundry while the girls play in Hannah's room.
4:45- I start making tortilli with meat sauce while listening to Planet Money podcast. This is a very relaxing part of my day. Even better when I can see the kids play outside while I cook. Today they are still upstairs making a home for their stuffed animals out of a cardboard box.
5:15- The girls come down complaining that they are starving. I have them wash their hands and set the table.
5:30- Steve gets home and we are already at the table eating. The girls get up and run to him as soon as they hear the door. He grabs a plate and we go around the table telling about our days at school/work/home.
6:15- We all clean up the table after dinner. Then Steve sets a timer for a "7 minute clean" for other toys left around the living room and family room.
6:30- Steve asks the girls what they want to play. This is their time with him. Usually they want to do wrestling or legos. We try to do a family game night once a week. Today they choose lego war. The girls are on the good team and Steve is on the bad team, although sometimes Olive pretends to be on his team to spy on him. The build cars/planes/forts for a war that never really takes place. I surf the internet (again) then join them.
7:00- Bath night. I run the bath while the girls get their pjs. They are old enough to do showers, but they still love playing in the bath together. And I don't completely trust them to get out all the soap out of their hair yet.
7:30- Reading time. We are on book 4 of the Magic Tree House series. Hannah and I take turns reading two pages at a time.
8:00- Bedtime. Steve and I tuck the girls in and turn on their bedtime music. Hannah likes to sleep with the door completely closed and Olive likes it open. Steve and I change into workout clothes.
8:30- Workout time. We should start right after we put the girls to bed but we usually end up talking or checking the internet. Tonight I walk outside while Steve bikes in the basement (he's training for a race in June).
9:15- I get back and he is still downstairs. I do some stretching and weights while I watch VEEP.
9:40- Steve comes upstairs and starts eating his second supper. Tonight he makes popcorn. We watch SNL together while eating the popcorn. When the popcorn is gone he starts reading a book while I work on a project for Hannah's class.
10:35- We go upstairs to shower and get ready for bed.
11:05- In bed and I'm asleep in about 2 minutes.
