Typical Day

Even though I've never gone surfing, I think of my days with the kids like riding a wave; some days you catch the wave and glide into shore, other days it lifts you up and slams you into the ocean floor. Maybe that's a bit melodramatic! But I find it helpful to follow my late therapist's advice and "find [their] rhythm." I spend the day riding the ebb and flow of their energy. Sometimes they're in sync with each other, sometimes they're at odds, but usually there is a pattern to our day and it is something like this:

5:00 or 5:30 a.m. Gabriel wakes up

6:00 or 6:30 a.m. Valerie wakes up

Either Terry or I gets to sleep in a little while the other one plays with the kids and gives Gabriel breakfast.

8:00 ish Gabriel goes down for nap, Terry gets in the shower to get ready for work. I make breakfast for me and Valerie while Gabriel is sleeping (sometimes, though, he doesn't go down until 9). It's really nice to have someone here to stay with Valerie while I put Gabriel down for nap; this is probably the hardest 10 minutes of my day when Terry's not here.

8:50 Terry goes to work

sometime between 9 and 10 Gabriel wakes up, I take the kids out somewhere

12:00 lunch at home. Actually, this can be a rough time too if I'm trying to put lunch together while the kids are both hungry and demanding my attention. I usually give them a snack around 10 or 11 and that helps. It also helps to have something I can give them really quickly.

1:00 Valerie's nap time (sometimes not until 2:00)

Depending what time Gabriel woke up from his first nap, the second nap is anytime from 11:30-2:00 and lasts 45-90 minutes. This can be another rough spot if Valerie is tired and wants my attention, but isn't ready for her nap yet at the point in time when Gabriel is, and I have to leave her by herself again. If Shpresa is here, though, she puts Gabriel down and I can focus on Valerie.

3:00 or 4:00 Valerie wakes up, has a snack, then we either play at home or go out somewhere (usually a shorter outing, either to Fun Cafe or grocery shopping)

5:00 Gabriel eats supper, then has bath, then to bed between 6:30 and 7:00 p.m. Lately Valerie has been getting in the bath with him too!

8:00 pm Valerie's bedtime

9:00 Valerie falls asleep and I go to bed. Seriously - I have a night owl and an early bird. I doesn't matter what time I put Valerie to bed she falls asleep at 9. The only exceptions are 1) when she has skipped her afternoon nap, she falls asleep around 8 or 8:30, and 2) when she has taken a late nap (like, waking up around 5) then she'll be awake until 10 or 10:30 which is RIDICULOUS so I have put a moratorium not late naps. If it's 3:00 and she's still awake, there will be no nap that day.

These days Gabriel is waking up around 3 times during the night. I think for awhile he was feeling a lot of teething pain, so I treated it like he was sick and just went in and nursed him every time.