Lettiere's Blog

4:15 alarm goes off, 4:45 get out of bed and move in our zombie-like state through the morning routine: wash up, contacts, skin care, dress (which usually involves putting one or several items of clothing in the dryer to de-wrinkle--who has time for ironing?), Brett makes lunches then runs out to shovel (almost every morning for the last two months, at least it seems like it), I make tea and set up breakfast (cereal, or a bagel, or yogurt; Phoebe's vitamin and milk, and my juice and vitamin), then either Phoebe is already up and has been yelling my name for 15 minutes or one of us has to go wake her groggy self. It is better when we wake her because she is nicer. If Brett tries to get her in the morning when she has already woken up, for some reason, she is vehemently against this. As soon as he opens her door, she says "no, Daddy! I don't want you!"
"But I love you, Phoebe, and I missed you last night." (if he had a track meet or class or something else)
"no, Daddy. I don't love you!"
"Oh, Phoebe, you love me?! I love you, too. I'm so happy to see you this morning."
"No, Daddy! Don't get me!" as she proceeds to reach out her hand to hit him away
"Oh, Phoebe, are you patting me and giving me love taps? Thank you. I love when you give me little pats. Are you massaging me?"
She reaches up and squeezes his face or pinches his arm
"Oh, those are nice rubs, Phoebe. That feels nice. I love you, too. Let me rub your arm and give you nice pats."
"No, Daddy. Put me down."
"Oh, ok, Phoebe, you don't want to come with me? I guess I'll just go eat cereal because you don't want any."
"Daddy, don't leave me. I want to come with you!" And then she finally cooperates and pretends the whole thing didn't happen. The only reason we can guess that she often gives him such a hard time in the morning is because she is mad at him for not having enough time for her at night. Because really she is head-over-heels about him the rest of the time. She always wants to know when he is coming home and squeals with delight when he walks in the door. And she loves reading books with him. She just sometimes feels the need to punish him for whatever transgressions he has committed in her head.
Anyway, so the morning continues. It works best if we get Phoebe dressed before she goes down for breakfast, but sometimes this doesn't happen and it is much harder to do it in reverse because she is much less cooperative if we do it after breakfast. It's especially that last 3 or 4 minutes that are the biggest fight because she wants to put her own coat on and take her time doing it, but we have to get out the door by 6. We rush out the door and head on our way to work/school. Some mornings things go well--if travel is good. Brett always makes it to work by 6:40. For me it is much more iffy. By leaving at 6, if all goes well, I should be at school by between 7-7:05 (school starts at 7:15), so if there are any traffic hiccups, then I'm in trouble. For example, last Wednesday (Feb. 20), I got on the ramp to the Bishop Ford from I-57 when all traffic halted and remained at a standstill while they closed the road to clean up an accident from 6:10 until 7:15. I did not make it to school on time that day. Most of the time, however, we safely make it to school on time. Phoebe goes into daycare. We sign in; she insists on signing in, too. Then we head to her classroom to hang up her coat and fill out her daily report card (I have to indicate when she woke up, last ate, urinated, and if she had taken any medication) then we go back out to join the other kids. She's usually really good about all of this--some mornings she is clingier than others. I go to school and teach, she plays and learns all day, then I try to get her by 3:00 unless I have a meeting or some other obligation. She expects me after nap and snack. We have long chatty conversations on our drive home where she tells me about her day--what she ate, what she and her friends did, how her nap was, etc. Most of the time we listen to music, sometimes my books and sometimes her stories. Her most requested music is Ralph's World and Wiggleworms, still! But she is branching out and her new favorite song is The Plain White Tees "Hey There Delilah" which she simply refers to as "my song"--"play my song, Mommy." Sometimes she remembers her manners and even says please. Her most often requested stories to listen to include Panda Bear Panda Bear (read by Brett), The Bad Case of Stripes, and Pinocchio. The story listening happens more in the morning than the afternoon. She likes the music in the afternoon and knows the words to most of the songs, so she sings. If I happen to listen to whatever book I am on, she will sit in the back seat and have conversations with herself or her stuffed animal or anything that will listen about what's going on out the window or her day or whatever else. She doesn't stop talking much. When we get home, we play a little bit--color or read or play catch. We'll usually listen to music and then she'll play in her play room while I make dinner. She and I usually begin eating dinner and Brett joins us once he gets home and we are nearly done. Then it is time for bath, potty, brush the teeth, books and bed by 7:00. As soon as she goes to sleep our work begins--grading, reading for class, writing papers, dishes, laundry, etc. until we can't stand it anymore and pass out--which is much earlier for me than for Brett because I usually pass out in the chair as soon as I start reading. In fact, I am supposed to be reading and completing an assignment right now! So I am going to get to that. I just wanted to record our weekday routine for posterity. I'll get back to this--perhaps soon and talk about the weekends--which are much more eventful and fun, and more about Phoebe, and post some pictures--and maybe I'll squeeze some stuff in about this second kid that is developing without complaint or much attention. :)