A Day in the Life... Summer 2016

In a few weeks I will return to work and Sawyer to daycare, so I thought it would be fun to document what a typical day looks right now. I actually really enjoy reading these posts on other blogs, I guess we are all a bit nosey at the end of the day. Plus I really love looking back at the ones that I've done in the past to see how life has changed. Like the first one before I had a kid? Oh my. An hour on the couch reading blogs? Sheesh. 

Typically, Sawyer and I are pretty busy during the week. I try to take one day to stay at home, do one or two "big" (Wild Animal Park, a trip to the science museum, etc...) outings a week, and then a few smaller, more local things, so that we are back for naps and often pool time as well. He does well out and about and I like to stay busy, so this sort of balance works well. 

The other day was really typical for a "fun activity in the morning and get things done around the house day" with a two-year-old, so I thought it would work well for one of these posts. 

6:50 am- Sawyer wakes me up. This is actually a miracle; usually he is up at 6, or earlier. Knock on wood, but he's been sleeping for a solid ten to ten-and-a-half hours for several weeks now and it has been a life-saver for me. I have slept better this summer than I have since he was born.

7:00-8:30 I had a really hard time getting moving today, since I was up sneezing my head off and praying I wasn't getting sick until late the night before. Nonetheless, the show must go on. We have breakfast, I feed the dogs, unload the dishwasher, and I write out my to-do list while drinking coffee. I write a to-do list of some sort every single day, always. 

8:30-9:00 Chores: laundry, vacuuming, tidying up

9:00-9:30 I put the gate up in Sawyer's room so he can play while I get ready for the day. When I'm ready I get him dressed as well. We are usually up and dressed much earlier, but this is just how it worked out today/

9:30-11:15 We drive to an indoor trampoline park called Sky Zone and spend an hour jumping. It's so much fun- for $8 we can both jump and he actually gets the concept now, so it's a blast watching him hop around and fall. I get in a good little work out as well. 

11:15-12:00 We say good bye to the trampolines and head to the grocery store so I can buy the ingredients for some treats to take to a friend's house the next day and and a few things I need for dinner. 

12:00-1:00 Sawyer and I have lunch (lately we've been doing a "snack lunch" sort of hodgepodge for him, since he can be picky. I made him a plate with crackers, blueberries, yogurt, string cheese, and pepperoni and he tried some of everything, which is all I ask). After we eat we make Golden Graham S'mores Bars for tomorrow.

1:00-1:30 Get Sawyer down for a nap (read a few stories and then he insists on holding my hand through his crib until he nods off; I'm sure I'm probably like setting him up for a life of sleeping failures, but it's super cute and he's still falling asleep on his own, quietly, in his bed, SO I'LL TAKE IT) and get ready to work out.

1:30-3:00 Thirty minutes on the treadmill (some jogging, some sprinting, some slow hill walking), twenty-five minutes of restorative yoga, and thirty minutes floating around the pool with my book.

3:00-4:00 Sawyer wakes up, but when I go to get him I can tell he's still sleepy. We sit in his rocker and he falls asleep on me, so I just sit in there and read.

4:00-4:30 The kid is up, so we eat ice cream and play with LEGOS and his magnet board (he has gotten so much use out of this!).

4:30- 5:30 Sawyer keeps playing while I clean the hell out of my kitchen. Every once in awhile I take a break and play with him and every once in awhile he takes a break and grabs a towel to "scrub" something. We have a good thing going.

5:30-6:00 Play around with Sawyer and the dogs, switch laundry over, check the mail.

6:00-7:30 Make Sawyer's dinner (chicken and mashed potatoes) and ours, for when Scott comes home later (Honey Balsamic Peach and Chicken that was delicious, with couscous. This meal had a lot more prep than I might typically choose to do, but it's summer so I have the flexibility at night).

7:30-8:00 Walk dogs while Scott and Sawyer play. It's been way too hot to do this lately, and Scott is usually home a bit later, but tonight it all works. 

8:00-8:30 Bathe Sawyer, clean up toys together, put him to bed.

