I thought it would be fun to record a typical day in the life of me and my two boys. I kept my camera with me most of the day trying to catch all the mundane things that make up our life. What I expected to be a one-time attempt at journaling sparked a desire in me to do this more often in a format that I could share with those who might care about our minutiae. I created my blog today and am pleased to present what started it all:
"A Day in the Life of Becca, Todd, and Ryan" - taken September 17
(Yes, Don, I realize that this post would be considered "too much information". Hope you enjoy it anyway. :) I promise none of my other posts will be this long!)
The morning starts around 7:15am when Todd wakes up and climbs into bed with me. He has brought his two blankets, water, and a book with him. It is a new book that I purchased from Scholastic through his preschool called
The Human Body. We didn’t get to finish reading it last night, so Todd is anxious to see the rest of it. We finish reading it in bed, with Ryan joining us for the last few pages.
By 8:00am, I am up and have started getting ready for the day, including making the beds and starting laundry. As today is Monday, I will attempt to wash all the sheets and towels. I will strip my bed after Ryan finishes looking at the book. He looks too involved to disturb him at present.
It is 8:15am. I have finished stripping my bed and move on to the boys’ rooms, only to find the two of them looking at our other Scholastic purchase: two
How Do Dinosaurs… stories in one “flip me over” book. We have already read this book, so Todd is able to tell Ryan all about it. Todd seems as excited about his new Scholastic books as I used to be about mine. I remember how excited I would get every time the new brochure would come out. My mom, being a book-lover herself, would always let us pick out a least one book from each listing. Though married to a “why-don’t-you-just-check-it-out-from-the-library” man, I still don’t think I will be able to resist letting Todd pick out (or picking out for him) a number of books throughout the year.
8:40am: the boys are hungry and start asking for cereal before I have a chance to fix something better. Lately, I have been letting the boys have one small bowl of cereal while I make something more interesting. Breakfast is probably my favorite meal – to eat and to prepare. I love making (and eating) pancakes, French toast, waffles, muffins, eggs, etc. Breakfast Part I consists of a maximum of 3 types of cereals layered in the bowl (today that means every kind of cereal we have open) and a banana. Ryan likes to eat his banana “like a monkey”.
While getting breakfast ready, I play a CD that I recently noticed again. We had a pretty bad thunderstorm last week and Ryan had a really hard time sleeping because of the thunder. He has developed a fear of thunder and usually does okay as long as we are close by. Because this storm woke him up in the middle of the night he was more disturbed than usual by it. Brett finally suggested some music to help calm him, so I looked through our kids CD’s hoping to find something soothing. Though it didn’t really help Ryan that evening, I have enjoyed listening to this CD a few times since then. I received it as a baby gift when Todd was born, and played it quite often. Ryan fell asleep more easily during his first few months of life so I stopped pulling out the CD. Today, I enjoy the calming instrumental music, and the boys like that they recognize some of the lullabies.
Our peaceful morning has a minor hiccup with a timeout for Todd at 9:00am. After finishing his cereal he slipped out the front and started riding his three-wheeler. Our general rule is that he needs to ask before he goes out front so I know where he is and can keep an eye on him. A few of Todd’s mistakes that led to the time out: he didn’t clear his dishes before he left the kitchen, he didn’t ask to go outside first, and when Mom called for him he first ignored me then started verbally protesting before I had a chance to say anything. Fortunately, this minor episode did not disrupt the general good mood of the morning and Todd was quickly able to join us with a happy face.
9:15am: I check my new calendar and menu planner (which I love) and start thinking about what I need/should do today. We decide to take advantage of the beautiful weather and go to the local State Park this morning. Todd, who has become very interested in calendars, daily schedules, lists, etc., makes sure that I write this plan down on the calendar. I quickly start my morning multi-tasking: follow through on some of the laundry started earlier, work on Breakfast Part II, pack our picnic lunch and gather up our swimming gear.
9:30am: Finally, Breakfast Part II is ready – yummy French toast with syrup. I choose to have mine with pure maple syrup. The boys are fine with “the fake stuff” – sugar free, no less! I think my mom (who is originally from New England and knows the “good stuff”) was not looking at the labels very closely when she bought this stuff in July (no offense Mom, but sugar-free maple syrup?!?).
After they finish eating (and clearing their dishes) I send the boys to go wash their sticky hands. I hear a little too much fun going on and decide that it would be wise for me to check the damage, knowing they have been in the bathroom plenty long. I’m lucky this time – there is no water dripping down into the lower cabinet or all over the floor.
10:00am: as I go back to cleaning breakfast dishes and packing lunch Todd spies a pack of gum in the pantry and talks me into letting him practice chewing gum. I break off half a stick, and he successfully chews the gum for about ten minutes without swallowing before he is ready to put it in the trash.
10:30am: The boys decide that since Mom has already stripped the sheets off Todd’s bed they can do some redecorating of their own in the name of playing boat/train/airplane/whatever.
The car is packed and ready to go. From the looks of it, we are going on a two day trip, but no. We are only going five minutes down the road and will have to be back in time to drop Todd off for Preschool at 12:30pm.
10:40am (about half an hour later than I had hoped): “Who’s ready to go to the park?” “I am!” says Todd. “Me!!” says Ryan.
