Last year, I documented an average day with Ada, and I wanted to do it again this year. At first, I liked the idea of documenting the exact same day (June 6th) but, as that falls on a Tuesday this year and would likely consist of “do taxes, eat peanut butter toast” I decided to document a Summer Saturday instead.
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The day technically begins in the muddled hours in the middle of the night. Once it’s clear that Ada is Awake (and not the kind of awake that is easily placated with offers of pacifiers), Will offers to take the first shift. I head to our bedroom to listen to podcasts and attempt to sleep.
1:40AM. Will comes to tell me that my shift with Ada is starting. I head to Ada’s room, rescue Pinky and Bun – her beloved stuffed animals – from where they’ve been flung, and take a seat on the floor by the crib.
I rub her back. I sing mangled lines from Hamilton. I pray softly that she will go back to sleep. She grabs my hand, puts it to her face, and smiles drowsily up at me. I know – and she knows – that I will stay here with her as long as it takes (but please don’t let it take too long).
2:56AM. The sandman wins. I silently count to 100 to make sure it’s not a fluke, and then I creep soundlessly back to bed.
7:05AM. I hear her pacifier hit the floor. I have superhuman hearing now. I think it’s part of being a mother? Postpartum all your hair falls out but as a bonus you can hear better. Anyway, I nudge Will to go reinsert the pacifier.
8:49AM. Ada wakes up. Saturday is my morning with Ada and she slept in because she loves me (just kidding, she slept in because she was up all night).
I liberate Ada from her sleepsack, change her diaper, and it’s into the high chair for milk, yogurt, and applesauce. Some Saturday mornings we go to the gym and Ada plays in the Kid Zone while I work out. Today, however, I’m nursing a sore back and decide not to go. I will probably feel guilty about this later.
9:52AM. After playing in the living room for a little while, it’s time to head to the park. I joke that I’m an “outside mom” – I do much better on days that Ada and I can be anywhere other than home.
10:20AM. Starbucks. Grande iced coffee sweetened please and thank you.
10:30AM. We arrive at the park we affectionately call “Hill Park” because there are a few small, rubber hills for the kids to climb (shown here). Ada loves those hills. Today, however, there is a birthday party and the older kids have covered those hills in water so it’s tricky to climb. We head to the side and watch big kids play soccer. Ada is quickly overwhelmed (or tired from her broken night of sleep) so we pack up and head out.
We swing by the bank to use the ATM and pass the gym on the way home. I feel guilty about not going to the gym.
11:17AM. We arrive home.
11:33AM. Will spots a wasp in the living room and grabs Ada to camp out in the master bedroom away from errant stingers. I say I’ll take care of it. I have no idea how to take care of it. I open a window. The wasp ignores it. The cat does not. I pull the cat in off the ledge and capture the wasp under a cup. I coax the wasp outside. I head to the master bedroom to receive accolades for my bravery.
11:37AM. Will feeds Ada lunch. It’s a mixture of tofu, corn, rice, and black beans.
11:50AM. I help Ada wind down and get read for a nap. This mainly consists of reading Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb six times. Ada goes down for a nap and I do, too. I head to bed with a book and an ice pack for my back. The cat joins me.
1:07PM. Facebook reminds me that my neighborhood garage sale is today! And it ends at 2! I throw shoes on and run across the street to look at kid clothing.
2PM. I come home with some summer clothes and winter jackets for Ada.
2:15PM. We wake Ada from her nap in the naive hope that this will make her sleep better that evening. She has a snack, a cup of milk, and heads to the grocery store with her father. I settle back down with my book.
4PM. Will and Ada are home. They brought me sunflowers!
4:10PM. I quickly prepare to take Ada to a park close to our home. Will asks me if I want to use the stroller, and I tell him that we will walk there as it’s only a few blocks.
After fifteen minutes of attempted stick-eating, dog poop-poking, and furtive escapes into oncoming traffic, I pick Ada up and carry her the rest of the way. I arrive at the park looking like a haggard cliché of a toddler’s mother.
4:34PM. We spot a friend from our building at the park so he and I chat while the girls generally ignore one another. Ada insists on feeding herself Cheerios despite her previously-demonstrated lack of agility with zip-top bags and ends up dumping them all over the ground. The birds are pleased.
5:09PM. We head home. Ada uses the word “puppy” to describe something that is, in fact, canine, and I am quite proud. Dinner is quickly served.
6:15PM. Ada insists it is bed time. This is no good as it is far too early and we know from experience that early bedtimes lead to her waking up in the middle of the night insisting that it is time for the next day to start. We try to delay her sleep with a bath, but she’s unthwarted. We shrug, put her to bed, and contemplate how unusual it would be for us to eat dinner at a standard dinner-eating hour.
8PM. Will starts to make quesadillas. Ada wakes up and is ready to go! She sprints around the living room and I try to keep her out of the kitchen and away from the chef. This consists largely of reading Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb five times before feigning illiteracy and begging for another book.
We put on House Hunters for background noise. They are in Chicago, yay! Will and I take turns standing in the kitchen eating quesadillas and reading Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb.
10:10PM. Ada starts to fade. We put her back in her sleepsack, offer her Pinky and Bun, and turn on the sound machine in hopes that the next wake-up isn’t until mid-morning. I hide Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb under the couch.
11PM. I try to stay awake, but I’m bushed. I go to sleep warm with the knowledge that tomorrow is Will’s turn to wake up with Ada.