8:30-10:30 Shower, watch Love with Scott on Netflix, go to bed.

10:30-11:00 Lay in bed and think/worry about things I can't do anything about until tomorrow. Par for the course... 

A Day in the Life- Summer Break Edition

I was on the fence about doing one of these day-in-the-life posts, since I know that they're a little self-indulgent. On the other hand, they're also a nice way to log how life at certain times is. Right now it's summer and I'm a temporary stay-at-home-mom, so I thought it would be nice to record a typical day for Sawyer, my fifteen-month-old, and I. Four out of five week days we have some sort outing, usually to see one of my friends or to a park or beach or something fun like that. I try to take one day a week to stay at home, because I think that's important for both of us. Even we are out and about, I make sure that we have a chunk of time, usually the afternoon, so that we're home and he can nap and play. There as to be a balance between everything! 

Wednesday, July 29

6:00-6:20 Sawyer wakes up at six, after sleeping ten hours, so I can't complain too much. I mean, I really hate waking up that early, but it beats his old 4:50 wake up call, and my soon-to-be 5:15 alarm. I take him back to our bed, hoping he'll doze off. He does... for like five minutes. He likes to crawl all over and torment my sleeping husband (lucky), so we get up and head downstairs with the dogs.

6:20-7:50 I get breakfast for Sawyer (oatmeal, banana, milk), the dogs, and myself (cereal and lots of iced coffee). I put dishes away while Sawyer attempts to eat a whole banana (his idea), load the dishwasher, and then we head back upstairs. Sawyer goes into his crib to play while I get ready, and then I get him dressed. We head back downstairs and Sawyer plays with Scott for a little bit before he has to leave for work.

7:50-8:15 We walk around the neighborhood with whatever Ninja Turtle the purple one is. 

8:15-8:45 When we get back I hop on the treadmill. I'm not training for anything in particular and wasn't really feeling it today, so I decided to just walk some hills and read a bit of Judy Blume's new book. I have a play area set up for Sawyer, which he tolerates for about a half an hour. At some point I hopped off to give him something and rolled my ankle, all the while face planting on the floor. Once I ascertained that it wasn't broken, I stupidly got back on and finished my walk. 

8:45-9:05 I put Sawyer in our big soaking tub in the bathroom so I could get get ready to leave the house later in the morning. This is probably the last time I can do that, since he chose today to learn how to crawl out. 

9:05-10:00 I lay Sawyer down for his morning nap. While he slept I iced my foot while working on a blog post. We needed to leave the house a few minutes after ten, so I had to wake him up to get him dressed in his "nice" clothes (ie the ones that aren't $4 a piece at Target). He was slightly less than thrilled to get up and have to change his clothes and get his hair done. Too bad, kid.

10:00-11:30 We drive to the mall (ugh) and walk through Nordstroms, Macy's, and JcPenney's, trying to find a pair of Stride Rite shoes for him, or something comparable. He's sill not walking yet, but since he's in PT from his torticollis still (which is gone, they just won't exit him until he walks so they can make sure he's aligned properly), I get plenty of suggestions from the therapist. She thinks a lot of the issue is just a lack of interest- crawling works well for him. She also thinks he may have inherited my weak, flat feet, so she suggested getting him a pair of shoes that's more supportive than his flimsy sandals, might help, or at least not hurt. We had zero success, so I'm going to have to go to the actual store when we're in Orange County tomorrow. 

11:30-12:30 We meet my mother-in-law, who wanted to see Sawyer, at the Cheesecake Factory for lunch. He's pretty well-behaved in public, but would rather goof off than eat lately.  

12:30-12:45 He falls asleep on the drive home and I plop him in his crib when we get back. This has been super easy to do lately.

12:45- 2:10 While Sawyer naps I do some chores (wipe down the bathrooms, sweep the kitchen, clean the stainless steel appliances, and fold a load of laundry). I finished the blog post from the morning, look up a few things online for tomorrow's outing (unless my foot gets worse). and read a few more pages.