The boys want to check out the playground before they get to swimming. The last few times they were here the playground equipment was too hot to enjoy. I see the passage of time watching them play. Ryan now adeptly climbs this curved ladder, ascending and descending without Mom acting as “spotter” (something I did for my own sense of security, not because he requested it).
Todd, also, is trying new things. Six months ago, this distance was too great (and elevated) for Todd to span comfortably on his own. Now, he climbs with confidence.
Though I am sure they could play longer at the playground, it is 11:00am, and we won’t have much time for swimming. I encourage them to have one more swing before heading down to the water. 
Ryan immediately gets busy digging and driving his trucks in the sand.
Todd prefers to get in the water and takes his boat for a ride.
Though there is a crispness in the air, I am surprised by how warm the water still is. It is a perfect day. It is warm, but not too hot or humid; it is calm and peaceful and so relaxing.
Todd is trying to build a river, and won’t let Ryan jump in until it’s ready. Ryan is barely holding himself back.
Todd jumps in first and Ryan is close behind, but what happened to the water?
Todd puts his goggles on and instantly becomes a fish. “What do you see?” “Fish, and rocks, and … lots of things.” We talk about “nature” – the water, sand, shells, trees, butterflies, kingfisher, seagulls, terns. “Is a bridge ‘nature’?” “No.” “Is a boat ‘nature’?” “No.” “Is a dock ‘nature’?” “No.” “Yes, it is!” More “nature” explanations….
It is getting late and our perfect morning at the State Park must come to close. I had hoped for a nice picnic lunch under the pavilion, but couldn’t tear myself away from the shore to allow enough time for that. Rather, we quickly rinse off in the shower (where the water is not warm), get some dry clothes on, and finish eating in the car.
I am surprised that we actually make it to school on time. I take Todd to wash his hands before signing in (Preschool policy). Ryan, of course, has to wash his hands like his older brother, making sure that he uses his paper towel to turn off the faucet like Todd has been taught to do. Ryan would love to stay and play with the toys. It will be your turn soon enough, Ryan. Have a great day, Todd.
Mom and Ryan have a few minutes of together time before he goes down for a nap at 1:30pm. We get cozy in Ryan’s new hippopotamus tent which we set up for his birthday. Today’s book is I’m Taking a Trip on My Train. It quickly became a favorite of Ryan’s when we checked it out from the library a few weeks ago. I have already renewed it twice and will have to return it soon, much to Ryan’s dismay. He likes that the book tells a little story adding one line to the poem with each page, replacing key words with pictures after each page – the engineer’s hat, locomotive, caboose, tunnel, people, etc. He fills in the picture words as I read the story and he always finishes the last line: “I’m taking a trip on my train.”
Story time is over and it’s time to snuggle in for bed. Ryan has been testing Mom and Dad lately with last-minute requests before bed. I try to make sure he is ready with everything he “needs” for bed before I tell him good night. It looks like he has it all: his bug blanket, soft green blanket, dark blue blanket, and his snowman blanket which he brought in from the car after taking Todd to school; his puppy, little mousie, Copper, little sheepy, rooster, and soft Teddie; his water, and his socks (not pictured). Good night, Ryan. I love you.
Ryan wakes up from his nap, and Dad has come home from work a little early. Ryan decides to come with Mom to pick up Todd from Preschool. The day is still beautiful and I set up the little pool for the first time this year around 4:15pm. The boys have a great time playing with the hose, their dive sticks, and water guns. I watch them from the kitchen window while I start getting dinner ready.
5:00pm: dinner is almost ready, so the boys get out, dry off, and get dressed. Dad throws the Aerobie for the dogs and Copper decides to take a little swim himself now that the pool has been abandoned. What he doesn’t know is that this will inspire Brett to bathe both dogs. Ha ha.
We sit down as a family for a nice meal – something I have been really trying to make a priority lately. Brett goes over next door to help our neighbor install her microwave. Todd has finished eating and has cleared his dishes. He is patiently waiting for Ryan to finish his dinner so they can go next door also and see if Logan is home. Logan is the same age as Ryan and the boys have all become good friends and love to play together. Ryan is left at the table alone most days of the week while Mom cleans up the dishes. Though he usually finishes his dinner eventually, it has been difficult getting him to eat it in less than what feels like an hour!
Todd relaxes for a minute on our new little deck outside the sliding glass door that Brett installed two weeks ago. It has the best view from the house looking out to the golf course. What a perfect evening to sit and relax outside. Unfortunately, I have to get ready for practice and can’t join him. Every Monday during the school year I sing with a group at the local college. It is a small group of about 15 members and we perform a couple of times towards the end of each semester. This will be my fourth semester singing with them.
It is almost 6:00pm and I’m ready to go.
I come home about 8:15pm and find the boys asleep in their beds. It is so nice that the boys are comfortable with me leaving them now. In fact, Ryan has started to ask me occasionally if I can leave so that he can have a movie with Daddy. It has become a special treat for them. It is 11:00pm, and I go in to check on each of them before calling it a night. I whisper in their ears,
“Good night, Todd. I love you.”
“Good night, Ryan. I love you.”
