A Day in the Life

I thought it might be fun to share the events of a typical day in our household. These particular events are from a day last week, but they could really be any day.

I got up at 6:30 and brewed myself a cup of herbal tea. As I drank the tea with my oatmeal, I reflected on how grateful I was to be alive.

Next I prepared Nathan's breakfast: toast made from whole-wheat bread I made myself, a cup of organic, locally-grown fruits, and two scrambled free-range, cage-free, organic eggs. (I needed to use up the eggs so we could use the carton for a lesson/craft we were doing later!)

Right at 7:15, Nathan came downstairs, after getting himself dressed and making his bed. "Mmm, eggs," he said. "Mom, I love you so much and appreciate all you do for me!"

"I love you too, Nathan," I said, "and I recognize that the rewards of raising you far outweigh the challenges."

He happily ate his breakfast, put his dishes in the sink, brushed his teeth, and set out to play quietly by himself with one toy at a time. When he wanted to play with a new toy, he put his other toy back in the toy box before getting another one out.

During this time I cleaned up in the kitchen, organizing a drawer or two.

At 8:15, I told Nathan it was time to go to the gym. He happily got right up, put away his toy, got his shoes and coat on, and climbed into the car.

Fueled by my organic oats and a general sense of moral superiority, I had a great workout at the gym. After showering, I picked Nathan up from the gym daycare. When we passed by the gym's vending machines he said, "Mom, I know those vending machines are filled with processed junk that's bad for you. I was wondering if I could have some fruit in the car as a snack instead?"

"Ha, ha, ha," I replied. "You know I don't let you eat in the car. It would just be too messy!" Oh, that child can be such a challenge sometimes!

When we got home from the gym, I couldn't believe it was already time to start preparing the homemade lunch I had planned. During the hour that it was in the oven, I worked on some tasks for my fulfilling, flexible, work-from-home job that pays a lot of money. Nathan built an elaborate wooden train track with scenes that replicated the Amtrak trip we took to California in December.

When lunch was ready, I called Nathan to the table and said, "Nathan, I know how much you like to try new things, so I prepared this Moroccan feast today."

"Yum," said Nathan, who happily ate it up and asked for seconds.

After lunch Nathan had his quiet time, during which he lay on his bed looking at books for two hours. I worked some more on my paying job, answered some emails from people wanting to give me all kinds of free stuff for my blog, reorganized the basement, and snuck a little "me" time in to read a parenting book.

When quiet time was over, I had to beg Nathan to get out of his bed. Children can be so impossible sometimes! But we had some enrichment lessons to get to. First we had free-reading time, where he read aloud to me from a book about manners. Then we used the afore-mentioned egg carton for a sorting activity that prepared him for multiplication and division. After that we used the egg carton, along with toilet paper, cotton balls, and straws, to make a model of the human digestive system. Finally we wrote about the day's activities and drew some pictures for Nathan's scrapbook.

After sitting for so long doing educational activities, Nathan was understandably a little antsy. "Mom, I could use some outdoor large motor activity," he said. "Could we go to the park?" Since it was such a beautifully warm day, the park seemed like a great idea. I called up my friend Sarah to see if she and her kids wanted to go with us.

"Yes, Noah was just saying that he could use some outdoor large motor activity as well," she said. So it was a date.

At the park, Sarah and I barely had time to say hello to one another because we were so busy interacting with our kids as they played an imaginative game where they re-enacted Apollo 11's moon landing. There was a brief argument over who got to say the famous "One small step for man" line, but the boys quickly resolved it by deciding to take turns.

Alas, all good times must come to an end, and we had to leave the park so I could go home and make a hearty vegetable soup for dinner. I allowed Nathan to watch TV -- an educational DVD about photosynthesis -- while I prepared dinner. When the soup was ready, Nathan came to the table, took one look at his food, and said, "Mmm, are those green beans in there?" Of course he ate the whole thing up, earning a banana for dessert.

After dinner we happily progressed through his bedtime routine without a single attempt at stalling on Nathan's part. We read three books, and then I said, "Okay, Nathan, it's lights out," and he happily complied.

I was in the middle of folding some laundry -- I wouldn't want to do it while Nathan was awake because it would take away time from interacting with him -- when my husband got home. I heated up some soup for him, and he was just as happy about it as Nathan was.

Bill and I both did a little more work, then went to bed promptly at 10 p.m. I drifted off quickly into dreamland as I thought through my rewarding and productive day.

Sigh ... you really can have it all ...