2:10-2:45 Sawyer wakes up, he has a huge snack to make up for his lack of lunch, and we get ready to go swimming. I text the neighbor to see if she and her son want to join us but I don't hear back.

2:45-4:00 Pool time! 

4:00-4:30 We run up to the grocery store to grab fresh french bread for dinner

4:30-6:00 After we get home we read the three new books Sawyer's grandma got him (well, I read while he plays, but close enough), we play ball, and then LEGOs. I also drink some coffee because by this time of the day I start getting sleepy. I read a few more pages of my book while he destroys the Tupperware drawer. We also learn that he can finally drink from a straw, which he's super proud of. 

[Mr. TIger Goes Wild was great; I'm planning a new kids book post soon!]

6:00-6:35 The neighbor invites us over to play in the backyard, so we go over there to hang out for a little while before dinner. He tortures their two cats- "meow" is the only animal sound he knows so he was very, very excited to see one in person. Every time he touched it he giggled hysterically. And then the little boy tried to beat Sawyer up, so it was time to go (he's two, though, so what can you do? Sawyer was fine, just a little surprised, and the mom intervened immediately. I'm learning to roll with this sort of stuff). 

6:35-7:00 I give Sawyer his food (peas, meatballs, bread, and oranges) and prep ours. Nothing glamorous tonight- french bread pizzas. Last night I made this fancy roasted tomatillo dish that had lots of steps and ingredients, so tonight was a little basic. 

[I only took a picture of this because I realized how few I had for today]

7:00-7:15 Bath time for Sawyer. He's a huge fan of lining up all his little animals on the tub, and I'm a big fan of sitting on my ass and watching him. Scott comes home. 

7:15-8:00 Scott and I eat together in the dining room (I feel very strongly about this, and luckily he goes with it; we never ate in front of the TV growing up... I prefer, you know, like talking to each other!) while Sawyer discovers he can figure out how to stand on his tip toes and play with the shudders. I clean up dinner while the two of them play. We then bust out the bubble wrap that came in a package. Fun for alllllll. Teeth are brushed, good nights are said.

8:00-8:15 I take Sawyer up to his room and we sing our little song and talk about our day and he's out in less than five minutes. I always hold him a few extra minutes, though, because he's so cuddly and sweet. One day he will smell horrible and look at naked women (or men) on the Internet and I won't get to snuggle with him.

8:15-8:45 Shower. Relish in the quiet. Carefully plan out my powerful speech accusing my husband of using my razor (he staunchly denies it. Now I don't know what to believe). 

8:45-9:05 Talked to my husband about a work thing he needs me to help him brainstorm for (he's a copywriter at an advertising agency). Ice very, very sore foot. 

9:05-10:20 Talk to husband, read, answer a few work emails, go to bed.

(13,549 steps... on day I hurt my foot! Not bad.) 

Super exciting, I know. It was actually a really easy, enjoyable day, minus the foot pain. Got some stuff done, played, read... not bad.

A Day in the Life...

[hosted by Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity]

My everyday life is far from riveting, but I did one of these types of posts before I had Sawyer, so I thought I'd play along. It's always interesting to see how others spend their days and I think these sorts of personal time-studies can be great catalysts for reflection. Here's a day from last week (minus the things no one wants to hear about, like the plentiful pumping sessions and diaper changes. Because ew):

5:00-5:45 The silent alarm on my Fitbit goes off at 5 and I don't have the luxury of hitting the snooze button even once. I move the baby monitor to my husband's side of the bed and shove him a few time so that he'll at least acknowledge me leaving. I'm pretty sure he loves being woken up like this deep-down. I go downstairs and get ready in the small guest bathroom so that I don't wake anyone up. After I'm ready to go I drink my first cup of coffee and eat some cereal. 

5:45-6:20 Grab Sawyer from my husband (he had woken up at 5:30 and then went back to sleep in our bed), give him a bottle, play with him for a few minutes, change and dress him, load up the car, and refill my coffee. We're off!

6:20-6:45 Drive to daycare, listen to Wild by John Ratey (sometimes I listen to music; it depends on how awake I am).

