With the children in school part time, thought it
would be nice to note down how the day goes. This reflects a generally good day
– a day with lesser tantrums, no colds or sick days, no absenteeism from household
help, lesser office work/calls at home for P and likewise. It is light years
away from perfect, in terms of how my time is spent and media time for kids. I could be more productive.
7:00 The adults are trying to
get up. Till few months back, S was waking up at 6:30 and getting us in the
grove in the morning. After starting school, he seems quite tired and sleeps
till atleast ½ an hour after we are up.
7:45 Kids are up, P brushes and gets them going. Myself,
in the kitchen boiling milk/water, preparing the coffee for us and horlicks for
kids.
8:30 Really awake after the caffeine rush and
children active after drinking their milk. They are running around or playing
or watching their songs. I pack P’s lunch and kids’ snacks for school. If am
lucky, my shower gets done by this time.
9:00 Kids and P are bathed and dressed. Depending
when P starts work, either he or I get them bathed. We sort of take turns to
give me a break. I set out breakfast by this time. Elaborate cooking does not
happen in rush hour. Only the sorts of making idli or dosas or toasting or putting
oatmeal together. The sides/curries/chutneys or things like upma are prepared
the previous night, just heated up in the morning.
9:30 Kids eat or are fed, we get done with
breakfast. P leaves by 8:45 or 9:30 based on whether morning calls happen or he
drops S. K leaves by van for school at 9:35. S is dropped off or walked to
school by me.
10:00 Am back home after his school drop, street
vendor purchases for the day like fruits or greens or basic veggies for the day
are done.
11:00 I have showered for sure. Kitchen is cleared
after breakfast, dishes put away and house prepped for cleaning like moving
furniture, dusting door mats and corners. Cleaning maid comes in for sweeping,
mopping the floors and doing dishes. Meantime I fix odds and ends in the
kitchen like sorting the greens, peeling and shelling stuff, grating coconut or
soaking grains. Scrub the bathrooms, pick up toys, sort things- anything! The list is endless. Laundry gets started.
11:45 I leave for school to pick up S. Enjoy my 10
min walk in solitude. Sometimes I get a cup of my favorite coffee and drink
it in peace at our super market.
12:15 We are back, and S washes hands, legs and
uses the bathroom. I either give him a snack or lunch depending on how hungry
he is. He mostly watches TV or plays play dough or rides his cycle around the
house till nap. He is bored without his akka.
1:15 Long lunch #1 is done and he is ready for nap.
I dry the laundry and try to complete my lunch.
1:45 Time for K to get home, she gets dropped off
the van – I watch from the balcony and receive her at home. She washes etc,
talks about any major happening at school and gets ready for lunch. Set out container for milk lady.
2:45 Long lunch #2 is done. Sometimes its almost
3pm.
3:15 K gets ready for nap, after some TV or youtube
time. Sometimes I go for a 20-30 min nap and then spend the quiet time browsing
or completing kitchen tasks – in preparation for dinner and clean up after
lunch. If all gets done, I watch an episode of House on TV. I get the dried clothes.
4:15 S is up from nap and eats something, based on
whether his lunch was done. If he had a good snack before nap, he would eat a
late lunch. He demands the ipad and plays some games on that. Twice a week, K
goes for dance class. S and I drop her, wait around and pick her up. No naps
for K on those days.
5:30 K is up from sleep and ready to go upstairs
for her drawing session/play date with her friend. I get the evening milk and tea going.
7:00 S finishes his evening milk, does some
coloring or reading a book with me. By this time the cook has come and gone.
Dinner is ready. Dry laundry has been folded. K is back
and most days P is back. Yeah! K has her milk and we are done with some tea/coffee.
9:00 From when P gets home, I run any little
errands for myself or go out for groceries or catch ½ hour of TV time to
unwind. Twice a week, the music teacher comes home. So I sit with K through the
session. P usually engages the kids during this time in some activity or takes
them down to play in car park area. K
completes homework if any. When P has calls at this time, I just hang
around with the kids or they watch an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or we try to read some books. Then, we get the kids fed. Dinner is usually
done.
10:00 Children are in bed after some general
chatting, playing indoors or simply fighting with each other. We are bone tired
and glad they decided to sleep. If something good plays on TV, we watch or just
catch up on emails, phone calls etc. Kitchen is cleared after dinner.
11:00 We get to sleep, after discussing any matters
of the household and a small prayer.
As much as I like to be on an early schedule,
reality is otherwise. But this late schedule, works for the time being. One
challenge is the extremely long meal times of children. They just cant seem to
eat fast. I will give up on that worry – either if they eat faster as
they get bigger or I just throw in the towel on that expectation. Another, is
the need to take S to the bathroom almost every ½ hour. Couple months back, any
free minute during the day was spent wiping pee off the floor, and disinfecting the floors and our hands. These days are better. Thank God
he can sleep in his diapers, what would I do otherwise. Eventually I’ll have to
let go this as well, scary!! We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.
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