Typical Summer Day with the Brutons

For us, this summer, a typical day consisted of the following:

• 7:30-8am-ish--Henry wakes us up. He's decided recently that 9am is overrated. I disagree, but whatever. 


• 8am-ish--Derek or I, we take turns, gets up with Henry, changes his diaper, gives him some milk, and then plays for about an hour. Then, whoever was still in bed comes down to play with Henry and the other goes back to bed for 30-60 minutes. Yes, seriously. we are that lazy. 


• 9am-ish--we all have breakfast together. Derek usually has granola with dried strawberries, Henry has buttered toast and helps me with my bowl of cereal. 


• 9:15-ish--Derek and I take turns showering. I have to run into the bathroom and close the door before Henry figures out what I'm doing, because he thinks he should get to shower with me. I let him jump in with me a few times (ok, more than a few. It was easier when Derek was gone early in the morning) and now he thinks my shower time is his shower time. * sigh * 


• 10am-ish--once we're all ready, dressed, hair done, the whole bit, we go outside. Derek has been working every day up until the last week, so he was usually upstairs writing his dissertation and Henry and I headed to the park to play. We love the playground at Lammas Land, but if I have errands to run in centre we play at the one in Christ's Pieces. It's closer to the shopping. 


• 12:30-1pm-ish--I make lunch for us all. Pasta or PBJs are our staples, with quesadillas thrown in here and there to add variety. I know, so exciting. Once in a while, we have chicken salad sandwiches. 
• 1:30-2pm-ish--Henry goes down for a nap. He gets a bit of milk and a snuggle before he goes up to bed, and lately he has been so tired from running around outside he falls asleep in my arms. I LOVE that. While he's napping, I usually read for a while or work and then take a nap myself. 


• 3:30-4pm-ish--Henry wakes up, which means I get woken up. We come downstairs and have a snack. Our favorite is strawberries with cream or something chocolatey. The best. We also like to read stories for a while. Like, 8-12 of his books. 


• 4:30-5:30pm-ish--We either go for a walk (all 3 Brutons) or we play with Henry's toys. We prefer getting outside, though. Our usual destination is the Botanic Gardens, but sometimes errands or a playground win out. 


• 6pm-ish--Dinner! We try to stay consistent with dinner time, because Henry has a hard time if we don't. 


• 6:30-7:30pm-ish--Derek and Henry play while I get the dishes done. Honestly, I enjoy doing the dishes because it's "me" time. I don't have to worry about what Henry's doing, and I can just stand there, wash, and think. Or talk to Derek. When I'm done with the dishes (that doesn't take an hour, people), I play with Derek and Henry. We like blocks, the train, and reading stories. 


• 7:30pm-ish--Henry's bath time. We can't use the words shower, bath, tub, or clean without him running to the bathroom trying to pull his clothes off. He loves taking a bath. Especially bubble baths. 


• 8pm--ish--Henry gets "lotioned and potioned," and then we go downstairs for milk and story time. Derek reads to us from our book about Cambridge while Henry drinks his milk, then we have family prayer. Lately, we've been reading Owl Babies every night. He LOVES it and has even started mimicking Daddy's voice. We caught it on video tonight, and I hope that the video turns out (check back another time to see that, I hope). 


• 8:30pm-ish--my favorite part of the day: family hugs and kisses. Derek or I hold Henry, and he puts his arms around both of us. We have a good sqeezy hug, then say "Give Daddy kisses!" and Henry and I both kiss Daddy. Then Derek says: "Give Mommy kisses!" and I get kisses from both my boys. Then "Henry kisses!" you get the picture. I LOVE it. Now that Henry gives kisses, I ask for them at any opportunity. But this moment, this 20 seconds of hugging my boys, is the BEST time of the day. We are awesome. 


• 8:32pm-ish--Henry goes up to bed, waving "nigh-nigh" to whoever stays sitting on the couch. He goes to bed like a champ, talking to Duxford (his bear) for a minute or two before falling asleep. 


• 8:35pm-10/11pm-ish--Derek and I get to work. I actually work work, like, for Ancestry, and Derek either works on his dissertation or works on something he's designing or he reads the news/comics. This is quiet time for us, but it's still work. 


• 11pm-ish--we usually decide we want to watch something, a show on BBC or a movie. I know it's ridiculous to start something that late, but we both enjoy the winding down time and the chance to snuggle just the two of us. 


• 12am-ish--We haul ourselves up to bed. 

Honestly, it's a pretty busy typical day. I'm not going to miss juggling school, work, and Mommying, but I know I will miss this routine. The chance to stay in bed in the morning, or take turns, is wonderful when you keep the kind of schedule we keep. About once a week we go and visit Peter after Henry's afternoon nap, or we meet up with friends at the part around 10am, or something like that. Notice all the "ish" tied to the times, too. We're flexible. We like Henry to have a routine, but we also want him to be able to adjust when we are out adventuring or when we have other plans.

All I can say is, when I look at this, I'm proud of myself for making it through without becoming an insane person. Thank goodness Henry takes good naps so I can squeeze one in, too.