6:45-6:50 Drop off at daycare, brief the childcare provider on how much he had already eaten and what sort of mood he was in (good, per the norm).

6:50-7:00 Drive to work, blasting my music since the little ears are gone. Finish my coffee, unload all my crap (I'll be so glad when I'm done pumping... the baggage gets old). 

7:00-7:30 Check my box in the office, pop in to say hi to my friend, make sure the agenda for the day is posted, etc...

7:30-8:25 First period (IB English, juniors)- Students did a sort of round-robin explication activity that involved color-blocking, a graphic organizer, partners, and later a longer writing piece. The period moved really fast and I had them switch to a new passage every six minutes, so things kept moving. I find that's one of the most important things to staying sane most days- don't let things lag too much. I'm able to grade a few essays while they're working.

8:25-8:32 Passing period! I run to the bathroom and then stand outside my room and talk to my friend and neighbors (I do this between every class period... I won't bore you every time!)

8:32-9:37 Second period (IB English)- Same as first period.

9:37-10:30 Third period (prep/planning aka no kids)- I typically spend the first few minutes making copies, dropping them off in my room, find a reason to go to my car or the office (1/2-ish of a mile round trip) so that I can rack up some steps on my Fitbit. After taking care of a few things back in my classroom I spent the remainder of the time changing out a bulletin board and straightening up my counter space.

10:46-11:41 Fourth period (yearbook)- Truth be told, these kids are driving my a tiny bit crazy right now (this is no secret, I tell them multiple times during each class period). This is the case every year- they finish the yearbook and feel entitled to a long break. They have a journalism project they're working on, but some are taking it more seriously than others.

11:41-12:11 Lunch!- Yup, we only get a half an hour. After taking care of a few things, I gulp down my lunch (string cheese, crackers, 1/2 a waffle with peanut butter, and some pineapple) while reading a few pages of Barbara Kingsolver's Flight Behavior. My friend comes by for the last few minutes to catch up.

12:18-1:13 Fifth period (IB English)- These kids do the same as the others, but require a bit more supervision, as they're a super social bunch (teacher code for "ohmygosh they won't shut up"). 

1:20-2:15 Sixth period (IB English)- I really enjoy this crazy little class, but they too require some monitoring.

2:15-2:30 Get ready for tomorrow and clean up.

2:30-3:15 Pick up Sawyer from daycare, drive home.

3:15-4:00 Snack for dogs and self. Feed Sawyer while reading some more. Some days he falls asleep and we nap for a little while on the couch, but today is not one of them. Sometimes when he naps I grade papers, but I generally do most of my grading at work on at home on the weekends. Weekdays are too busy.

4:00-5:00 I want to vacuum and now that he's a crawler, and hates his little Exersaucer, things like that can be a challenge. I load him into his crib with some toys and books and he entertains himself for twenty-five minutes while I race around trying to vacuum, switch over some laundry, text a friend about some upcoming plans, and change out of the dress I wore to work. When he starts complaining I take him out of his crib and we play in his room for a bit. He's obsessed with balls and has learned to throw them at us. He also throws them for himself and chases them. It's cute.

5:00-6:00 I get Sawyer ready for a walk. We check with the neighbor and her little guy to see if they want to go, but they don't answer so we go home and I switch the wagon for the stroller, since I decide to try to get in three or so miles since it's just us. We make a stop at the playground so Sawyer can swing for a few minutes (yay time change!). I realize I dislike most little kids. There's something about the playground....

6:00-7:00 This part of the day is a little hectic. Sawyer goes into his highchair with some Cheerios and I prep his actual dinner (meatballs, mandarin oranges, and some puffs). He's pretty much over purees, so now I have to put all this effort into his food. While he's feeding himself I wash bottles and pump parts (loathe this) and the dishes (the repair man is coming for the dishwasher on Monday, thank goodness). I prep everything for my and Scott's dinner as well (paninis and baked potato salad).

