A Day in the Life

I keep thinking that I’ll have a normal day to report on this project; maybe next month!

Dark o’clock I roll over and realize Ben is in bed with us. For the next couple hours, I sleep fitfully as his slow scissor kicks push me into the middle of the bed. I don’t know how Tony is managing to stay in bed. He must have the kind of gear climbers use to sleep on the sheer face of El Capitan.

5:40 Ben wakes with a little squeak and trots back down the hall to his room. I hear him shut the bedroom door behind him.

6:30 “Dah!” Eli’s awake. It’s my turn to sleep in, which means Tony goes to get him, brings him to me in bed to nurse.

6:45 Eli sits up and gestures toward sleeping Tony (how can he get back to sleep so fast?) like a pointer, every muscle taut. “Are you ready to go play?” I ask. He dives back onto my chest. That’d be a no.

6:50 Done nursing. Tony picks him up, and Eli blows kisses and waves as they leave the room.
I read an essay, roll over, and go back to sleep. I dream that midgets are breaking into our house and I’m offering them stuff if only they’d leave, but they keep rejecting my offers.

8 Ben comes in and says hi. I can’t move or even open my eyes. He leaves. I hear him go downstairs, and hear the happy terradactyl shrieks as Eli greets him. I listen to the zoo sounds awhile, then roll out of bed and go downstairs. Raucous play ensues.

8:30 Finally get to my breakfast. I serve myself more cereal than I need, knowing that Eli (who’s already eaten a big bowl of oatmeal with Tony) will mooch. We eat our granola and o’s together, then play with Ben.

9:15 Tony takes Eli upstairs for a nap. Ben pulls all the dining room chairs into train formation and we play train for awhile. It’s a commuter train, so I’m allowed to read the paper.

9:30 Ben sits down to an episode of Sesame St; I go upstairs to take a shower and get dressed.

10:00 Ben and I settle in to play trains.

11 It dawns on me that I have a cold. It also occurs to me that since Eli won’t nurse again till tomorrow morning, I could take some cold medicine. The mind reels — this makes having a cold kind of exciting! But I can only find some advil. Better than nothing.

11:30 Realize I’m feeling way too lousy to take the kids to the zoo as planned; Tony rearranges his day in order to take the boys and I climb back into bed.

2 Wake up, completely disoriented. If I’m in bed and the clock says 2, it must be the middle of the night, right? But it’s so bright in the room. I stare at the clock for several minutes trying to make sense of the situation. I don’t think I’ve taken a nap in a year.

3-something Tony and the boys return, but my cold keeps me on the fringes of the family for the rest of the day. We’ll try another Day in the Life report next month when I can fully participate!

One Comment

  1. Libby says:

    Yuck, sorry you’re not feeling well. I’m amused that the high point of the day seems to be realizing you could take cold medicine, though!