A Life in the Day of a Gramma

This article from Carolyn Hax has been passed around the internet and facebook and it a good pictures in a nutshell of what it is like raising little kids. link

It's funny, too.
So, as I had Zane today and will have tomorrow, and wishing I could attack the mess in the basement, instead I am blogging while he naps. 
I had already made my bed, had a load in the washer.
This is what we did today.  He comes early, 6:30 am, since mom works at 7. So, first thing first, take off his coat and hat and watch while he tries to take off his jammies, he can upzip them all right, but the sleeves don't' come off by shaking, So, I help.  And he can get his feet out, so he had a diaper change and his clothes on and then he finds the crackers in the diaper bag, Uh oh, not much breakfast after that.  So, he "helps "wake up auntie and uncle.  After which he has to be chased away from the bathroom doors a few times while I am trying to think about breakfast for Lynette, But she didn't go, too much exhausting time spent on  the play the last two weeks and didn't sleep the night before, so we wake her up again at 9 to go to second block.  And Zane is in his coat for the trip to school a half hour before time to leave. So, I have to tell him to wait about 10 times., then take his coat off. Of course, all during this I get up every 5 minutes to make sure he isn't, taking things out of the cupboard or the fridge.  As well as coloring with dry erase markers, and drinking chocolate milk, which he seems to spill half of.  He cleans up after himself, which means I clean up the other half. He ate a cookie with the milk, got frosting on the floor, showed me the frosting, and wiped it up off the floor and onto the stove??? Not sure about that one, Cleaning again.  Coat back on, into car seat, off to take Lynette to school, then Walmart. Every 2 minutes needs a "sit down in the car" reminder, and finally he's in the baby seat, while I hang on to him at the pharmacy, in the aisles, back in the cart again, to pick out oranges, which he sits on, then put them on the checkout counter, hang on to him again, to keep him from playing with the card reader, up and down so no playing on the toy cars. Some lady offers him a granola bar, but "not for naughty boys" says this mean ole Gramma. We go on to grampa's work.  I have to hold him while the backhoe picks up something really heavy then into the office for a quick look at the mail, on my lap he wants to play computer, so Grampa takes him outside to run, then inside the shop over the trailers, he picks up a hammer, shovel, broom, and I say "you can say 'no' ".   So, he's all dirty, so we wash hands.  Back into car seat,  drive though post office to mail letters, drive through at the bank, home for lunch.  On the way home  we splurge and have Culver's flavor of the day, ( it was red raspberry, my favorite) he's yawning, time to change diaper and he's dirty so ... "BATH" so in he goes with balloons, splashes all over, dumps shampoo, shreds bar of soap, howls while dressing (soap) and into bed with a treat, asleep in 2 min.  WOW!!

So, I'm blogging instead of cleaning the kitchen and making treats. (Well, I made a quick sketch of the morning, and then off too....)

Clean kitchen, sweep floor, make chocolate cupcakes, and glaze and sprinkle them, pick up toys, clean out an end table to put my living room afghan in. which meant recycling magazines and finding new homes for napkins and an old china tea set and a rock collection.

 I got off easy today, Zane slept until Lynette woke him up at four, then she could help watch this dynamo.

Then we packaged cupcakes for a valentine treat, (This was Valentine's Day)  Zane ate two mini ones, he needed cleaned up before chocolate got every where and the table too, and said no about 10 times for any more.

He had 1 1/2 clementines after that which I peeled. Then "no" throwing toys, or books, which he did anyway, and had to be told to pick back up, which he didn't want to, but I made him anyway.  And before time to go home, I watched him throw balloons all over. Oops, there goes one behind couch, so he had to be helped back there to get it and then picked up the other toys already back there (good boy!) and pulled back up.  Here's mom!!!  We watch at the window as she drives up, into coat, hugs and kisses and then I turn into mom mode, deliver valentines with 15 year old, go to library and back home to make nice supper for the my valentines left. here and hope my daughter isn't getting sick just because she looks like it.


Here's the Valentine cupcakes I made. 

And here is Zane eating them.

I suppose the rest of the day I did something, too, but I bet it wasn't more than getting the dishes done.

And going to bed.

I sure love that boy, but he WEARS me out. What makes it harder this time around is that fact that I'm older, and that I care about walking across the floor without tripping on something, and I like to have my kitchen cleaned up before noon.