7:00-7:30 Bath time! Sawyer loves his bath, so this is usually pretty fun for both of us. He hasn't been pitching a fit when I take him out anymore, so that's an added bonus. When we're finishing up Scott comes home and we sit down to eat.

7:30-8:00 We eat dinner while Sawyer plays on the ground. On the nights Scott leaves his office on time, at six, we usually push back bath time so Sawyer can sit at the table with us, but today is not one of those days. We clean up and get the dogs food too.

8:00-8:15 While Sawyer's bottle heats up we read a few books and he plays with his dad.

8:15-8:30 I give Sawyer his last bottle until morning while I catch up with my husband. Sawyer gets put down to sleep in his own room.

8:30-9:00- PiYo! I squeeze in some PiYo a few times a week right after bedtime (especially on the nights my husband plays videogames with his friends) and my body is starting to thank me. 

9:00-10:00- Typical end of night activities (shower, getting tomorrow's clothes ready, etc...) plus a few pages read before bed. Get into bed and hope that someone sleeps through the night.

Well that was a bit narcissistic. 

A Day in the Life... of an English Teacher

[source]

I recently read an article in the Washington Post that talked about how many people don't really understand what teachers do. So many people think it's all about getting the summers off, a cozy retirement, union protection, and taking off at 3pm most days (although there are many that legitimately appreciate and respect the profession, and I thank those). Are there perks? Heck yes. Is it hard? Yes, if you're trying to do a good job (like any profession there are those that do not, I know). I think for me, teaching is the most demanding for three reasons: there is just so much to grade (1 essay = 4 minutes x one for every student = 400 minutes, or almost 7 hours), I think about the kids all the time (allowing them to email me at all hours of the day doesn't help), and the pressure in terms of adhering to policies and changes is constant.

I've been toying with this idea, a "day in the life" post, for awhile, part of me thinking it would be an interesting reflection piece, hopefully encourage others to do the same,* and allow me to take a a good, hard look at how I spend my time (I should do a follow-up one in a year to see how things look differently with an infant and job). The other part of me thinks it's self-indulgent and unnecessary. But then I remembered that's I write a book blog, not one on curing cancer. So, here we are! I hope you're prepared for how exciting my life is.

Prep for Monday on Saturday and Sunday:

- Aprx. 1 hour finishing lesson plans

- Aprx. 4 hours making an itty-bitty dent in my grading

- Aprx. 2 hours on yearbook edits  

- Aprx. 1 hour on letters of rec and answering emails (legitimate ones, not from the kids that are just being conversational)

Monday

5:50-6:30- Wake up, get ready, feed self and dogs (my first thoughts every day when the alarm goes off is some sort of profanity- I am not a morning person).

6:30-6:55- Commute (rock out to my normal mix of Rhianna, Led Zepplin, Lady Gaga and Tom Petty)

6:55-7:30- Enter the grades for the things I worked on yesterday. Answer the door for students that use my classroom as a closet during the day, leaving their sports bags and heavy textbooks. Reply to emails.

7:30-8:28 (first period)- I've given up my first period prep to help tutor students who are at risk for failing the high school exit exam for the next three weeks and today is the first day. We are paid an hourly rate for this, so it's not quite out of the goodness of my heart. I need a Fitbit and my baby needs [insert one of ten billion things here].

Generally, when I'm not doing this, I spend the fifty-eight minutes grading, copying, running to the ASB office on yearbook related tasks, planning, and answering emails. 

9:35-10:41 (second period)- I teach my AP students about a new type of essay that they're working on, the synthesis essay (and argumentative essay that requires them to evaluate different sources that they will incorporate into their writing as evidence). We read a few of the sources together and fill out a graphic organizer- they have the last ten minutes of the period to do one on their own. Over the course of the next week we'll "put the essay together" as a class before they're expected to start working on their own.

