A Day in the Life

I thought it was about time I bored everyone with a chronicle of "A Day in the Life of Paul." ''This is a typical M/W/F when I take Ellie to school.''

Depending on when Ellie chooses to wake up, I usually rouse from slumber between 6:30 and 7:00. From time to time, I sleep in a bit and Mom gets up with Ellie.

As I pick Ellie up and give her a great big "good morning" hug, I take a little sniff and hope that there isn't a big gooey surprise for me when I open her diaper. Odds of having a disgusting parent story to share at work are pretty 50/50.

Ellie and I head out for some breakfast with a short, pale sausage of a pug following behind. So, we take Lizzi outside for a morning pit stop. Odds of Lizzi leaving something on the yard that I won't clean up later: 95%.

Food for the dog is easiest, so she gets fed first. Rather than scarfing down her food, though, Lizzi hunkers down under the high-chair hopeing for something better than top-shelf dry dog food.

Breakfast for Ellie usually comes from a short list of options including eggs, cream of wheat, cheesy grits (those would be Mom's idea!), or oatmeal. Nice health, hot breakfast which inevitably ends up partially smeared across Ellie's face.

After first breakfast and some face/hand washing, we head back to the bedroom to wake Mom up. Time for a nice antibody rich second breakfast of breast milk while Dad showers (in the newly created basement bathroom!)

After Dad's done showering and Mom has picked out some clothes for Ellie to wear -- Dad usually mismatches different outfits together -- everyone gets ready to go off to their respective days of work, school, play, or some combination thereof.

Ellie and Dad head off to school... which Ellie usually LOVES. Ellie says "buh bye" with a wave and sends Dad on his way to work.

I won't bore with the details of a typical work day. Meeting. Meeting. Bathroom break. Meeting. Lunch meeting. Side conversation about meetings. Cynical note on home many meetings we have. Meeting. Snack on $1/package M&M's that supposed help support needy or disabled children. Meeting. Do 5 minutes of work because the last meeting ended early! Impromptu meeting as I walk out the door.

Whew! Now for a nice liesurely drive home in rush hour... which may take 30 minutes or 90 minutes depending on traffic. Arg.

Home again. Home again. Jiggity jog!
"Daddy's Home!"

I love hearing Mom say those words to Ellie as I walk in the door. Even better is the huge grin from Ellie, first when she sees the car coming up the driveway, and even bigger when she sees me walk in the door. I run over to pick her up and...

Oop. Better wash my hands first. Been at work with dirty, sick people with outside germs.

I shed the garments of industry, step into something more comfy, and wash my hands thoroughly.

Now I can give Ellie a huge hug! She's been playing on the bed with Mom as I cleanup.

Mom's usually got dinner done or mostly done, so Ellie and I only play a few minutes in the front room before dinner is ready to eat. Even more so than breakfast, we let Ellie do most of her own feeding at dinner. Things often endup a big of a mess, but that's what baths are for!

Speaking of baths... when dinner's done, it's usually time for a nice warm bath. Ellie loves the bath! Especially all the shiney fixtures and the drain. She's learning that when Dad says "time to go" or "all done", then it's OK for her to pull the drain and let the water out.

"Time to go!" Followed by some typical Dad joke having to do with letting the baby out with the bath water... How embarassing that I've turned into my father.

Depending on how early bath time is done, Ellie and I might have an hour or two to play before bedtime. So we play. Sometimes watch a little TV. Often go for a walk. But Mom nurses Ellie again before bed, and fills her with can range from extra-strength-Nyquil-milk to double-esspresso-milk. You just never know if the nursing will put Ellie down or get her wound up.

Eventually Ellie makes it down. The off-to-bed-endeavors can be written another time.

By now, it's usually after 9:00. Sometimes after 11:00 or later depending on how easily Ellie goes to sleep. Usually between 9:00 and 9:30, though.

Which leaves only a few more hours of consciouness before I hit the sack. The todo list:
- Occassionaly laundry
- Always dishes and kitchen cleanup
- Usually a Daily Show or two on the TiVo
- Possibly 24, Alias, or West Wing
- Probably one of the 18 Law and Orders that were on that day
- Mail sorting
- Bill paying
- Other odds and ends around the house
- Blog from time to time

Then finally off to bed. Tonight, I'm going to bed early... aiming for that 8 hours of sleep.