Hey readers, it's been awhile but I'm resurrecting the blog for my annual day-in-the-life post. I record everything I do on the first Friday of the new year. Looks like I forgot to do 2023, so I consulted my calendar to see that on 1/6/23, I was working in the morning, then met up with a friend for coffee in the afternoon. And now, on to the present!
Cast of characters: DF = Das Fenster, aka Dad. Gus & Gibson the 8 year old twins.
Location: Pasadena, CA
I sort of forgot to record the exact times that things happened today. Here are my best recollections.
7:00 AM Wake up when the boys come into our bedroom to tell me dreams they were having about school. They are on their last day of winter break and apparently having some feelings about returning to the academic life. I get up with them and we hang out on the couch in the den for awhile before facing the day. Once we get moving, I have to play Wordle, NYT Connections, and Spelling Bee, my daily ritual.
8:30 AM DF and I have a video appointment related to one of the kids and a medical condition. It goes well and is over sooner than I thought, so I make some breakfast and sign on to work earlier than expected.
9:00 - 10 AM work. I started a new job this past May as a grant writer, and so far it's going great. I work 20 hrs/week for a local child welfare and mental health agency. It's a remote job and flexible with my schedule. Yay! I just have one hour to finish up this week so it's a short day today.
After work I hang out with the guys for awhile. DF has been on vacation for the last 2 weeks, though he's normally off on Fridays.
11:30 AM I go to the library to return our current stash and check out some new books for the kids. They usually read one or two picture books each night, so I try to keep our supply fresh! They are in 3rd grade this year, still doing the dual language (Spanish) program. Their teacher recommends that they read in both languages but I forgot to get any bilingual or Spanish books today, oops.
12:30 PM back home, making lunch for the boys and me. DF scrounged up some leftovers already. I check my email and see a notice from the library that a book I had on hold is now available. D'oh!
1:00 PM Time to send out the weekly newsletter for our church group. DF is the president of our adult Sunday School class, so as the "first lady" my duties include drafting the weekly email for him. Gotta put my Communication degrees to work, you know :)
1:30 PM the boys have been scheming all of break to turn the living room into a giant fort, and apparently today is the day. Gus gathers all the couch cushions in the house and piles them up in the middle of the floor. Then we discuss his vision for the fort. Gibson chimes in. We build a rather large fort that does indeed take over most of the living room. They also want to sleep in it tonight. We shall see... While they play in the fort, I fold some laundry.
2:30 PM play Super Mario Wonder, a new Nintendo Switch game they got for Christmas. All 4 of us can play together, which is nice. I like to be yellow Yoshi, who is a character that is invincible to everything except falling/getting squished. It's a good match for my skill level, lol.
3:00 PM Gibson and DF continue playing video games, while Gus and I need a break. He watches some YouTube while I pull out my laptop and work on PTA Treasurer stuff. I compare our budget to actual for income and expenses and draw up a draft of a mid-year budget adjustment. I was the PTA Secretary for the previous two years. This is my first time serving as Treasurer - it has been a bit of a learning curve, but I think I'm getting the hang of it now. I should also be working on the student picture pages for the school yearbook, but I don't really know what I am doing so I will continue to avoid that task.
5:00 PM off to Domino's to pick up pizza for dinner. Gibson is on a major pizza kick lately. I stop by the library again while I'm out to retrieve the book that came in for me, Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. I saw this book on several of my friends' lists of "top books of 2023," so I'm looking forward to reading it!
5:30 PM DF and the boys are playing hide-and-seek while I load the dishwasher. They mainly seem to be hiding in their fort, which is not very sneaky. I suggest we all play a board game and we decide on Catan Jr. Things are going well for a couple rounds until a child who shall remain nameless has an epic meltdown due to other people not playing the way he thinks they should. The game is called on account of tears.
6:30 PM the boys play Minecraft until the end of screen time at 7:00 PM. Then I get them a snack.
7:30 PM get the kids ready for bed. I still brush their teeth for them, and they always want me to tell them a story while I do so. Tonight I try to describe what my school was like in 3rd grade. I attended a private Christian school and recall pledging allegiance to the American flag, the Christian flag, and the Bible. Where are my 1980s evangelical kids at??
8:00 PM DF reads them a bedtime story in the living room, then there is a lot of scurrying back and forth as they gather everything they need to prepare the fort for bedtime. I sing them Silent Night, their bedtime song, and tell them that if it's too hard to sleep in the fort, I'll help them move to their beds. I'm posting this blog just before 9PM and all is quiet behind the couch cushions...wish us luck!
I will be reading my new book and then going to bed soon myself!