10:48-11:45 (third period)- My IB seniors come in and we work on in-depth character analysis for Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. This is by far my most boisterous group (lovable 90% of the time), and they're super wound up today because they're starting some Spanish IB testing. The kids are divided into small groups and each receive a character that they are to become an "expert" on, based on some guiding questions I had already given them. After fifteen minutes of discussing and collaborating they walk around the room, filling in a graphic organizer based on quick interviews with other "experts" (whatever they don't get to his homework). The last five minutes of the period are spent on a quick character quiz with questions they should have addressed during the period ("Who is a foil for Okonkwo and why?" "Describe Ikemefuna and Nwoye's relationship and describe Okonkwo's perception of both characters"). I roam the room and make sure no one is doing work for other classes, copying straight from other peoples' notes, or are screwing around on their phones. They sound pretty smart today, so I tell them. They ask if they sound dumb the rest of the time and I shrug my shoulders and raise my eyebrows. We all love each other very much (joking aside, we actually sort of do).

11:53-11:51 (fourth period)- Yearbook starts off with me giving a stern lecture (I think I said the word "crap" a few times... obviously I mean business and am pretty pissed) on the fact that we have fourteen days until our final deadline and that they need to get it together. I pull up a couple of pages that have been half-assed and let the class know that whatever groups fail to meet their given deadlines with decent submission won't get anything better than a C- for the semester. Everyone gets to work and I start being nice again. I really, really hate being a hard-ass, but we're getting down to the wire and some of them have been slacking (it's like this every year and we pull it off, so I'm not too worried when push comes to shove). I spend the rest of the period editing pages, working with kids to improve and finalize what they've done, and emailing the yearbook plant to finalize the cover, which we've had a few rounds of edits on.

11:51-12:25- Lunch! Yup, we get less than forty minutes to ourselves. I have two friends that generally come eat in my room, which gives us an opportunity to talk to adults and complain as necessary.

12:33-1:31 (fifth period)- IB English again, so same as above.

1:38-2:36 (sixth period)- IB English again.

2:43-3:41 (seventh period)- I tutor for an extra period in the afternoon (I am paid at an hourly rate). 

3:45-4:20- Commute (listen to The Nerdist podcast with Christina Ricci, who is super weird and pretty awesome).

4:20-5:00- Feed dogs, have a snack, and sit on the couch reading blogs (I used to read my book but now get too sleepy after driving and eating... I blame the baby). Technically, this time is probably know as "dicking around."

5:00-5:30- Make the batter for the cookies I'm taking to tomorrow's staff meeting. Every time I bake I swear I'm going to not make a mess- it never happens. 

5:30-6:00- The dogs start glaring at me, as we're officially thirty minutes late for their walk, so we head out for a half an hour (I'm pretty proud to still be doing this at 30 weeks pregnant- we're talking 150+ pounds of dog, one of which who is scared constantly scared and the other who wants to investigate everything). I've been listening to A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout and it's finally getting to the good part- she's been kidnapped in Somalia.

6:00-6:35- Hop on the treadmill for some more exercise (I try to get an hour, or 10,000 steps total, a day). I do a hill program while reading In Style, answering student emails on my phone, and looking at the Pinterest app. Do some brief, light weights.

6:35-7:15- Grade papers. 

7:15-8:00- Make dinner, clean up kitchen, may my lunch for tomorrow, eat once husband gets home at 7:45.

8:00-9:30- Bake cookies, grade more papers, answer student emails, write a letter of rec, attempt to spend time with husband.

9:30-10:30- Shower, read for a bit, go to sleep

Pretty typical, minus the cookies (usually I'd probably do some more reading or cleaning their place). I also don't always grade quite so much, but I'm a bit behind. I try to multi-task as much as possible and have a to-do list every afternoon (I know, control-freak much?). Once yearbook is wrapped up things will be a lot less stressful, but for the next two weeks I'm screwed 

Everyone is busy, no matter what career you choose, whether you have kids or dogs, live alone or are married. Teachers make it home an hour or two before everyone else, but most of us take a lot of work home with us. I know there are a lot of teachers who do more than I do at home, and some who do less. I think (?) I'm somewhere in the middle.

*Do it! Write one of your own! I think it would be awesome to read how other bloggers spend their time and handle their careers. Make sure to leave your link in your comments if you do, so we can all be nosy together.