Any moment after 5 am is fair game for wake up. We tip toe around like ninjas afraid to flush the toilet or turn on the shower. In fact I now shower once a week so that our prince is not disturbed. Sure I miss a daily cleaning, but I try to focus on the positives like what an excellent form of birth control my shower habits have become. Consider it.
Once the kids are awake, Mark and I like to have a cup of coffee in bed. We
I am given between 2.5 and 3 minutes to get myself ready for the day. That's what's so great about toddlers, they keep it simple and really make you focus on the present and what's important; them.
After breakfast I typically take J to Jungle Java or Tiny Town so he can socialize. J loves both of these places because they have unlocked utility closets, multiple vacuums, unlocked managers offices and concession area he can access. I love paying only $8 bucks so my kid can play with a public toilet plunger, ours has to be so boring to him by now.
My sweet prince will announce at any point between 10 am and 3 pm that he is ready for his nap. He notifies me that he's ready by being a complete and total asshole without warning. I really celebrate how he expresses his needs so openly. He really seems to know himself already.
If we are not within 5 minutes of his bed, my boy reinforces this parenting fail by refusing to nap altogether and spends the duration of the day holding me hostage with his toddler rage.
I see this as a great growth opportunity for my own personal development, clearly I should have planned better and moved faster. HIGH KNEES MOM! HIGH KNEES!
Typically after a successful nap we are able to spend the afternoon focused on "enrichment play". As a stay at home mom I really see this as my opportunity to shine. I use a variety of items to engage all of his senses. Today for example he used the dogs water dish to paint on the wall. He's so creative! Yesterday he dropped all the dog food down the vent. I'm pretty sure he was counting.
I also like to use our afternoon time for some quick learning activities. He's such a fast learner! After hearing "OH HELL NO" said just once, he was able use it perfectly for the rest of the day. Yesterday when I was correcting his behavior he was able to use an entire sentence to tell me "mom, get off my ass!" It borders on genius. He's just adorable.
Jackson really values personal hygiene so at any point during our day he may stop me and demand a bath or to have his teeth brushed. If the mood strikes him to take a bath or brush his teeth say while I'm at Target, he laments loudly letting me know I have not only failed him, I have brought shame upon our entire family.
By around four o'clock he is ready to relax, usually in the baby bath tub. There he enjoys his snack of whatever he pulls out of the fridge (or trash - because he's a problem solver!), like hot sauce and fruit. He selects the movie. We watched Curious George today for the 87th day in a row.
His energy really kicks in by dinner, which he is now arriving to pants free. Clothing really has a way of hiding your true self. While Mark or I prepare him his well balanced dinner he often revisits the dog bowl or the garbage for a quick snack to tide him over. Waiting for Mac n' cheese takes an eternity.
Before bed we like to unwind with more learning play, we use YouTube to help us with this. A lesser parent may use this time to zone out, Facebook or drink wine - I feel it's important for J to learn how to multi-task so I usually do all three. Last night he selected a 20 minute YouTube video on "how to properly use and clean your Kitchen Aid stand mixer. We watched the full 20 minutes, seeing bread rise on YouTube is quite something.
After being tucked in no less then 12 times, fetching items he NEEDS that he hasn't seen or used in months and reading 15-20 stories he drifts off peacefully for the next 4-6 hours.
I think it's awesome that he loves me so much that he wakes me up at 3 am to have me cover his feet back up. 😬
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