A Day In HER Life - Michelle Little

Hi, I'm Michelle. I'm a writer and blogger based in Montreal.

I had a tough time choosing a day. I truly wanted my day to be typical and honest. Some days I go out, some days I interview fabulous people and some days are more exciting than others. But, those are not my typical days. So, I chose a random Wednesday and ran with it.

 

People ask me if my blog is my full time job and I laugh. I’m 95% stay at home mom, 5% blogger. This is how I do it.

5:45am I wake up with a stuffed nose. I’m shocked that my sick one-year-old, Alex, only woke up once last night. Getting him to bed was misery. I tried to rock him and gave up. I ended up crawling into the crib with him and he drifted off to sleep next to me. Yes, you read that right. IN HIS CRIB.

6:00am I hear little excited feet. I roll over and my husband’s spot is vacant. Later he tells me, ‘you sounded like a thousand sawing logs last night.’ My three-year-old son, Bastien, quickly takes his spot and snuggles. Snuggling means repeatedly kicking his feet into my stomach.

6:22am Alex starts to howl. I dart into the bathroom and take some cold medicine.

6:30am It’s downstairs for breakfast. I glance out our kitchen window and peer at our neighbours. It’s something I do everyday. Even though we have kids the same age they always seem to get up later than us. If their kitchen light is on I’m secretly pleased.

6:30am to 7:25am My husband and I do a dance where we trade off eating and taking care of the kids. We all have toast and fruit. Alex is whining to get out but I’m not done so I rip of bits of my toast for him to eat. It’s to no avail. He wants out and needs a diaper change. I’m not done but give in with one last bite. The boys play/fight while my husband gets ready and I supervise.

7:25am I pop in the shower, brush my teeth and get dressed. I look at the clock when I’m done. It’s 7:33am. I debate whether I should put on makeup considering I am taking pictures of myself today for this post. I decide to go for it and spend another 30 seconds slathering on concealer, mascara and blush. Outfit is yesterday’s outfit. I don’t have the energy/time to start co-ordinating.

7:33am Kids play in basement, husband starts a load of laundry.

7:50am Bastien begs for the TV and we allow one episode of Thomas the Train once we finally find the right one (not that one mommy – the MUDDY Thomas). I do a quick check of emails. Most are deleted and irrelevant.

8:00am I wrangle the kids into the stroller. No one wants to wear jackets. Typical.

8:00am to 8:30am We all walk to daycare. This is one of my favourite parts of the day. The streets are gorgeous and I get to check out the trees, neighbours, and peer in on renovations. We sing songs on the way there. I breathe the crisp air and take a moment.

8:45am Alex goes down for his nap

8:45am to 10:00am

This is my power hour.

- Prep dinner including weird cauliflower rice. Food processor is too small. Cauliflower gets all over the place. Wonder if it may be a good recipe for the blog (healthy but accessible…).

- Cook filet of pork. Was supposed to be a lentil-eggplant tomato curry. Decide to just throw some spice on it and roast.

- Laundry

- Emails

- Write this.

- Work on the blog including checking stats and Facebook. I make sure the blog is actually working. Then I focus on my to-do list in my agenda. I have very little time so I have to stick to exactly what is written.

- Hear banging outside and see a massive tractor picking up leaves. Swear to myself and pray it doesn’t wake Alex.

- Quickly check out another blog that is similar to mine and see it has twenty times more likes on Facebook. Get depressed for a moment and then move on.

Starving already.

- Decide to photograph some chocolate squares I made last night. Also take a few snaps of the cauliflower rice. Try one of the chocolate squares but it’s too early for sweet stuff and it makes me feel ill.

- Drink cold coffee.

- Hosting a lunch tomorrow but the kids seem sick. Wonder if I should cancel now but decide to make the call this PM.

- Get email about Santa at the train museum. Decide it’s a way better pick than the mall. Schedule on the big calendar so I don’t forget about it. My wall calendar is my life.

- Edit photos for a post. Think I look awful but it’s all I got so I chalk it up to ‘looking natural and not faking it and this is the real me.’

10:00am Alex is up and I give him his snack.

10:10am We set off to do errands. I live in a neighbourhood where it’s easier to walk than to drive so I pray it’s not raining.

10:30am Power walk to get everything done before Alex starts losing it. En route I see my son playing with his daycare in the park. He’s happy and running around and it makes me happy too. On the street it’s all strollers and elderlies.

At the grocery store Alex gets more and more fidgety. When the card machine breaks I have to take a few deep breaths to calm myself. I glance at the clock and it’s 11:11. It’s also Remembrance Day. I close my eyes and have a moment and give thanks. Last night Alex was sick and I thought of all those people in the world who do not have medicine, or food, or a comfy bed or a children’s hospital just down the street.

11:30am Make it home and haul groceries and Alex inside. Alex toddles around. Debate whether to make a bundt cake for tomorrow’s lunch. Decide to go for it. Recipe has everything made in a food processor, which I don’t own. I decide to go my own route and throw everything in at once in my stand mixer. I eyeball many of the ingredients working as fast as I can. An egg breaks on the counter and I have visions of my mother and her salmonella paranoia and I use three different cloths and cleaner to clean the area. I’m also feeding Alex, prepping corn on the cob for him and cutting cucumber.

The kitchen is in full steam and a mess.

12:15pm Cake is in the oven, Alex is fed. I sneak in a disgusting supermarket sandwich for lunch.

12:30pm Alex and I go down to our basement. I sit on the ground and fold laundry while Alex shows me various toys. We play for a while. The cake smells like it’s burning.

1:00pm Alex’s afternoon nap. Cake comes out of the tin and it’s burnt. Take a photo for Instagram, edit it and to my surprise it’s popular.

1:40pm I Nap

2:40 Collect garbage, put away dishes and toast sesame seeds for tomorrow. I have 10 minutes left to work on a blog post I want to finish. Realize that all the prints I edited this morning look green. Leave it and hope no one notices.

3:10pm Alex is up. Snack and a diaper change.

3:30pm Pick up Bastien from daycare. We all head to the park, which is on the same grounds as his daycare. I check my emails and then it’s time with the kids. We go to the park every single day unless the weather is atrocious.

We play until it’s dark. I see a gorgeous put-together mom pulling off an athleisure look like it’s nobodies business. I get depressed about my old clothes and dirty hair and then remember that appearances aren’t always what they seem.

5:00pm Arrive home and Alex is immediately howling to eat. Feed Alex and finish strange cauliflower rice. It tastes exactly like cauliflower but in tiny bits. I add cheese to try and rescue it.

5:45pm Bastien and I eat. He insists on Parmesan on everything including his roast pork. He then proceeds to only eat the Parmesan. Alex toddles around aimlessly.

5:50pm My husband arrives home mid-meal. I finish eating and Alex brings me a book to read which is a new thing he does and very sweet. It makes me so happy I can be there for those little things.

6:30pm I give Alex his bath, Bastien is in the basement and my husband cleans the kitchen.

6:50pm Alex is in bed and I write this.

7:00pm My husband gives Bastien his bath. I sneak in a piece of burnt cake. I read Bastien three books including Curious George and Angela’s Airplane.

7:30pm – I finish typing this, do some blog admin and listen for footsteps. Downstairs for one episode of a show on Netflix.

8:45pm In bed and reading.

9:00pm Lights out and fingers crossed the night goes well.

9:05pm Remember I forgot to finish the blog’s weekly email. A quick run to the computer and it’s done.

9:10pm Lights out and another day is done.

Phew.

Thanks Michelle!
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