A totally typical ordinary day

"Sounds like a busy day- eating out of the trash, waffle tantrums, sexual assault..." 

That was the opening line from an email from my husband, and this totally typical, ordinary day as a toddler mommy wasn't even over yet... add theft, scaling the furniture, and refusing bedtime and that about sums it up! And I have to admit, I love it all!  (well... except the tantrum throwing and refusing bedtime part... that I could do without!) One thing is for certain, there is never a dull moment around here (or any toddler household I imagine).

Let's start from the beginning of this totally typical, ordinary day...

7:45am- Wake up, get Q dressed, take a shower and get ready while Q unloads the contents of the bathroom cabinets

8:15am- put in a load of laundry and make waffles (from scratch)

8:30am- my friend and her daughter D arrive just in time for breakfast

8:31am- Q finished his berries and begins a tantrum because he wants more berries and refuses to eat his waffle (even when offered syrup...)

8:40am- I am finished "negotiating" with Q and he "chooses" (by continuing his tantrum) to have some alone time in his room to settle down

8:50am- I am finished my breakfast and go to retrieve Q (still crying) and give him another chance at eating (he refuses but does stop screaming)

9am- my friend leaves for her appointment and I now have 2 toddlers

9:05am- Q steals a leftover bite of waffle off my plate and decides that waffles are good, finishes eating his breakfast

9:15am- clean up breakfast and spend forever scraping pastry off of the tart pan I made quiche in last night

9:45am- catch Q giving D unwanted hugs and kisses (sexual assault according to hubby, photo op according to me)

10:15am- put Q down for an extremely early nap based on his unusually cranky behavior (normally only takes 1 nap at 1pm) and cross my fingers that this will not be the only nap for today

11am- D's mom returns to collect her, I make a menu for the week and a grocery list, put laundry in the dryer, stuff cloth diapers, fold cloth wipes

11:45am- Q wakes up, eats a cheese stick and some pita chips with hummus

12pm- head to the grocery store

1pm- return from the grocery store, get Q out of the car and put him in the playroom while I go get the groceries out of the car in the garage

1pm & 15 seconds- come back in the house with groceries to find Q eating a stale cinnamon bun out of the kitchen trash, take away nasty cinnamon bun, give him turkey, avocado, and grapes instead, finish unloading and putting away groceries, make and eat my own lunch while Q makes guacamole in his hair... change Q's shirt...

2pm- another friend drops off her son J so she can go to an appointment, boys play happily until grouchy Q returns and gets possessive with his toys (nap time is imminent)

2:45pm- put Q down for another nap (no resistance- yay!) while J spends the next hour playing happily on his own and I fold laundry and box up returns for the mail

3:45pm- my friend returns, I get Q up and we all head to the farmer's market

4:20pm- finally arrive at farmer's market after stopping for jackets, gas, cash, and parking downtown

4:30pm- from his stroller, Q steals strawberries from a produce stand while I am preoccupied buying 13.5lbs of peaches (I love fresh peaches okay?!)

4:31pm- I look in the stroller to see Q's face and shirt covered in berry juice while the stem of a strawberry disappears into his mouth, I apologize to the vendor who smiles and laughs

5:30pm- allow Q to walk back to the car (several blocks away) if he holds my hand

5:35pm- carry a flailing Q across an intersection because he refuses to hold my hand and traffic is waiting

5:37pm- a crying, rigid Q "chooses" (by refusing to hold my hand, again) to be forced into his stroller

5:50pm- drop off my friend and her son J and head home with all our fresh goodies

5:55pm- eat Mr. Falafel shawarma (from farmer's market) for dinner while Q has leftover quiche lorraine and sweet potato-carrot-apple-lentil soup

6:10pm- talk to my mom on the phone for 30 minutes after hearing through the grapevine that one of my dogs (who are currently living with my parents till they can fly back to CA) peed on their floor, collectively determined it was more likely to have been my sister's dog since no one saw it happen and if Bella peed on the floor it would have been out of spite and she would have made darn sure someone saw it!

6:40pm- bake cupcakes (to reward myself for not buying a $3 cupcake from my fav bakery at the farmers market)

6:45pm- clean up the kitchen and put away farmer's market loot

7pm- notice that Q (who had been happily playing on the floor of the playroom) is now seated in the bumbo seat which is on top of the kitchen table.... remove him (after taking a picture or course)

7:01pm- spend the next hour reading and playing with Q till bedtime

7:55pm- get Q ready for bed and say goodnight to tears and crying (very unusual), read one more book, sing a song, say prayers, and leave the room

8:00pm- put another load of laundry in

8:05pm- crying stops :-)

8:06pm- watch the last of the sunset over Monterey Bay from my front porch while calling a girlfriend to confirm plans for tomorrow

8:15pm- ice two cupcakes and settle down to finally do my quiet time (which got postponed from nap time due to having extra kiddies today)

9pm- email hubby and set up our next skype date :-)

If you asked me what I accomplished today, all I could have said is a little laundry and some grocery shopping. But my day was full of precious moments watching my toddler grow up. It's the goofy little things he randomly does on a daily basis that help me enjoy my life as a SAHM so much. It's these same goofy things that make me miss my husband so much.  It's not that I need him here to physically help me, though that is nice. It's that I want him here to share the moments when Q is doing something that only Q's dad would find as adorable and clever as I do, because Q is ours. And I want him here to feel my belly as LK's in utero kicks and punches are getting stronger and more coordinated as I try to fall asleep each night.  Every time I email him or skype with him I feel like there are a million things I need to tell him about these silly moments each day and am often frustrated that I just can't remember on the spot. But I am so grateful for technology and the fact that Q can see his daddy's face via skype, and I can post random pictures of our everyday events on facebook right from my phone, before I forget them, so hubby can be part of our totally typical, ordinary days.