My Average Day

With Ayvlyn now 3 months old & with many ‘Blog’ entries never actually leaving my head I thought I’d make an attempt to write today – which will surely turn into tomorrow & perhaps next week. Babies – however scheduled they may be – take time, energy & mental processing. Who knew these little creatures could consume so much of one person? Or, in the case of Ayvlyn two people & a feline. That's right, we can’t leave out Morley (our cat) since he gets left out so often now. Poor guy – he’s being devoured by his jealousy, noticeably expressed through his obvious emotional eating.

Anyway, one question I get asked a lot lately is “What do you do during the day”? So, here is an illustrative view of what my average day involves:

The washer & dryer: I clean around 12-16 receiving blankets a day, about 5-6 bibs, 3-4 sleepers, and any number of cloth diapers. I then fold the clean blankets & clothes & put together the diapers (how cool are cloth diapers I ask you? I really dig the Bum Genius & Fuzzy Buns brands).

The kitchen sink & microwave: I wash bottles & pumps about 5-6 times a day – sorry La Leche League & to my midwife, I gave up nursing after 1 month & 1 day to become a breast milk feeding by pump & bottle Mom.

The couch: I snuggle Ayvlyn close while feeding & burping her here (no T.V. allowed during this time). After I have put my little one down I sit & pump 5 -6 times a day for around 20 minutes. We just got cable so sometimes I watch T.V. – I really enjoy HGTV, especially “Location, Location, Location” and “Relocation, Relocation” – now more then ever I want to move to the UK. Sometimes I'll read during this time. Right now I have three books on the go - I'm finishing "The Mommy Myth: The Idealization of Motherhood and How it has Undermined Women" while I've just starting reading "The Feminine Mistake: Are We Giving Up Too Much?" & "Parenting From the Inside Out".

Hanging out with Ayvlyn: I try to help her developmentally through tummy time, play gym time, etc & show her how loved she is. My favourite pastime with Ayvlyn is lying next to her on mine & Steve’s bed ‘chatting’. I also like diaper change time because that’s when she ‘talks’ the most.

Keeping Morley from: any number of things, such as destroying a couple plants in the house, walking on Ayvlyn’s floor gym, walking on Ayvlyn’s receiving blankets, meowing for attention VERY LOUDLY as if he hopes to wake the baby, sitting on Ayvlyn’s clean laundry . . .

Napping for about two hours in the morning while Ayvlyn sleeps from around 8am – 10am-ish.

With such a day, where I’m alone most of the time doing so many repetitive & menial tasks, I have a lot of time to ruminate. Sometimes I share my thoughts with Ayvlyn – I swear she understands me as she responds with her curious and thoughtful eyes & now with some coos – oh how I love her coos. And though these tasks must be done for my baby girl, I don’t think I’m alone when I say that washing soiled diapers is NOT a beautiful, multi-sensory experience & that there is nothing lovely or exhilarating about cleaning bottles and pumps so many times a day (though I admit to smelling Ayvlyn’s laundry while folding it and being overwhelmed with heart palpitating happiness). That said, I have come across people that would in deed suggest such things (for instance author Sarah Ban Breathnach of “Romancing the Ordinary: A Year of Simple Splendor” – sorry Steve, I am again bashing that book you gave me on our first Christmas – the book that was the catalyst for our biggest ‘discussion’ yet).

I am happy that I have this time to be home with Ayvlyn. Watching her grow is indescribable (believe me, I just sat here for 5 minutes trying to come up with words to express how awesome it is to see her reach different milestones). Yet, I look forward to going back to work, half time, starting August 5 (yes, Ayvlyn will only be 7 months then - & yes I know I can have a full year off. In my next Blog entry I will unpack this want of work outside the home).

So that's it. Barring any unforeseen occurrences this is what I do on my average weekday. Sometimes I mix it up a bit as I head out with friends with kids. Sometimes people drop by. Sometimes Steve has a day off. Sometimes I go grocery shopping. Now that the weather is better I go for walks with Ayvlyn.

Oh how I like being out of the house, but not enough to attend a Mom's group. I have tried a couple, but they're not for me. I'm out going enough, but I'm not into chitchat about breastfeeding, cloth diapers, baby wearing, the latest consumer report warning & what my husband does for a living. I'm sure deeper friendships can develop from such groups, but it's hard for me to get past the small talk. But that's just me. Mom's groups are obviously a great thing for so many others. Perhaps I should look into volunteering. You know, continue my part of supporting capitalism by doing more unpaid work . . . Wow, where did that come from?

'Til next time . . . you know, 'cause this Blog only took me 8 days to complete . . .